Narrative theory pt1
A spoken or written account of connected events; a story.
The primary function
of most films is to tell a story.. The mise en
scene, cinematography, editing and sound are entirely subservient to the
narrative, creating a seamless flow that centres the viewer within the story.
Narrative conventions.
Film narratives share a number of
features that audiences expect:
•The
role of the protagonist
•The
problems faced by the protagonist
•The
resolution of these problems
The leading character of a film or book or the main hero.
•Protagonist
- The protagonist is the central person in a story, and is often referred to as
the story's main character. He or she (or they) is faced with a conflict that
must be resolved. The protagonist may not always be admirable (e.g. an
anti-hero); nevertheless s/he must command involvement on the part of the
reader, or better yet, empathy.
Selfless, Brave, Smart, Calm, human, under dog
Antagonist- The adversary of the protagonist.
Narrative conventions.
The narratives of most films are centred on
one or two main protagonists
•Their
lives are disrupted by an outside event, or presence of an unfulfilled desire
•The
plot is then about removing that disruption or fulfilling that desire
•The
rest of the events in the plot are usually initiated by the protagonist and
have a clear cause and effect relationship
to other events
The Amazing Spiderman 2- overcoming the green goblin to save Gwen.
Antagonist- Uncool costume, bad and loving it, unfair advantage over protagonist as he is a demigod has magical powers
Characteristics of Walter White- Corruptible, family man, desperate, relatable
•Foil - A foil is any character (usually the antagonist or an important supporting character) whose
personal qualities contrast with another character (usually the protagonist). By providing this
contrast, we get to know more about the other character.
Holmes brings out the humanness in Watson as he shows all the emotion where as Holmes is all logic and knowledge.
They are both intelligent however, Holmes sees more into cases than Watson does.
Holmes is the instigator and Watson tags along.
Todorov’s
theory (Equilibrium
and Dis-equilibrium)
Todorov in 1969 produced a theory which he
believed to be able to be applied to any film. He believed that all films
followed the same narrative pattern. They all went through stages:
•the equilibrium,
•disequilibrium,
•acknowledgement,
•solving
•and again
equilibrium.
Maleficent
Equilibrium- Maleficent as a young girl flying around greeting all the creatures of the forest having a good time.
Disequilibrium- Maleficent has her wings cut off but also when Maleficent curses Sleeping Beauty.
Acknowledgement- When Maleficent wakes up to find her wings are gone and when the fairies try to find true loves kiss.
Solving- When her wings are restored but also when she promises Sleeping Beauty that no harm will come to her.
The equilibrium is that Maleficent returns the kingdom to the happy place it was, however, all is not as it seems.
Bordwell and Thompson- Narrative, as defined by Bordwell, is a chain of events occurring in
time and space. In creating a narrative there must be an action, which begins as a series of
events that occur over a period of time in one or more spaces and finally end in a changed
state.
•Story time: the earliest event referred to in a film to the latest event.
•Plot time: the earliest event that the audience see in the film to the latest event
•Screen time: the actual playing time of the film.
•Examples include Pulp fiction, Another 24 hours, Gladiator, Cloud Atlas, The Terminator, etc.
Vladimir Propp’s (1928) the Morphology of the Folk Tale.
•Identified 32 categories of action which he called “functions”
•Identified a set of basic “spheres of action” or character roles.
•The character roles help to provide structure for the (media) text.
•The character roles perform a certain function.
Vladimir Propp’s - 8 character roles
•The hero, who is the character who seeks something
•The villain, who opposes or bocks the hero’s quest.
•The donor, who provides an object which has some magical property
•The dispatcher who sends the hero on his way by providing a message.
•The false hero, who disrupts the hero’s hope of reward by pressing false claims.
•The helper who aids the hero
•The princess, who acts as a reward for the hero and as an object of the villains scheming
•The father who acts to reward the hero for his efforts.
Vladimir Propp’s – Actions as functions:
The 31 functions are as follows:
Preparation: A community, kingdom, family; an ordered state of being.
•A member of a family /community leaves home (the hero is introduced as a unique person
within the tribe, whose needs may not be met by remaining)
•A warning is given to the community or its leaders/ a rule is imposed on the hero (a command
NOT to do something e.g.'don't go there', 'go to this place’)
•The hero ignores the warning/the rule is broken.
•The villain attempts to discover something about the victim.
•The villain discovers the required information.
•The villain attempts to deceive the victim to gain an advantage (trickery; villain disguised, tries
to win confidence of victim);
•The victim is deceived by the villain and unwittingly helps him/her (or the enemy);
Complication
•A state of disorder. Villain harms a member of the family/communiity
•One of the family/community desires something
•Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched to find what is desired).
•The hero plans action against the villain.
Transference
•Hero leaves home;
•Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc; he meets the challenger and receives a magical agent
or a helper;
•Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles
disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against them);
•Hero arrives at or is transferred to the place where he will fulfill his quest.
Struggle
•There is a struggle in a specific setting between hero and villain.
•Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
•Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, banished);
•The state of disorder is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person
revived, captive freed);
Return
•Hero returns;
•Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
•Hero escapes or is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero
saved from attempt on his/her life);
•Hero arrives at home or at some other place and is not recognised.
•False hero presents unfounded claims;
•Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other
tasks);
•The task is accomplished;
Recognition
•Hero is recognised (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
•False hero or villain is exposed;
•Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc);
•Villain is punished;
•Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).
1. The Villain - Scar, he is the villain as he acts as Simba's friend and forces him out of the pride
land but he is punished at the end.
2. The Donor - Rafiki, because he has magical powers which he uses to show Simba he is the
rightful king.
3. The Helper - Timon+Pumba, they both help him at his lowest point and are his friends.
4. The Princess - Nala, she is the princess as she loves Simba and she's sweet and caring.
5. The Father (in this case mother) - Sarafina,
6. The Dispatcher - Nala/Scar
7. The Hero - Simba, He is the rightful king after his fathers death and he reveals Scar.
8. The False Hero - Scar
Villain- Ronan, he wants the the power rings and is looking to destroy the galaxy but is revealed and destroyed by the guardians at the end of the film.
Donor- Groot, he is a tree/plant like being who uses is power and creates a shield to protect the others whilst sacrificing his own life.
Helper- There is no real helper as they are group with each of equal significance and so in
essence the protagonists are helpers to each other.
Princess- Gamora, she is not the stereotypical princess however, she is the main protagonists Peter Quill's love interest, but she is a strong independent woman who can more than fend for herself.
Father- Again there is no real father within this film but the government within the universe grant the heroes their freedom.
Dispatcher- The dispatcher is a man on the black market who is called the collector and he shows him the true power of the orb.
False Hero- Yondu the mercenary that kidnaps Peter and only uses him for his personal gain
and money but pretends to treat him like a son.
Narrative Theory 4: Lévi-Strauss
He argued that all meaning-making, not just narratives, depend on binary oppositions – a
conflict between two sides/qualities which are opposites.
E.G. Westerns where there can be many binary oppositions such as:
–Cowboys Indians
–Settlers natives
–Christian Pagan
–domestic savage
–weak strong
–garden wilderness
–The law outlaws
–helpless dangerous
–clothed naked
–whites redskins
–telegraph smoke signals
Narrative Theory 4: Lévi-Strauss
He argued that all meaning-making, not just narratives, depend on binary oppositions – a
conflict between two sides/qualities which are opposites.
Ads. use binary oppositions such as
Spots Clearasil
Dirty Persil,
Daz/ Brand X,
Young Old,
Dandruff Head & Shoulders,etc.
Myths use binary oppositions all the time such as
–God Devil,
–Good Evil.
Batman-Joker
These two are opposites, as although they do both portray darker sides of reality. Batman has rules that uses to have a sense of morality, where as, the Joker has no rules, its whatever it takes to get the job done and it always has to b chaotic with no real plan.
Optimus Prime-Megatron
Spider-Man- Green Goblin
Equilibrium- Maleficent as a young girl flying around greeting all the creatures of the forest having a good time.
Disequilibrium- Maleficent has her wings cut off but also when Maleficent curses Sleeping Beauty.
Acknowledgement- When Maleficent wakes up to find her wings are gone and when the fairies try to find true loves kiss.
Solving- When her wings are restored but also when she promises Sleeping Beauty that no harm will come to her.
The equilibrium is that Maleficent returns the kingdom to the happy place it was, however, all is not as it seems.
Bordwell and Thompson- Narrative, as defined by Bordwell, is a chain of events occurring in
time and space. In creating a narrative there must be an action, which begins as a series of
events that occur over a period of time in one or more spaces and finally end in a changed
state.
•Story time: the earliest event referred to in a film to the latest event.
•Plot time: the earliest event that the audience see in the film to the latest event
•Screen time: the actual playing time of the film.
•Examples include Pulp fiction, Another 24 hours, Gladiator, Cloud Atlas, The Terminator, etc.
Vladimir Propp’s (1928) the Morphology of the Folk Tale.
•Identified 32 categories of action which he called “functions”
•Identified a set of basic “spheres of action” or character roles.
•The character roles help to provide structure for the (media) text.
•The character roles perform a certain function.
Vladimir Propp’s - 8 character roles
•The hero, who is the character who seeks something
•The villain, who opposes or bocks the hero’s quest.
•The donor, who provides an object which has some magical property
•The dispatcher who sends the hero on his way by providing a message.
•The false hero, who disrupts the hero’s hope of reward by pressing false claims.
•The helper who aids the hero
•The princess, who acts as a reward for the hero and as an object of the villains scheming
•The father who acts to reward the hero for his efforts.
Vladimir Propp’s – Actions as functions:
The 31 functions are as follows:
Preparation: A community, kingdom, family; an ordered state of being.
•A member of a family /community leaves home (the hero is introduced as a unique person
within the tribe, whose needs may not be met by remaining)
•A warning is given to the community or its leaders/ a rule is imposed on the hero (a command
NOT to do something e.g.'don't go there', 'go to this place’)
•The hero ignores the warning/the rule is broken.
•The villain attempts to discover something about the victim.
•The villain discovers the required information.
•The villain attempts to deceive the victim to gain an advantage (trickery; villain disguised, tries
to win confidence of victim);
•The victim is deceived by the villain and unwittingly helps him/her (or the enemy);
Complication
•A state of disorder. Villain harms a member of the family/communiity
•One of the family/community desires something
•Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched to find what is desired).
•The hero plans action against the villain.
Transference
•Hero leaves home;
•Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc; he meets the challenger and receives a magical agent
or a helper;
•Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles
disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against them);
•Hero arrives at or is transferred to the place where he will fulfill his quest.
Struggle
•There is a struggle in a specific setting between hero and villain.
•Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
•Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, banished);
•The state of disorder is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person
revived, captive freed);
Return
•Hero returns;
•Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
•Hero escapes or is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero
saved from attempt on his/her life);
•Hero arrives at home or at some other place and is not recognised.
•False hero presents unfounded claims;
•Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other
tasks);
•The task is accomplished;
Recognition
•Hero is recognised (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
•False hero or villain is exposed;
•Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc);
•Villain is punished;
•Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).
1. The Villain - Scar, he is the villain as he acts as Simba's friend and forces him out of the pride
land but he is punished at the end.
2. The Donor - Rafiki, because he has magical powers which he uses to show Simba he is the
rightful king.
3. The Helper - Timon+Pumba, they both help him at his lowest point and are his friends.
4. The Princess - Nala, she is the princess as she loves Simba and she's sweet and caring.
5. The Father (in this case mother) - Sarafina,
6. The Dispatcher - Nala/Scar
7. The Hero - Simba, He is the rightful king after his fathers death and he reveals Scar.
8. The False Hero - Scar
Villain- Ronan, he wants the the power rings and is looking to destroy the galaxy but is revealed and destroyed by the guardians at the end of the film.
Donor- Groot, he is a tree/plant like being who uses is power and creates a shield to protect the others whilst sacrificing his own life.
Helper- There is no real helper as they are group with each of equal significance and so in
essence the protagonists are helpers to each other.
Princess- Gamora, she is not the stereotypical princess however, she is the main protagonists Peter Quill's love interest, but she is a strong independent woman who can more than fend for herself.
Father- Again there is no real father within this film but the government within the universe grant the heroes their freedom.
Dispatcher- The dispatcher is a man on the black market who is called the collector and he shows him the true power of the orb.
and money but pretends to treat him like a son.
Narrative Theory 4: Lévi-Strauss
He argued that all meaning-making, not just narratives, depend on binary oppositions – a
conflict between two sides/qualities which are opposites.
E.G. Westerns where there can be many binary oppositions such as:
–Cowboys Indians
–Settlers natives
–Christian Pagan
–domestic savage
–weak strong
–garden wilderness
–The law outlaws
–helpless dangerous
–clothed naked
–whites redskins
–telegraph smoke signals
Narrative Theory 4: Lévi-Strauss
He argued that all meaning-making, not just narratives, depend on binary oppositions – a
conflict between two sides/qualities which are opposites.
Ads. use binary oppositions such as
Spots Clearasil
Dirty Persil,
Daz/ Brand X,
Young Old,
Dandruff Head & Shoulders,etc.
Myths use binary oppositions all the time such as
–God Devil,
–Good Evil.
Batman-Joker
These two are opposites, as although they do both portray darker sides of reality. Batman has rules that uses to have a sense of morality, where as, the Joker has no rules, its whatever it takes to get the job done and it always has to b chaotic with no real plan.
Optimus Prime-Megatron
These two are binary opposites as Optimus fights to keep the human race alive but Megatron tries to wipe it out to try and restore Cybertron. Although Optimus would like to see his home planet restored he does not believe it should mean another should die because of this.
Spider-Man- Green Goblin
Spider-man is there to protect the people of New York out of a sense of responsibility. The Green Goblin however, feels that the people need to suffer and is mentally insane, where as Spider-Man is very noble. Within all these examples the antagonists are the binary opposites of the protagonist to make them seem relatable and to make the task they have at hand seem that much harder. 
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