Roland Barthes

Over the past two lessons we have been learning about Roland Bathes narrative codes and ideologies so that we can apply these to our projects. Initailly we identified the five different codes:

1. The action code: An action deliberately included in a text that implies further narrative action; this can be both visual or an anchorage. An example of this would be of a close up of a gun in someones hand; the implication of this would be that this would lead to the gun being shot.

2. The enigma code: An unexplained element in a story that raises questions demanding explaination. An example of this would be to open a film with a murder scene; this immediately forces the audience to question when, where, why, who and how.

3. The semantic code: An element suggesting an additional meaning through connotations. An example of this could be of a rose; the denotation of this is that it is a red flower - the connotation is that the red colouring may suggest beauty or danger.

4. The cultural code: An element reffering to something that both the producer and the audience understand. An example of this could be particular dress codes i.e. someone dressed in a hoodie and trackies; this is where the cultural code would be represented as the mutual share of knolegde between the producer and the audience which also creates a bond between the text and audience.

Finally an ideology is a collection of ideas which are personal to someone beliefs. These are the beliefs that join the world together and provide general ground for people to connect with others.

5. The symbolic code: An understanding from in the text that the audience makes without being shown directly. This links with Levis Straus's theory of binary opposites; black/white and rich/poor, this means that one thing can only be defined in relation to something else. Where as the symbolic code for example if the 'grey' area in between the 'black' and 'white'. All in all it is a subtle connotation. For example, if there is poor man taking drugs in contrast to a rich man making a business, the symbolic code of this would be that the poor man got to where he was by wasting his money on drug and similarly the rich man made his success by starting a business.