Horror/Thriller Film Narratives

Film narrative

The narrative of a film is split up into two different sections, the plot and the story. These both make up the whole narrative.

Plot – The plot is the way the events are put together and presented to the audience

Story – The chronological order of the events and are presented by the text.

Todorov’s Theory Todorov’ theory is that all stories follow a certain structure. More often than not a story will have a beginning, middle and end. This is the basic structure for a story. Todorov said that they follow a certain structure.

Equilibrium - This is how the story begins, with the place and characters.Disruption - The disruption is the part of the story where the equilibrium is effected by an oppositional character and the story moves forward.Recognition – The recognition is where the story develops further and new characters and events are involved.The Attempts to repair - This is where there would be a twist or climatic point in the story, the main characters efforts to return to the equilibriumNew Equilibrium - The problem has been solved and the harmony and order from the first equilibrium has returned.

Propp’s TheoryVladimir Propp was a Russian and Soviet folklorist a scholar, He came up with his narrative theory after he looked a number of folk tales and came to his conclusion that they’re all made up of 31 different plot elements. He also came to a conclusion that there are 8 main basic character types which feature.

The Hero – Generally the protagonist, usually on a quest and typically have the audience’s backingThe Villain – This is the hero’s enemy, they are the antagonist and are out to disrupt the hero from his/her questThe Helper – The helper supports the hero and provides critical support during times of needThe Princess/Prize – This is what the hero is looking for and the goal which drives themThe Father – The father of the prize either gives the hero the task or opposes the heroThe Donor – The donor is an individual who gives the hero something special to aid in their quest, weapon, powers. etcThe Dispatcher – They send the hero on his/her questThe False Hero – The false hero appears to act heroically but isn't, They try to steal the attention away from the real hero

Levi Strauss TheoryLevi Strauss was a French anthropologist. His theory was based on binary opposites. This mean two different characters/forces which are typically against each other.

Examples of binary opposites are- Good & Evil- Dark & Light- Young & Old