Sharpie - Media theories

Media theories

Roland Barthes' theory of enigma codes:

The use of enigma codes is very important for our film; it relies on it to make the main antagonist seem even more disturbing. The theory refers to the fact that not everything is known about something/someone, or there are some things that are unclear. We are using this theory in relation to our main antagonist, the viewer doesn't know who he is, why he is stalking the group, etc. The Snowman is another film that relies heavily on this, the viewer has no idea of who the killer is, besides the fact that he leaves notes relating to snowmen when he has committed a crime.

Todorov's theory of equilibrium:

Todorov's theory states that a film will start peaceful (in equilibrium), there will then be a conflict which disrupts this, followed by the recognition and solution which turns the narrative back to equilibrium. As we are making a trailer, the last two do not apply as, it would give too much of the story away. If a trailer gave away the entire plot of a film (or any media product) then there would be no point in the audience consuming the product as they already know. The trailer does however start in equilibrium with the protagonists drinking together, they then decide to break into the school, unaware of Sharpie (the conflict), and then face many problems as a result. This is not very conventional for thriller films as they usually show the conflict first, this is why we decided to use a news report at the start explaining the situation.

Laura Mulvey's theory of male gaze:

This theory states that females are just a tool in film and are used to give male's more character. An example of where this theory is rejected is in The Last House on the Left where the mother defends herself and her husband from an attacker who assaulted their daughter. It could be argues that The Last House on the Left is more of a horror film, but it also has elements/paradigms of the thriller genre. In our film, we want males and females to be represented as equals which is why we have an even split of male and female protagonists - with the antagonist's gender remaining unspecified but connoted as being male due to the dark clothes and more masculine build.

Hypodermic needle/Cultivation theory:

The use of the hypodermic needle theory isn't immediately obvious, it involves the product "injecting" ideas and messages into the audience. Sometimes however, these ideas can be wrong which links to the cultivation theory where (wrong) ideas can grow and alter people's perception of a demographic and build (negative) stereotypes. We want to use these theories to show that both genders are equal and can both handle themselves (this may however not work as well as planned, as one character is said to die at the start of the trailer).

Stuart Hall's audience perception theory:

Stuart Hall is a well-known cultural theorist and is responsible for the perception theory which states that depending on a person's cultural upbringing and exposure to certain demographics, they will perceive a product differently than others - it includes a preferred, negotiated and oppositional reading. This is highly prevalent in the film V for Vendetta as the main character is somewhat controversial. The preferred reading could be that he is perceived as a freedom fighter, this would mean that the oppositional reading is that he is a terrorist/criminal as a result of his exaggerated means of expression (blowing stuff up and wearing a Guy Fawkes mask). The negotiated reading would be somewhere between the two - the audience perceives him as a freedom fighter but thinks he goes too far with his means of showing it. As our characters are stereotypical young adults/teens the negotiated reading of the viewer feeling sorry for them would likely be shared by those with similar psychographics to the characters, and those who are binary opposites may feel joy or boredom in the fact that they are in the situation.

Propp's narrative theory:

Propp's theory states that the role of the characters can be determined through the narrative of a product. The role of our protagonists isn't immediately obvious due to how stereotypical they are. However, the role of the antagonist is shown clearly as they demonstrate key features of a criminal in films; stalking his victims, unnoticed until he decides to try and do something to them.

Levi Strauss' theory of binary opposition:

This theory states that the meaning behind a narrative revolves two opposite objects/ideas/psychographics. This is established in almost every film, an example being The Dark Knight where The Joker is the antagonist and is not serious but very deadly, whereas Batman is the protagonist and is very serious and doesn't kill. In our film, the idea behind the antagonist's name comes from this theory; it relates to the fact that they use sharp objects and also that they draw on/around people (with a Sharpie marker). As a result, we felt it would be appropriate to call him Sharpie. The protagonists and antagonists are also binary oppositions, the protagonists are loud (somewhat obnoxious) young adults and Sharpie only says about 1 line.