Narrative Theorists

Teaser Trailer

Toderov’s Narrative Theory His theory follows the idea that the narrative follows certain different stages for the protagonist.

There are five different stages: 1. A state of equilibrium. 2. Disequilibrium. 3. Recognition of disequilibrium. 4. Resolution of the disequilibrium. 5. A new state of equilibrium.

This is very similar to the ‘three-act structure’ that is a very old principle that has stuck when creating stories right up to the present day. It seems to be a highly successful method, that has worked in the past many times. Being three acts, the main five story stages can be turned into three simpler stages: setup, confrontation and resolution. It is more commonly known as the beginning, middle and end. In terms of film narrative, a feature film’s three acts can be divided further into eight different sections, or sequences, and is often referred to as “The Sequence Approach” or the “Mini-Movie Method”, alluding to the idea that the film is written in the form of 8 ‘mini-movies’ combined together to build the feature film.

For teaser trailers, this only partially works. This is because if the teaser trailer gave away the new equilibrium at the end of the film, it would therefore give away the ending of the film and spoil it, and so there would be no point of going to see the film and the teaser trailer would be unsuccessful. However, part of this narrative theory can be applied to a teaser trailer. If the trailer shows the issue/disequilibrium to be featured in the film and perhaps the attempt to find resolution, then this will be more interesting to the audience, since they will be asking questions about what may happen to the protagonist and whether or not they will be able to resolve the disequilibrium.

Levi-Strauss’s Binary Opposites Levi-Strauss theorised that film narratives need to contain

opposite themes that are alternated between in order to progress the narrative. There are two main types of these:

Conceptual opposites (themes throughout the film, e.g. good/evil) Physical opposites (physically seen in the film, e.g. light/dark)

Perhaps one of the most common examples of this in a film, is the conventional character opposites of protagonist/antagonist, which appears in many different forms in nearly every single film.

For teaser trailers, featuring these opposites works well for the audience to gain a basic idea of the narrative that will feature in the film, by showing the protagonist and the antagonist. This shows the conflict that will feature, and will make the audience wonder more about this conflict and therefore will make the teaser trailer more successful by sparking this interest and making it more likely for them to find out more about the film, and so the teaser trailer will have fulfilled its purpose.

Propp

Vladimir Propp developed many different character types that he identified whilst reading a lot of different books. His theory stated that characters have to have a narrative function, so that they help develop the plot of the story.

The main character types that are featured are: Hero (seeks something and is there to deal with the disequilibrium), villain (is in

opposition to the hero), donor (provides the hero with help in order to complete his journey) etc.

These character types all have a purpose in the story to help its development. In relation to teaser trailers, some of this theory can be applied, but it would

be likely for a teaser trailer to feature the main characters (i.e. the protagonist and supporting cast) and the antagonist for the film. This can be seen in the Superbowl teaser trailer for Jurassic World.

However, although the teaser trailer will somewhat feature the characters in order to entice the audience, by developing compelling characters, a teaser trailer will not reveal all about any of the characters, to give them a sense of mystery about them, so the audience can learn more about their journey in the film. This is seen also in the teaser for Jurassic World, since the antagonist (the Indominus Rex) is somewhat described to entice the audience, but is not physically revealed to the audience.

Barthes Barthes had a theory called the ‘Enigma Code’ and it said that media text contains

elements of mystery about them that makes the audience intrigued about it and it makes them ask questions about the text so that they will find out more about the text. This applies to other forms of media product other than film.

He also theorised about five different codes that were woven into any narrative: The Hermeneutic (HER) The Proairetic (ACT) The Semantic (SEM) The Symbolic (SYM) The Cultural (REF)

The Hermeneutic is the one informally known as the ‘Enigma Code’, since it refers to any element of the story that is not explained. This can easily be applied to teaser trailers, since teaser trailers often exclude elements of the film’s story, in order to attract an audience, so the audience can find out the answers to those questions when they watch the film.

The Proairetic code, or the ‘Action’ code, builds tension and suspense and refers to action in the media product. This code can work in conjunction with the Hermeneutic code to develop the tension and keep the audience interested. This would also work in a teaser trailer, since showing certain parts of action from the film will keep the audience interested, especially if it does work in conjunction with the Hermeneutic, since the action featured might create more questions, making the audience more eager to find out what happens. For instance, in an action scene featured in a teaser trailer, e.g. a fight/chase scene, tension is built (ACT), however, we do not see what the outcome of the fight is, and we do not know what happens to the protagonist, leaving an unanswered question and developing some intriguing enigma (HER).

Barthes (cont.)

The Semantic code refers to deeper meanings (connotations) behind certain elements. It would be more likely to see this sort of thing in a whole movie, where certain elements have greater meanings in the film, e.g. colour theory: a certain recurring colour in a film may have a deeper meaning to it, which is the connotation. However, it could perhaps be applied if a certain element is prominent to the film and important to main narrative.

The Symbolic code is very similar to SEM. However, it elaborates, and proposes the use of opposites to show contrast and deeper meaning to develop the tension and characters. This is similar to Levi-Strauss’s theory of ‘Binary Opposites’. This can be used in a teaser trailer to show the audience the antagonist in the film and the protagonist, giving the audience a basic idea of what journey the protagonist will be facing to try and defeat the antagonist and restore equilibrium, and so the audience will want to follow that journey and find out what happens (linking back to the HER code).

The Cultural code: this refers to anything in the media text that makes a reference to an external body, primarily cultural.

Conclusion

Barthes’s codes seem to have strong similarities with the other theories aforementioned. They also relate a lot to teaser trailers, so this may be worth considering when creating our teaser trailer. This will help us make more educated decisions when deciding on the elements that we will show in our teaser trailer, and if some of these theories (when applied to teaser trailers) should be followed or contradicted to better fulfil the purpose of the teaser trailer in advertising our film, to make it more successful.

References/Sources: http://

changingminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/articles/barthes_five_codes.htm

https://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/narratology/modules/barthescodes.html

http://www.elementsofcinema.com/screenwriting/three-act-structure/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CNzJ1Tq-fY