Narrative and It's 6 Codes

(1) Technical Code: anything 'technical' that goes into a narrative, e.g. camera, sound, design and editing. 

(2) Verbal Code: how language is used, written and spoken.

(3) Symbolic Code: clues within the narrative, e.g. someone wearing ragged clothing suggests that they are poor.

(4) Structure: Todrov's theory. Equilibrium -> Disequilibrium -> New Equilibrium 

(5) Character: protagonist (the hero), antagonist (the villain), father (authoritative figure, often rewards the hero), helper (someone who helps the hero, a sidekick), donor (gives something to the hero to help them out) mentor (teacher and gives guidance to the hero)

(6) Narrative Conflict: Levi-Strauss' theory that all narratives are moved forward by a conflict caused by opposing forces e.g. love and hate, rich and poor.

The Silence of The Lambs (1991)

The protagonist of this film is an FBI Agent, Clarice Starling. The antagonist of this film is a psychopath Hannibal Lecter. 

The equilibrium of this film is Clarice is put in charge of finding a woman who has gone missing, from a serial killer. This is represented in the opening title sequence as it starts off with an establishing shot of a dark, misty forest which suggests an eerie effect. The camera then tilts down to give an extreme long shot of a woman (Clarice) who is running through a forest and has an overall messy appearance. She is running through an intense obstacle training course, which shows determination and links to the equilibrium as she is determined to find who this serial killer is. 

There is a clue as to what Clarice does in the film in this, her sweatshirt says 'FBI Academy' which is who she works for to solve this case. 

The new equilibrium of the film is created when Clarice finds who the psychopath serial killer is by help from an unlikely source, another psychopath, Hannibal Lecter.