assignment 7 film narrative
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Aassignment7: Narrative & Film Theory Research!
By Gledis Dedaj
Film Narrative Definition?
• What is Film Narrative?• Narrative is best described as the art of
storytelling.• But when applied to Film it involves a number of
conventions such as:• Genre • Character • Form • Time
• Film Narrative is the way in which a story is pieced together for the viewing of an audience.
• The different narratives for film employ a different message and theme.
Tzvetan Todorov-General information!
• He was a French philosopher.• He was a Bulgarian literary theorist.• He came up with the idea of
equilibrium.• Claimed all stories had a basic
structure based on equilibrium.
Tzvetan Todorov (narrative film theorist:
narrative structure) • Tzvetan Todorov put together the theory of the 'Classic Hollywood narrative'.
• Todorov believed that a narrative came in three stages: Equilibrium:
•Everything begins with this.
•At this point any potentially opposing forces are balanced .
Disequilibrium:
•This occurs when something disrupts
the equilibrium .
•The equilibrium is disrupted by an
event, setting off a chain of events.
New Equilibrium:•This occurs when the equilibrium is finally restored.
•This comes at the end, when all problems are
resolved.•His Theory is the more formal way of looking at the beginning, middle and end of a film.
•It takes into account Aristotle's theory - All drama is conflict thus there is a disequilibrium
at the heart of every narrative.
Films Supporting Tzvetan Todorov’s
theory!• Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five different stages:
1. A state of equilibrium and stability – at the start.2. A disruption of the equilibrium by an event or action.3. A recognition that there has been a disruption.4. An attempt to repair the disruption.5. The equilibrium is finally reinstated.
• His theory concentrates on the response generated by "fantastic" events that occur in films.
• His theory is used in films such as:
•The descent
•The Hangover
•The Burbs
The Decent- Tzvetan Todorov’s theory!
Stage : 1 – State of Equilibrium
A year after an accident a group of
women go to a cabin for a Cave exploring
adventure.
Stage : 2 - Disequilibrium
Their friend leads them to a different, never before seen cave.
They become trapped and attempt to discover a route out the cave.
Stage : 3 – New Equilibrium
One of the characters kills some of the
demons and manages to escape
the cave.
However this is just the character’s
dream, she wakes up still in the cave
The Hangover- Tzvetan Todorov’s theory!
Stage : 1 – State of Equilibrium
Group of friends go to Vegas
together for a bachelor party for their friend who is getting married in a
couple of days.
Stage : 2 – Disequilibrium
They wake up after a heavy night of partying and cant remember a
thing. They soon realise that the friend that was meant to be
getting married is missing and they don’t
know where he is.
Stage : 3 – New Equilibrium
The manage to find their friend and get him to his wedding on time without
anyone knowing what happened.
The Burbs- Tzvetan Todorov’s theory!
Stage : 1 – State of
Equilibrium
The main character lives
in a happy quiet
neighbourhood in the suburbs.
Stage : 2 – Disequilibrium
The character and his friends become
suspicious of the new neighbours and
become convinced that they killed
someone on their street so they start to snoop around and get
caught.
Stage : 3 – New Equilibrium
It turns out their neighbour is not
dead but was away in hospital,
however the main character manages to prove that the new neighbours
are murderers and they get arrested.
Claude Levi-Strauss (narrative film theorist:
narrative conflict) • General Information:
• He was a social Anthropologist.• He studied myths of tribal cultures. • Studied how stories automatically reflect
the values, belief and myth of the culture. • He states that in any narrative there is a
constant creation of conflict/opposition that pushes the narrative forward.
Claude Levi-Strauss’ approach to Narrative
• Strauss saw that we make sense of the world, people and events by seeing and using binary opposition everywhere. He observed that all narratives are organised around the conflict between such binary opposites.
Examples of Binary Opposites: •Good Vs. Bad •Protagonist Vs. Antagonist •Black Vs. White •Actions Vs. Inaction •Peace Vs. War •Motivator Vs. Observer •Young Vs. Old •East Vs. West
Films with Binary Oppositions
• Superman:• Good Vs. Bad
• Hotel Rwanda: • War Vs. Peace
Batman:
•Protagonist Vs. Antagonist
Vladimir Propp
•General Information:• He was a Russian critic and literary theorist • He analysed over 100 Russian fairy- tales in
the 1920’s • He says that it is likely to classify the
characters and their actions into clearly defined roles and function
• He states that all fairytales have common narrative structures and character functions.
Vladimir Propp-Characters
• The Hero• The Helper• The Villain• The False Hero• The Donor• The Dispatcher• The Princess• The Princess's Father
The Matrix
• Neo• Trinity• Morphues• Sypher • Agents
•The hero
•The princess
•The helper
•The dispatcher
•The donor
•False hero
•Villain