Narrative codes

Through the use of narrative codes, the storyline and the narrative of a text is able to move. Most importantly action and enigma codes, it's these codes that allow the audience to question the text, some questions are answered earlier than others. For example in a film, some questions are answered very early on, where as others are answered later in the film. This keeps the audience hooked and makes them what to keep watching in hope that their questions will find an answer. By using the codes, it hints to the audience which path or way the plot is moving and shaping up to be.

Action codes

Actions codes are important events that move the narrative of a text in a certain way. For example some post comes through the letter box or a car alarm goes off. Both examples can be used to keep the narrative and or scene alive. They give the audience useful information that maybe helpful and possibly reveal something about a character. This type of code helps to move the narrative along from one point to another.

Enigma codes

Enigma codes pose question to the audience which are either answered soon after being posed or later on in the text. The questions intrigue the audience and is they're not answered then it'll make the audience want to continue watching to find out more.

Such as, in the 'Silence of the Lambs' there are many examples that pose questions, answer them and then most the narrative along. The scene starts in a woodland area with a woman running, we as the audience do not know who she is or why she's running. It becomes clear that she is training for something once we see the obstacle course. We hear another character call her name "Sterling", we now know her name and as she is one of the first characters to be revealed/introduced we can suspect that she plays a main part and is very significant to the text. As the character approaches we see he's wearing a FBI cap, from this it shows who both characters work for and answers the question as to why she was running and training.

As the the click progresses Sterling enter the building we later get a shot of and we wonder why shes been called in. Several characters interact with her before she enters a lift. In the lift the she stands in the middle of a group of men, this could symbolise and or foreshadow future evens and in the lift she looks slightly uncomfortable and out of place which could mean that later in the narrative she'll be placed out of her comfort zone. After getting out of the lift she walks down a corridor and another member who works there tells Sterlin that someone is waiting to see her and to wait in his office. As she waits we get several different shots of the room such as long and close ups of different newspaper article revolving around a certain investigation. This poses another question, why so much focus on the case? This could suggest that this will be the next case Sterlin is put on.