Secondary Research Aimee Robinson Secondary Research In this

Secondary Research Aimee Robinson

Secondary Research In this powerpoint I am going to look at theorists that have ideas and theories that are relevant to my tasks, and state how they can be applied to my work, how they relate to my findings when creating my primary research (for example my textual analyses), and how I will intend to use what I have learned from them in the production of my own creation.

Tasks For my main task, there are four main theories that can be applied to my Children’s TV Drama. These include: Levi-Strauss’ Narrative Theory Propp’s Narrative Theory Branston & Stafford’s Representation Theory Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs For my first smaller task, the main two theories that can be applied to my DVD cover include: Branston & Stafford’s Representation theory Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs For my second smaller task, there is one main theory that can be applied to my Radio Advertisement. This is: Adorno & Horkheimer’s Cultural Industry Theory

Claude Levi-Strauss created a Narrative theory that uses binary oppositions. These are sets of opposite values that he states will ‘reveal the structure of media texts’. An example of this that was given was of Science Fiction films; Good versus Evil, Earth - Space, Humans - Aliens and so on. This theory can be applied to my findings as these oppositions are clear and easy to understand. This is why these are effective for my topic as children will be able to understand the differences between certain elements, such as the hero and villain or the normal versus the paranormal.

Vladimir Propp also created a Narrative theory, concerning characters and types of character. These include the Villain, the Hero the Dispatcher, the Helper, the Damsel in Distress, Her Father, the Donor, and the False Hero. This theory can also be applied to my own findings as it relates to Stock characters - characters that can be recognised again and again in many different types of entertainment for children, hence the children having a broader understanding of which characters they should like or dislike, and therefore being able to connect with the programme that they are watching more through their knowledge.

Abraham Maslow created the Hierarchy of Needs theory, concerning the needs of human beings, starting from fundamentals such as food and oxygen, going up to self-actualisation such as creativity and morality. This theory is relevant to my tasks as a Children’s TV drama is there to fulfil some of the needs within the higher sections of the hierarchy For example the Self-Actualisation and Esteem sections, helping children to gain knowledge of morals and to help them raise confidence and learn about social situations; and children can gain self-esteem or self-respect by seeing people that they can relate to on the cover of a DVD.

Gill Branston & Roy Stafford Branston and Stafford created the Representation theory, also concerning types of character. This is probably the most important and most relevant theory of the four that I have looked at. Their theory states that within media, the same, repeated representation of a group, or specific person leads to stereotyping of them. This is relevant to my main and first smaller tasks as stereotypes are important for children’s TV dramas and DVD covers. This is because stereotypes are the way that people are classified, adhering to our expectations of them and making it easier for people to understand their characters and categorise them. Also this makes people instantly recognise them - to save the producers from having to needlessly explain character behaviour; and stereotypes can be a main selling point for DVD covers when people are interested in the shown characters.

Theodor Adorno & Max Horkheimer Adorno and Horkheimer created the Cultural Industry Theory. This theory states that