Roland Barthes Narrative Codes

Roland Barthes theorised that every narrative is interwoven with multiple codes. These 5 codes are:

Enigma - a puzzle
Action - a sequence of events
Semic - connotations
Symbolic - ideologies, defining opposing sources
Cultural - knowledge the audience brings to the text

We chose a music video with a strong narrative (Eminem ft. Dido - Stan) and found examples of these 5 codes within it. This music video has low key lighting as part of its cinematography which we thought our final product would resemble, and we both love the fast pace of the song which is what attracted us to it in the first place.



SYMBOLIC:

Eminem is good, Stan is bad, they look similar on the outside but are opposing forces. Eminem is a victim of obsession/stalking without even knowing it. Eminem is not portrayed as the idealised superstar he usually is, but as an intelligent (wearing glasses), caring person who takes time out of his schedule to reply to his adoring fans.

SEMIC:

Typical conventions of a thriller narrative. Pathetic fallacy is used; the lightning, darkness and rain connote negative emotions. This shot of Stan's reflection is not his true representation, he is deluded and thinks he is seeing an improvement by trying to look like Eminem, however the audience knows he is not succeeding.

ACTION:


The cliche of someone driving at night in the rain is used, which the audience knows never has pleasant consequences, and is often fatal. This motivates the audience to keep watching to find out if the action conforms to the stereotype.

CULTURAL:

(audience brings own references to the code)
athe audience needs to understand who Eminem is and what he is like, in order to understand the transformation that Stan makes due to his obsession. They then too need to understand how a pregnant woman should be treated aposed to how Stan is treating her.
A reference has been made to 'The Shining" when Jack goes insane, similar behaviour as Stan when he too goes mad.

ENIGMA:

(a puzzle in the narritive which is solved after a suspended amount of time)
Enigma here is not for the audience but for the character in the video, in this case Eminem. He is puzzled as to why he heard on the news that someone drove their pregnant girlfriend off a bridge who was carrying a child. He then clicks that it is in fact Stan. Puzzle solved.