narrative theory

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Theories about narrative structure. Narrative The story of the film. Narrative Structure The way the story is told. 3 ways narrative can be structured: Circular The film begins with the end. E.g: Titanic, the story is seen through a series of flashbacks Episodic Where the film is seen in chapters. E.g: Forrest Gump, the film is broken up into sections/chapters. Linear Straight. E.g: Fairy Tales, they have an obvious beginning, middle and end. Tzvetan Todorov “ All narratives follow the basic structure: Equilibrium Disequilibrium Equilibrium” Todorov proposed that all narrative includes 5 fundamental stages: 1. Equilibrium(everything is as it should be) 2. Disequilibrium (something goes wrong) 3. Acknowledgement of disruption 4. Attempt to repair disruption 5. Equilibrium (everything is as it should be again) A film that supports Todorov’s theory is Along Came a Spider (2001). The 5 fundamental stages for this film would be: 1. Maggie is at school as normal. 2. She gets kidnapped. 3. Cross is pulled off murder case to investigate kidnap. 4. Secret service man attempts to help Cross. 5. Cross kills antagonist and saves girl. Examples of films that challenge this theory are Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, these follow a more circular and episodic structure.

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Page 1: Narrative Theory

Theories about narrative structure. Narrative ­ The story of the film. Narrative Structure ­ The way the story is told. 3 ways narrative can be structured: Circular ­ The film begins with the end. E.g: Titanic, the story is seen through a series of flashbacks Episodic ­ Where the film is seen in chapters. E.g: Forrest Gump, the film is broken up into sections/chapters. Linear ­ Straight. E.g: Fairy Tales, they have an obvious beginning, middle and end. Tzvetan Todorov “ All narratives follow the basic structure: Equilibrium Disequilibrium Equilibrium” Todorov proposed that all narrative includes 5 fundamental stages: 1. Equilibrium(everything is as it should be) 2. Disequilibrium (something goes wrong) 3. Acknowledgement of disruption 4. Attempt to repair disruption 5. Equilibrium (everything is as it should be again) A film that supports Todorov’s theory is Along Came a Spider (2001). The 5 fundamental stages for this film would be: 1. Maggie is at school as normal. 2. She gets kidnapped. 3. Cross is pulled off murder case to investigate kidnap. 4. Secret service man attempts to help Cross. 5. Cross kills antagonist and saves girl. Examples of films that challenge this theory are Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, these follow a more circular and episodic structure.

Page 2: Narrative Theory

Vladimir Propp Propp created the theory that every narrative has 7 character types. Hero ­ The person who ‘saves the day’, or protagonist. Villain ­ Also known as antagonist Donor ­ This person helps the hero by giving him/her a clue. Helper ­ Like a sidekick, helps the hero. False Hero ­ At the beginning seems like a hero, but in the end is ‘evil’ and not on hero’s side. Dispatcher ­ Acts as a mentor. E.g: Nick Fury with the Avengers, he sets them their task and how to accomplish it. Princess ­ The character the hero rescues. Another character which could also be considered is the Princess’s Father, who would be dominant and someone who the hero feels inferior to. In gangster films, sometimes it is hard to determine who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist. This is because the ‘leader’ if you say, is the first character we meet, and in other genres, this is known as the protagonist. However, in gangster films the main gangster takes part in violent crime, drug dealing, and many more extreme crimes. A film that supports Propp’s theory is The Amazing Spider Man; for example:

The Hero ­ Peter Parker/Spiderman

The Princess ­ Gwen Stacy

Page 3: Narrative Theory

The Villain/Protagonist ­ The Lizard

The Princess’s Father ­ Captain Stacy Claude Levi ­ Strauss Claude Levi ­ Strauss suggests that all narratives are based around conflict of binary oppositions. For Example: Good ­ Evil Weak ­ Strong/Power Young ­ Old Male ­ Female An example of this for the gangster genre could be: Crime ­ Justice Rich ­ Poor. Strauss’s theory enables the audience to see conflicts and relationships between the two binary opposites. In gangster films rich Vs poor is very common as gangsters ambitions are to become very wealthy in order to become more powerful in the city. Examples for Strauss’s theory would be the whole gangster genre really, as gangsters are superior to many people in terms of wealth, power and age (the older the gangster, the more power they seem to have due to experience/time in the business).

Page 4: Narrative Theory

What narrative structure will I use in my work? For my narrative, I think I will focus on a circular structure. This is because often in gangster films, such as Reservoir Dogs, circular narrative is shown to inform the audience what the film is truly about. However, this can often confuse the audience and therefore leads to them not truly understanding the film until the end; this can be seen in Pulp Fiction. I want to do this as is sets a scene full of action within the first 2 minutes or so, putting the audience on the ‘edge of their seat’. Also, I feel that as I am creating only a gangster film opening, I am at a disadvantage for portraying the narrative of my film across. Therefore I think that circular structure will be useful in engaging the audience and portraying the message of my film.