Research: Narrative action and Enigma Codes
Today we learned about the importance of action and enigma codes in a narrative.
According to Roland Barthes, a narrative has to follow a sequence of events for it to be successful. In order for this to be possible enigma and action codes are used.
1. Enigma Codes: Enigma codes is the way in which a media form raises a question, and later on reveals the truth.
It is a way to tease and grab the audiences attention since information is withheld from the audience.
Enigma codes can usually be seen in media forms like a newspaper headline or click bate from a YouTube video. Usually used in mysteries or thriller films to slowly revealing clues to the audience.
For example, in the movie Don't Worry Darling, small clips of "reality" are shown through the movie as the characters are in a idealized community, hinting towards the audience that something wrong is happening but not telling them why.
In this YouTube video, the thumbnail uses an enigma code by posing a question but not revealing an answer until you click it, conspiracy theory.
2. Action codes: Action codes are used in specific plot points in which the audience builds up suspense because they want to know the outcome of something.
This usually happens during fight scenes where the audience is in suspense to know who is going to win. Action codes can also be a simple action like the dropping of a pen or a creaking of a door to create the suspense of the audience.
For example, in this final fight scene in Enola Holmes 2, Enola and Tewksbury are in different fights, making the audience feel the suspense of who is going to win. When Enola gets stabbed with the fake knife, it leaves the audience on the edge of their seats until we find out that the knife was not real.
in this scene from A Quiet Place, suspense is built when the simple action of a picture frame falling creates suspense for the audience since the noise attacks the monster.
After researching the different types of codes used to create narrative, I was able to understand how they can add meaning towards a media form. For my final project, I now would like to use an action code when the murder opens a bag of chips when everything else around him is quiet, adding suppose to the scene.