1. Unit G321 – Opening
sequences
Narrative Codes

2. Lesson Objectives
• To know: What information is
communicated in the opening sequences
of films.
• To understand: Roland Barthes theory
about narrative codes.
• To be able to: Think about both of the
above in relation to your own coursework.

3. Opening sequences
• What information is conveyed to the
audience in these opening sequences?
• Children of Men
• I am Legend

4. Roland Barthes
• Influential French Literary Theorist.
• Developed a theory that there are 5 major
codes within a story that are interwoven in
order to create meaning.
• For our purposes, i.e. to aid our
understanding of opening sequences,
we’re going to consider just 2 of the 5
codes.

5. The Hermeneutic Code
• More commonly called enigma codes or narrative
enigmas.
• Put very simply, narrative enigmas are unanswered
questions that the audience want answered.
• The hermeneutic code – the parts of a story that are not
fully explained. They exist as enigmas or questions that
the audience wishes to be resolved. A detective story,
for example, is a narrative that operates mainly by the
hermeneutic code. A criminal act is shown and the
remainder of the narrative is devoted to answering
questions raised by the initial event.

6. The Hermeneutic Code
• In order to maintain interest, the final truth is not
revealed typically until the end of the story and
some devices are used to conceal it:
• The snare – a deliberate avoidance of the truth – a
tease or an implication that sends the audience
down a wrong path.
• Partial answers – revealing some (but not all) of
the final truth(s) – this is used to actually increase
suspense.
• Equivocation – a mixture of truth and snare –
usually further muddying the water!
• Jamming – Suggesting that the problem may be
completely unsolvable.

7. The Proairetic Code
• The proairetic code – actions that suggest
further action/reaction.
• Also known as the action code.
• E.g. a character has an argument and the
audience wonders what the resolution or
outcome of this argument will be. This
creates suspense/tension as the audience
wonder what the outcome will be and
begin to make guesses.

8. How are these codes used in the
opening sequences to:
•
•
•
•
Minority Report
Saw
Children of Men
I Am Legend