Narrative Essay
In terms of horror films narrative is a 'chain of events' in a cause-effect relationship occurring through time- according to Bordwell & Thompson. It is also a way of organising spatial and temporal events. I will be using my summer trailer 'Don't look back' to compare and contrast the theories of horror with what i produced. The first theory i will be applying Todorov's 3 Act Structure theory. In terms of this theory, my summer trailer doesn't conform to these rules. as i didn't include a resolution as i thought that would be giving too much away and the audience wouldn't want to come and watch the film , this is my way of luring them to see the film. Therefore my summer trailer broke this narrative theory.
Todorov argued that narrative always has always had a structure. He created a 3 Act Structure, Equilibrium,Disequilibrium & Resolution. The equilibrium is when there is a point of stanility and everything is normal and calm. In my trailer this part is when my main character was just taking an afternoon nap, everything was fine. Then comes the disequilibrium, which is where the stability is disrupted by some kind of force. In regards to my trailer this was when my main character started tossing and turning in her sleep them work up to text her friends that she had been having bad dreams. Then after the disequilibrium, then comes the resolution, this is when everything gets solved and is in a new state of equilibrium. The consequences of the reaction is to change the world of the narrative/characters, so the final state isn't the same as the initial one. I did not add this element to my trailer, as i wanted to use this opportunity as a way to coax the audience into seeing the film. In some film trailers i have watched i have been able to apply Todorov's theory but it is also challenged, E.g. Insidious 1, the trailer starts with the disequilibrium then a flashback of the equilibrium comes up. therefore Todorov's theory can be challenged.
Levi Strauss argued that human understanding is based upon the system of binary opposites. Its to make the complicated world become simplified. A film needs to have two opposing characters for there to be conflict. For example Good vs Evil & Man vs Woman is always the most popular two.
In relation to my trailer, it is just a good vs evil and a man vs woman opposition, but i feel i haven't applied it effectively, as the roles are not clearly distinguished as in my summer trailer the antagonist wasn't showed. In terms if other films i have watched, binary opposites come in many different ways. e.g. in star wars the force awakens, in the fighting scene, there are many binary opposites such as the opposition of the colour of lightsabers, blue vs red. Also their clothing, the male is wearing black and the female is wearing white. This just shows the conflict within society.
Roland Barthes proposed the structuralist approach, which are narrative codes which readers use to decode texts. The action code, applies to any action that implies a further narrative action. The enigma code refers to any element in a story that isn't explained and there exists as an enigma for the audience. The semantic code is any element in a text that suggests a particular, often additional meaning by the way of connotation. Reffering back to my work, i don't believe i included this theory within my work, therefore my work isn't relevant
Last but not least, Vladmir Propp, argued that narratives always have certain character archetypes. He came up with these archetypes that seem to appear a lot in fairytales e.g. Villain, Hero, Doner &Princess. There are many movies that don't include all of these, as it was from fairytales. Fairytales are stories of morality and knowing right & wrong. Similarly, horror films can be seen as fairytales for adults. In horror you will not find characters like the princess, she may be converted to a character like the final girl.
Todorov argued that narrative always has always had a structure. He created a 3 Act Structure, Equilibrium,Disequilibrium & Resolution. The equilibrium is when there is a point of stanility and everything is normal and calm. In my trailer this part is when my main character was just taking an afternoon nap, everything was fine. Then comes the disequilibrium, which is where the stability is disrupted by some kind of force. In regards to my trailer this was when my main character started tossing and turning in her sleep them work up to text her friends that she had been having bad dreams. Then after the disequilibrium, then comes the resolution, this is when everything gets solved and is in a new state of equilibrium. The consequences of the reaction is to change the world of the narrative/characters, so the final state isn't the same as the initial one. I did not add this element to my trailer, as i wanted to use this opportunity as a way to coax the audience into seeing the film. In some film trailers i have watched i have been able to apply Todorov's theory but it is also challenged, E.g. Insidious 1, the trailer starts with the disequilibrium then a flashback of the equilibrium comes up. therefore Todorov's theory can be challenged.
Levi Strauss argued that human understanding is based upon the system of binary opposites. Its to make the complicated world become simplified. A film needs to have two opposing characters for there to be conflict. For example Good vs Evil & Man vs Woman is always the most popular two.
In relation to my trailer, it is just a good vs evil and a man vs woman opposition, but i feel i haven't applied it effectively, as the roles are not clearly distinguished as in my summer trailer the antagonist wasn't showed. In terms if other films i have watched, binary opposites come in many different ways. e.g. in star wars the force awakens, in the fighting scene, there are many binary opposites such as the opposition of the colour of lightsabers, blue vs red. Also their clothing, the male is wearing black and the female is wearing white. This just shows the conflict within society.
Roland Barthes proposed the structuralist approach, which are narrative codes which readers use to decode texts. The action code, applies to any action that implies a further narrative action. The enigma code refers to any element in a story that isn't explained and there exists as an enigma for the audience. The semantic code is any element in a text that suggests a particular, often additional meaning by the way of connotation. Reffering back to my work, i don't believe i included this theory within my work, therefore my work isn't relevant
Last but not least, Vladmir Propp, argued that narratives always have certain character archetypes. He came up with these archetypes that seem to appear a lot in fairytales e.g. Villain, Hero, Doner &Princess. There are many movies that don't include all of these, as it was from fairytales. Fairytales are stories of morality and knowing right & wrong. Similarly, horror films can be seen as fairytales for adults. In horror you will not find characters like the princess, she may be converted to a character like the final girl.
"Then comes the disequilibrium, which is where the stability is disrupted by some kind of force. In regards to my trailer this was when my main character started tossing and turning in her sleep them work up to text her friends that she had been having bad dreams. Then after the disequilibrium, then comes the resolution, this is when everything gets solved and is in a new state of equilibrium. The consequences of the reaction is to change the world of the narrative/characters, so the final state isn't the same as the initial one" (P) WHY do Teaser Trailers not follow this structure? WHY do they NOT show the Equilibrium? (E) WHERE is the MONTAGE is your Trailer and HOW does this (A) IMPACT on the LINEAR structure of Ts theory?
ReplyDelete"but i feel i haven't applied it effectively, as the roles are not clearly distinguished as in my summer trailer the antagonist wasn't showed" (P) WHY is BO so important to establish in a Teaser Trailer, and (E) WHAT would you have done to make this clearer in your use of MES and CAM on the opposing characters? (A) WHAT in a Horror film should be the Binary Opposites
"The enigma code refers to any element in a story that isn't explained and there exists as an enigma for the audience. The semantic code is any element in a text that suggests a particular, often additional meaning by the way of connotation. Referring back to my work, i don't believe i included this theory within my work, therefore my work isn't relevant" (P) There is NO POINT to this paragraph - (P) WHAT is the PURPOSE of Enigma codes and WHY are they so critical when you are making a Teaser Trailer? (A) HOW effective then is your trailer because you have no enigma in it?
"In horror you will not find characters like the princess, she may be converted to a character like the final girl. " (E) WHAT does this look like on screen in your Trailer? MES, CAM, EDIT? (A) WHAT does this suggest about your trailer if you DON'T have a VILLAIN? (A) WHAT does your Villain represent?