NarrativeMonique Day

The narrative is what shapes the film, book or play. It is through the narrative that the genre, themes, representations, social issues or moral message can be portrayed to the audience in an engaging way.

A narrative structure is what majority of films, books or plays have in common. For example many films have a linear structure of beginning middle and end. Or we could say that the structure of many Hollywood films usually ends with a happy ending. There are many theorists such as Vladimir Propp, Todorov, Ronald Barthes etc. Who offer a different accounts of how typical narratives are formed.

Todorov's narrative theory  Todorov’s narrative theory basically states that most story's or

plot lines follow the same pattern or path. Which is as followed:

1) A stage of equilibrium - Everything is as it should be. 2) A disruption of order by an event.  3) A recognition that the disorder has occurred. 4) An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption5) A return or Restoration of a new equilibrium 

The stages to this theory create a circular structure as opposed to a linear structure. This type of narrative structure is very common and can be applied to many mainstream film narratives.

When looking at some of the most famous narratives we can see how Todorov’s theory works.Here is an example of how I applied it to the story of little red riding hood.

Positives and negatives This theory is very clear and easy to use when creating

your own narrative. Following the steps can help you make a narrative interesting with as many turn of events as you want.

However sticking to the five steps can take away your freedom to be creative with the narrative. Since many films and books have this similar narrative style the audience may find it predictable.

Also since short films usually have a limited number of characters and running time, a narrative that follows each step usually becomes long. So perhaps using this technique for a short film would become tricky.

Two Cars One Night Not all narratives follow the same theory or style. Some narratives challenge the

theory.  The narrative of ‘two cars one night’ seems to conform to Todorov’s Theory of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium at the beginning of the film, however it drifts away from the theory half way through.

1. Equilibrium: The boys are in the car at an empty car park waiting for their parents. (Everything is as it should be)

2. Disequilibrium: A car pulls up beside with a girl waiting in it. (Disruption of order)

3. Recognition: (Recognition that the disruption has occurred) The boy shouts out to the girl and is rude.4. Repair: (An attempt to repair

the damage of disruption) The girl shouts back and is rude also. They are now even in terms of child-play.

5. New equilibrium: Now that the boy and girl have got each other back, they introduce their self to each other.

... However it rebels against Todorovs theory by failing to repeat each step over again. Instead the narrative expands on the new equilibrium – ‘Everything remains as it should’ be for the rest of the narrative. There is no significant turn of events, twist or happy ending to the film. It simply just ends. This choice of narrative method creates an effective naturalistic ending to the film. It portrays real life accurately, as life doesn't always seem to go to ‘plan’, we don't always get the ending we want, its not something we can predict. The narrative also supports the writers intentions of the film, which is to capture the small things in life which have a big impact on us, as the storyline remains simple but very effective.

Vladimir Propp In the 1920s Vladimir Propp analysed a whole series of Russian folk tales and noticed that

they were all very similar. He decided that the same events kept on occurring in each of the stories, creating a consistent framework.

He then claimed that the characters take up the role of the narrative and that there are 7 specific characters necessary to do this.

1. The hero 2. the villain 3. The donor – gives the hero something to aid them4. The helper – also aids the hero5. The damsel in distress – normally the victim of the villain 6. The dispatcher – sends the hero on their journey7. The false hero – appears to be good but turns out bad at the end

After Propp analysed the Folk tales he broke them down into narratemes or narrative functions , which he claims are events which drive the narrative forward. He gives a list of 31 functions, and claims that not every single function appears in every narratcive , however those which do appear are always in the order that he lists them in.

Vladimir ProppPropp’s theory, like Todorov’s, can be very easy to

follow and use. The characters and their roles are already listed and 31 turn of events are listed for you to chose from and follow. However , following this narrative structure would limit your creativity and prevent you from creating something original. It would also be very difficult to follow this structure for a short film, since short film usually only have 3-4 characters rather than 7 and the running length of short films are too short to follow the function list which Propp provides.

Narrative structure for our film

For our short film we decided not to follow Todorov’s and Propp’s narrative theory because we wanted to be creative and produce something original. We decided to follow a non-linear narrative structure where there isn't a clear begging middle and end. This would reflect the disorientation in the characters life and mind as he suffers from mental illness. The structure will also conform to an ‘open structure’ where the audience is left wondering and they have to make sense of the narrative themselves. The plot will jump back to the beginning at the end of the film to allow the audience to understand the plot as a whole. This structure would be effective in keeping the audience engaged and asking questions throughout. It will prevent them from reaching escapism and getting lost in the story , instead keeping them focused on understanding the social message that is being portrayed.

This structure conforms to Ronald Bathes theory of the five codes, as it will use the enigma code. This is where clues are given throughout the film creating a mystery and forcing the audience to make sense of the film themselves. There is no clear answer given and we do this in our film by having a lack of dialogue and leaving out parts of the narrative until the end when all is revealed.