Analysis of opening sequences of clips

In the lesson, we learnt what the two terms protagonist and antagonist meant. A protagonist is the main character of a cinematic narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve. The audience view this character as the 'hero'. An antagonist is a character or a group of characters, that represent the opposition against the protagonist who he must contend with. We also learnt about the narrative of a film and the narrative patterns. The narrartive is the story of the film, it describes the events that occur within it. There are four types of narrative patterns, these include Linear Patterns, Multi Strand Narrative, Documentary Narrative and Long Running Series.

Roland Barthes distinguished two types of codes, these are Enigma codes and Action codes. Enigma codes control how much we know of the story and effectively holds the audiences attention. It creates a sense of mystery during the narrative. Action codea are events in the story we know to be important in developing the narrative.

Their were two narrative theories we also discussed both created by russians, the first of which was developed by 'Tzvetan Todorov' . He divided his theory into three parts; Equilibrium, Disequilibrium and the New Equilibrium. The second theorist was called Vladimir Propp. This theory is developed into seven parts; the Villain, Donor, Helper, Princess, Dispatcher, Hero and the False Hero.

Children of Men:
Everyone in the film is old this demonstrates that women are no longer having children.
An 18 year old celebrity is killed, this suggests the society is dangerous. The reporter on the news states "the youngest person in the community". This shows that there is no such thing a young generation in this town.
The society seems very negative and closed.

The action code of the film is the bomb going off and the death of the young boy. The bomb could imply a terrorist attack. The enigma code is the telling of the childs death on the news. Everyone in the cafe is crying and glued to the television because of this tragic news. The protagonist of the film is the man that the camera is following. The fact he is unfazed about the news suggests this. The Antagonist could be the person who set off the bomb.

Battle for Haditha:
There are a number of different narrators in the beginning sequence of the film. The card shown is the narrative of the story as it tells the audience what has happened/what is going to happen.
The protagonist could be the three soldiers talking.
The Equilibrium is the army base which is in Iraq. There is a war taking place in a foreign country. The Disequilibrium could be the card which tells us that something is going to happen.

The Dark Night:
Within the first few minutes of the film there is a lot of action. For example, a man collides through a glass window of a building, a number of shootings take place and bombs are given to people.
The antagonists are the men wearing clown type masks. The action codes are the shootings of the men killing eachother. The Equilibrium could be the men in the car holding guns.
Everyone who works in the place that the men have come to look very scared because of the weapons the men are holding. A man who works there tries to shoot the main suspect but it does not ending up being a success as he ends up being shot himself. The man ends up getting away and drives off in a school bus.