Narrative Theory (Additional Work)

Extract- 500 days of summer

The extract starts with “Enigma” as the audience is confused of what is happening. This is Barthes theory and he believes this teases the audience and makes them hooked on. It makes the audience think; who is the girl?, why is there a party taking place?, who is her fiancé?

Another theory we can see is "Binary Oppositions" from Levi-Strauss. This is shown in the extract as we can see “expectations vs reality”. The camera moves as the person is moving which is effective as it gives a better understanding to the audience and it's realistic as you feel as if you are in that scene.

Also, the editing is done in a very creative way as both screens of “expectation vs reality” are shown together. This makes it easy for the audience to compare what is going on as they are side-to-side. The muted background builds tension as we are more focused on the actions of the characters and what will happen next. 

The camera angles are mid-shot throughout the scene which gives a natural look. However, towards the end, the camera angles are from the top as he is running down the stairs, this is done so we can how fast he is going as well as how furious he is. It also makes the audience feel superior as we are looking from a birds eye view therefore the audience have an impression that they have power over the character.