Narrative theory

Narrative theory

A narrative theory aims to explain how the plot line of a film works, the conventions which make it most effective and the way in which it is structured. There are three different types of narrative theory, Propp's theory, Todorov's theory and a theory proposed by Aristotle.

Vladimir Propp proposed a theory which explains the structure which a fairytale film follows. He believed that the actual narrative of the film was irrelevant, what made a successful film was the characters which featured in the plot, all of which perform a function.

The characters that he listed were:

• Hero: the character which seeks something in the film, trying to reach a goal or target. 
• The Villain: who opposes and attempts to block the hero's quest.
• Donor: provides an object with magical qualities.
• The Dispatcher: sends the hero on his/her quest via message
• The False Hero: disrupts the hero's success by making false claims.
• The Helper: aids the hero.
• The Princess: acts as the reward for the hero and is the key to the villain's motives.
• Her father: rewards the hero for his effort in defeating the villain.

As well as these character types there are certain conditions which must apply to the storyline for it to follow Propp's theory:

• A family, kingdom or community is in a state of order and everything is the way it should be.
• A member of this family, kingdom or community must leave home.
• A warning will then be given to the leaders of the community, or the hero receives a rule to follow. 
• The villain will attempt to discover something about the victim of the broken rule. 
• The villain will try to deceive the victim to gain their advantage towards the goal.
• The victim will unknowingly aid the villain in their quest.

There will also always be some kind of complication which will prevent the hero from completing their quest. For example:

• A state of disorder
• The villain harms a member of the community
• One of the members of the community desires something/aims to reach a goal
• The hero embarks on a quest to reach their goal, or get what they desire.
• The hero also plans actions against the villain, to disrupt them and prevent them from getting to the target first. 

However, this narrative theory can only be applied to fairytale like films, such as Shrek, where there is character roles which meet all of Propp's criteria. This is the case as it would be impossible to apply the role of the Donor to a typical romantic comedy, as these are set in every day life, where magical objects are simply things of fantasy and childhood imagination.

The second narrative theory was proposed by Tzvetan Todorov, in which the theory of narrative was simplified, and stating that character types were irrelevant, instead what made a successful narrative was decided by the state of equilibrium and disequilibrium within the film. 

At the beginning of the film, the characters will be in a state of equilibrium, everything is the way it should be, for example Sidney Prescott, the main protagonist from the 1996 thriller Scream is laying comfortably on her sofa before even realising that she may be the next target of the mystery killer of two students from her school.
This calm state of equilibrium is then disrupted by an event which changes the state to that of a disequilibrium, where things are not the way they should be, and in thriller films, the character becoming distressed. As in the example of Scream, Sidney's equilibrium is disrupted when she realises that she is the next intended victim of the attacker, as she receives mysterious phone calls and fights for her life in a violent pursuit from the masked attacker.
The state of disequilibrium is rectified when the identity of the attacker is revealed, their motives exposed and they are brought to justice, either in death, or arrest.
In the case of Scream, Sidney's attackers Billy Loomis and Stu Macher reveal themselves and their twisted motives to Sidney, before they are finally stopped as she kills them both. 

The third, and last narrative theory was proposed by Aristotle, who said that what was important to films was not the characters or state of equilibrium, it was in fact different themes which appear throughout the film.
These themes include:

• An indicating incident: the cause of all the drama in the film
• A dramatic question
• A character goal: what the main protagonist is working towards throughout the film, i.e. justice in the face of the attacker.
• An antagonist and protagonist
• Stakes
• Resolution
• Sympathy and empathy

Aristotle suggested that a successful film would feature all, or most of these themes, and that they were more important to the film and narrative than the characters or equilibrium. 

My thriller film will follow the narrative theory proposed by Todorov. From the narrative ideas I have compiled so far, I aim to begin my opening sequence in a state of equilibrium, where the female victim does not know that anything is wrong, or have any clue what is about to happen to her, as she sits doing her homework alone.
This state of equilibrium will be interrupted when the victim is confronted by the attacker for the first time, meeting an early, and violent demise. As the attacker enters the room and the victim realises that she is in danger, the disequilibrium is formed.
Although the opening sequence will not feature the resolution, and therefore new found state of equilibrium, the audience will be left assuming that this will take place, through public general knowledge surrounding the nature of thriller films. My narrative idea would be left in the state of disequilibrium, causing the audience feel eager to see the end of the film, and find out the resolution.