Barthes Audience Theory

Roland Barthes is a narrative theorist who bases his supposition on 5 narrative codes - These are as follows -

Enigma Code - The structure of puzzles in the text and the way in which we are hooked into the narrative by a desire to find the answers
Action Code - The ways in which we identify familiar situations and actions though conventions of language and the use of key phrases and words; we do not need everything spelt out for us, so from words such as "betrayal" and "love" we can decode plot elements
Semic Code - Details concerning individuals in the work which allow us to build up a profile of the character
Symbolic Code - Refers to the way in which themes are developed throuh the use of recurring symbols, usually in order to convey a message
Cultural Code - Details in the narrative that confirm the cultural context, such as its location, when it was taking place and the kinds of moral values, ideas and fashions which are associated with the time

In order to make our trailer appealing to an audience we must include some of the above narrative codes as it creates either a link between the characters in the film and the viewer or an interest in the narrative/characters in the film which must then be followed up by going to watch the film. In our trailer, we are planning on utilizing the Enigma Code, the Action Code and the Semic Code which will have the effect of creating a mystery which the viewer would wish to complete, as well as emphasizing the previously mentioned link through the familiarity of characters and situations to real life/the viewers schema of what certain characters should be like.

Barthes also had a theory concerning Readerly and Writerly texts. The idea is that the readerly text the reader follows easily, while and writerly text makes the audience construct the narrative for themselves. Usually, the first act is completely readerly while the second act introduces a sense of the writerly. In the final act, the montage, there is majorly writerly however the aim of the montage isn't to show narrative but the best shots in the film. We wish to emulate this structure as it will maximize audience interest while maintaining ambiguity in the narrative.