By Rianne Wright

PART A – TODOROV’S THEORY

This is a sheet we

completed in class

where we looked at

the disruptions/

conflicts and

resolutions in

different genres.

PART B – TODOROV’S THEORY:The Hunger Games

Todorov suggested there are 5 stages of

narrative:

1.Equilibrium

2.Disequlibrium

3.recognition of Disequilibrium

4.Attempt to repair disequilibrium

5.New Equilibrium

The next slides will show how Todorov’s

theory applies to the film ‘The Hunger

Games’

PART B: EQUILIBRIUM

• Equilibrium is shown in the beginning of the hunger games in the

scene where Katniss and Gale are out hunting and relaxing in the

forest.

PART B: DISEQUILIBRIUM

• Disequilibrium is shown in the scene where the reaping in taking

place.

• This is because in this scene Katniss’s sister is chosen to go into the

Hunger Games but Katniss volunteers to take her sisters place.

Peeta is also picked to enter the Hunger Games.

RECOGNITION OF DISEQUILIBRIUM

• Recognition of disequilibrium can be found in the scene where the

people taking part in the hunger games are taken into the training

room,

• It can also be found when Haymitch begins to mentor Katniss and

Peeta.

• This is because in these scenes both Peeta and Katniss have

accepted that they are going into the Hunger games.

ATTEMPT TO REPAIR DISEQUILIBRIUM

• The attempt to repair the disequilibrium can be found in the scenes

where Katniss is fighting for her life in the hunger games.

• It can also be found when Katniss and Peeta meet up again and

realise that they can win and go home together.

NEW EQUILIBRIUM

• The new equilibrium can be found when Katniss and Peeta survive

and win the hunger games.

• This is because they have returned to their old lives, however they

are not the same as before.

Levi –Strauss believed

the world is described as

binary opposites and this

is the same in movies as

we always have a villain

and a hero.

The following slides will

show how this can be a

applied to a variety of

genres.

Night and Day…

Example of a

binary opposite.

*Film Opposite 1 Opposite 2 Explanation

Batman They are opposites

because:

• Batman is good he

is the hero

• The Joker is evil

he is the villain

• Batman is trying to

save Gotham

• The Joker is

destroying it The Joker is the

evil villain from

the batman movie

Batman is the

hero, his identity

is a secret.

*

Film Opposite 1 Opposite 2 Explanation

The

Crazies

They are opposites

because:

• The man is evil and

he is trying to kill

innocent people

• The woman is

innocent and she is

trying to survive.

This character is a

zombies. He is evil as

he goes around killing

innocent people who

have not yet been

infected by the virus.

This woman is

the victim trying

to hide away

from the evil

zombie.

*

Film Opposite 1 Opposite 2 Explanation

Mission

impossible

They are opposites

because:

• Ethan is working to

stop the evil forces

• The other man is a

terrorist

• Ethan is trying to

protect the people

• The other man has

the power to kill

thousands if he

doesn’t get what

he wants.

The man (Ethan) is an

American agent

working against

terrorist and evil

forces to protect his

country

This man is a terrorist,

who want power and

money in exchange for the

safety of the people

Barthes theory is similar to Todorov’s. Barthe says that the audiences

experiences of narrative involves anticipation and experience.

Barthes identified this by codes:

•Enigma code

•Action code

•Semantic code

•Symbolic code

•Cultural code.

Barthes enigma code states that narratives set up puzzles to be

solved by the audience. These puzzles intrigue and draw in the

audience.

For example this scene from the film

Saw raises questions from the audience

like..

Who is the person on the floor?

What happened to them?

Who are all the people in the room?

These are codes of behaviours or actions that lead the audience

to expect certain consequences.

Thriller/ Mystery Romance

Action: villain holding a knife

standing behind teenage girl.

Action: couple have broken up

but still miss each other

Assumption: The girl is going to

die

Assumption: the couple will get

back together.

These are the connotative meanings of

characters, locations, objects etc.

These are symbolic features which

signify oppositions. This example is

from the film Harry Potter and the

deathly hallows part 2.The dark costume and evil facial expression

connotes that this group of people are the

villains in this film.

These features signify opposition with

the characters on the next page as it

shows that they are one the ‘bad’

side.

These are symbolic features which

signify oppositions. This example is

from the film Harry Potter and the

deathly hallows part 2.

In this scene from the film the statues are

brought to life to defend Hogwarts. The fact

that they are defending the school shows that

the are on the ‘good’ side.

In this scene a force field is created to

protect Hogwarts from the ‘dark side’.

As we can see the shield protecting the

school is a white colour which signifies

peace, good and purity.

This image shows the symbolic features of

the heroes as all the characters are

illuminated in a bright white light.

Another Example from The Lord of the Rings.

Gandalf represents

good, which the

audience can tell

because of the

colour of his clothes

(white) and his

relaxed and calm

demeanour

From this picture the

audience can tell that

this character is the

‘villain’ because of his

dark clothes, angry

facial expression and

evil disfigured face.

Outside knowledge we share to bring understanding of the meaning in a text. This often happens through references to popular culture and historical events.

The cultural code can be applied

to the film the Kings Speech

because it is based on historical

events.

The King's Speech is a British

historical drama film about King

George VI ( played by Colin firth)

who, to cope with a stammer,

sees Lionel Logue.

Propp’s theory

Propp developed a theory about the seven types of characters in

traditional classic fairy tales. He called this the ‘ seven spheres of action’

which are :

1. Hero

2. Villain

3. Dispatcher

4. Donor

5. helper

6. Heroine

7. False hero

The next slides will identify these characters in the film The hunger

games.

Propp – Hero

The hero is usually: ●On a quest/ search

●Traditionally male however today more female heroes are being seen like Katniss from The Hunger Games

Propp – villian

The villain :●Opposes the hero●Causes destruction●And often poses a threat to the safety of the heroine.

●The ultimate villain from the hunger games would be the president of Capitol as he is the person that created the hunger games.

●However there is another villain in the movie and this would be Cato as he poses a threat to the safety of both Katniss and Peeta.

Propp - dispatcher

The dispatcher usually :●Starts the hero on their way.●Is the father of the heroine.

●In the case of The Hunger Games Cinna is the dispatcher as he helps Katniss and prepares her for the hunger games.

Propp - donor

The Donor usually:

• Helps the hero by giving them a tool/gift (which could also be advice) to help them on their journey

• The donor in the Hunger games is Haymitchas he helps to prepare Katniss for the hunger games by giving her advice on what to do.

Propp - helper• As the name suggests the helper assists

the hero in restoring normality/ equilibrium

• Rue is the helper in the Hunger Games as she helps Katniss when she is hurt and takes care of her.

Propp - heroine• The Heroine is usually female – but not always

– and is a more passive and vulnerable character. The heroine often falls in love with hero

• In the Hunger Games Peeta is the heroine as he falls in love with Katniss and needed

rescuing from the Katniss.

Propp – false hero

The false hero is initially on the side of the hero but then turns against or

deceives him/her

Tempts hero away from quest.

There is no false hero in The Hunger Games, so an example of a false hero

from another movie would be Victor from the Underworld movie.

Victor is the false hero because:

•He lied to Selene (the hero) by telling her

that the lycans had killed her family when it

had been him.

•He tried to kill Selene and the man the she

loved.

Task e – key terms

The diegesis is the internal world created by the story that the

characters themselves experience and encounter.

An example of this is the film Avatar as the characters are in their own world

Diegesis

Unrestricted narration:

An unrestricted narration is one which has no limit to the information that is presented ( there is nothing hidden from the audience).

An example of this is the documentary March of the Penguins.

Narrative range –

Restricted narration:

Restricted narration only offers a restricted amount of information and this may be to create enigmas. Restricted narration is usually used in thrillers. An example of restricted narration in films is the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre as the villain is wearing a mask which means he is hiding his identity and the audience is unable to see who he is.

Narrative range -

Allan Cameron identified four types of modular narratives which are:• Forking path• Episodic• Anachronic• Split screen

As I am doing the green level I will explain the forking path, episodic and anachronic narrative.l

Modular narratives: Allan cAMERON

Forking paths juxtapose alternate version of a story, showing the possible outcomes that might result from small changes in a single even of group of events.

An example of this is in the movie Sliding Doors, where the story alternates between the character catching the train and finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman, and the character missing the train and not finding out about her boyfriend.

To understand this narrative better, the trailer for this film

explains how this forking path narrative is used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsQuNu4NBmQ&safe=active

Forking paths

This narrative involves flash-backs and flash-forwards, these

narratives also often repeat scenes directly or via a different perspective.

An example of an anachronic film is the film 4-3-2-1 as in this film the same day is shown four times but in the perspectives of four different people.

Anachronic

Episodic narratives can be organised as an abstract series or an anthology.

• Abstract series – which is structured so that all the series go in order.

• Anthology narrative – consists of a series of shorter tales which appear to be disconnected but share a random similarity.

Episodic structure can also be described as narratives that have many heroes with many goals. An example of this is the film Crash which is an anthology narrative.

Episodic

The film crash is episodic because: It features many characters that aim for their own

goals The characters – and their goals- are intertwined

with each other ( for example the shop owner and the locksmith )

Each character has their own story which doesn't appear to be connected but is.