Narrative Theory

Vladimir Propp: This is the theory that there are defined characters roles. He originally did research into character roles in fairy tales. It shows that there is a similarity in two stories that are completely different. The roles that Propp suggested are;
The Hero - Has a quest
The Villain - Against the hero
The Donor- Helps the hero by giving them something
The Dispatcher- Send the hero off
The false hero- Assumes the role of the hero, but only temporarily
The Helper- gives aid to the hero
The Princess- The reward for the hero

In modern day stories/films, the character roles are not that clearly defined and some are missing however, they can be adjusted in a way that most stories contain these roles. Our film/film trailer contains a villain- Owen, a hero- Katie and a princess- Chloe.

Tzvetan Todorov: His theory was that films have distinct sections to them. They start with an equilibrium where everything is fine, then there is something that disrupts this, a disequilibrium and then the problem is solved causing a new equilibrium. Our film follows this as Chloe and Owen are in a relationship, this is the equilibrium, there is a disequilibrium where Katie tries to help Chloe to escape from the relationship because Owen is being too controlling, and the New equilibrium is where Owen finally gets rid of Katie and can go back to just him and Chloe's relationship.

Roland Barthes: This is the theory that there are action codes and enigma codes. Action codes show the audience what the resolution will be/ what is happening and this is shown clearly. Enigma codes are used to not give away anything to the audience but instead to give clues like a riddle so they audience have to wait to see what the outcome is. An example of an enigma code in our film is what will happen to Katie. An action code is that Owen is willing to do anything to keep him and Chloe happy.

Claude Levi-Strauss: The theory of binary opposites was developed by Levi-Strauss and can be used not only in films but in many contexts in media. Binary opposites are two conflicts in values or behaviours. Some popular examples are Good vs Evil, Men vs Women and Weak vs Strong. In our film, Katie and Owen are binary opposites as they believe in treating Chloe differently and are fighting for their own reasons.