1. Propp’s character theory
Vladimir Propp developed a character theory for studying media texts
and productions, which indicates that there were 7 broad character
types in the 100 tales he analyzed, which could be applied to other
media:
The Hero – a character that seeks something
The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero‘s quest
The Donor – who provides an object with magical properties
The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message
The False Hero – who disrupts the hero‘s success by making false claims
The Helper – who aids the hero
The Princess – acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the
villain‘s plots
Her Father – who acts to reward the hero for his effort
Criticism:
Propp‘s theory of narrative seems to be based in a male orientated environment (due to his theory actually reflecting early folk tales) and
as such critics often dismiss the theory with regard to film. However, it may still be applied because the function (rather than the gender)
of characters is the basis of the theory. E.g. the hero could be a woman; the reward could be a man.
Why the theory is useful:
It avoids treating characters as if they are individuals and reminds us they are merely constructs. Some characters are indeed there just
to progress the narrative.

2. Structuralist Film
Theory
Structuralist film theory is a branch of film theory that is
rooted in Structuralism, itself based on structural
linguistics. Structuralist film theory emphasizes how films
convey meaning through the use of codes and
conventions not dissimilar to the way languages are
used to construct meaning in communication.
An example of this is understanding how the simple
combination of shots can create an additional idea:
the blank expression on a person's face, an appetizing
meal, and then back to the person's face. While
nothing in this sequence literally expresses hunger—or
desire—the juxtaposition of the images convey that
meaning to the audience.

3. Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall looked at the role of audience
positioning. He came up with a model suggesting
three ways in which we may read a media text:
ENCODING AND DECODING:
Dominant Reading – The reader fully accepts the
preferred reading (audience will read the text the
way the author intended them to) so that the
code seems natural and transparent.
Negotiated reading – The reader partially believes
the code and broadly accepts the preferred
reading, but sometimes modifies it in a way which
reflects their own position, experiences and
interests.
Oppositional Reading – The readers social position
places them in an oppositional relation to the
dominant code. They reject the reading.

4. "Not only are words signs but also gestures, images, non-linguistic
sounds like the chimes of Big Ben. Obviously devices (such as flags)
created by man in order to indicate something are signs, but so
are, in ordinary language, the thread of smoke that reveals a
fire, the footsteps in the sand that tells Robinson Crusoe a man has
passed along the beach, the clue that permits Sherlock Holmes to
find the murderer."

5. Roland Barthes
 Roland Barthes‘ theory was about narrative
codes. He said that texts can be unraveled
in either one way or in many different ways
(so the text can either be opened or
closed). He also decided that the things
that you look at to unravel meaning in a text
were called narrative codes and they can
be categorised in five different ways starting
off with action codes, enigma code, the
semantic code, the cultural code and the
symbolic code.

6. Lévi-Strauss
French anthropologists
Talks about binary opposites.
He explains that binary
opposites are used a lot in the
media filming especially in
horror films.
Examples of these are:
• Good vs. Bad
• Old vs. young
• Weak vs. strong
Believed certain words depends
not so much on any meaning
they themselves directly contain
but a lot more on our
understanding of the difference
between the word and its
‗opposite‘ or as Claude Lévi-
Strauss calls it ‗binary opposites‘

7. Katz + Blumler
Uses and Gratification Theory
The Uses and Gratification theory focuses on understanding
mass communication. The theory places more focus on the
consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself
by asking ―what people do with media‖ rather than ―what
media does to people‖
The theory assumes that the
members of the audience are
not passive but take an active
role in interpreting and
integrating media into their
own lives.
The approach suggests
that people use media
to fulfil specific
gratifications. Some of
the gratifications are
personal
identity, entertainment.

8. MASLOW
Abraham Harold (1908–70),
US psychologist. He
explained human
motivation with a hierarchy
of needs.
This is applicable
for
films, advertising
and magazines.

9. Laura Mulvey- The Male Gaze
Visual Pleasure and
Narrative Cinema
The concept of
‗gaze’ deals with
how an audience
view the people
shown
For feminists it can be thought
of in three ways:
-How men look at women.
-How women look at
themselves.
-How women look at other
women.The camera lingers on the
curves of the female
body, and events which
occur to women are
presented largely in the
context of a mans reaction
to these events.
Relegates women to the
status of objects. The female
viewer must experience the
narrative secondarily, by
identification with the male.