ASSIGNMENT 7: NARRATIVE & FILM THEORY Research Assignment:

Sanel Homer

What is Narrative?

Narrative- is kind of retelling the story of something that happened but not the story of itself but the telling of the story.

Type of Narrative

Closed Narrative:1. The viewers are aware that they are watching a whole

story2. There are small number of dominant character3. The characters are place in the hierarchy of importance 4. Audience are invited to make judgments on the

characters 5. Time is beaten and not with the actual time 6. In a specific story times and events are special and not

related to the outside world 7. Audience regularly has evidence about the characters

but from only one single text

Type of Narrative

Open Narrative:1. There are more then one story lines 2. There are many more characters- characters

move in and out of fame and narrative meaning3. Time is more in order and more with the world

time4. The modern and postmodern text are often

linked between dissimilar piece of the narrative required and work on the parts of the viewers so they can understand the concept.

For example

The narrative demonstrates one of the character as an old women who then spreads her story of the deep-sea linear

Tzvetan Todorov

• He was a was a French philosopher • He was a Bulgarian literary theorist• He came up with the idea of equilibrium• Claimed all stories had a basic structure based on

equilibrium

Key Terms

Equilibrium: It is when there is an equal balance between any powers, influences and the equality of effect.

Disequilibrium : It is a state in which things are not stable or certain, but are likely to change sudden or

be disrupted.

New Equilibrium: A restoration of balance and is found at the end of the narrative.

Todorov’s approach of narrative

Todorov suggest that narrative are organised in 5 stages:

1. A state of equilibrium (state of normality- good, bad or neutral)

2. A disruption of the equilibrium (a character or an action)3. The main Protagonist know that the equilibrium has been

disrupted 4. Character tries to correct this in order to restore

equilibrium5. Equilibrium is given back but, because casual change have

happened, there are differences (good, bad or neutral) from original equilibrium, which establish it as a new equilibrium.

Applying Tordorov’s Theory

Equilibrium Disruption Resolution

Stage 1: Equilibrium

Stage 2: DisruptionStage 3: Resolution

One of the protagonist character is a lonely wedding planners who’s looking for ‘Mr Right’

The journalist and the girl Falls in love and screws the articleAbout the women

Applying Tordorov’s Theory

Stage 1: Equilibrium

One of the main characters are suppose to be getting married, two days before a ‘stag do’ him and his friend decided to go to Las Vegas.

Stage 2: Disruption The wake up one morning not knowing what happen the night before because they were drugged. The groom was missing so they all went out o search for him.

Stage 3: Resolution

They find their friend and returned home in time for the wedding.

Claude Levi-Strauss

• He was a social Anthropologist • He studied myths of tribal cultures• Studied how stories automatically reflect the

values, belief and myth of the culture.• He states that in any narrative there is a constant

creation of conflict/opposition that pushes the narrative forwards

Key Terms

Binary opposition: is an opposite of two extremes.

Claude Levi-Strauss approach to Narrative

• Levi-Strauss saw that we make sense of the world, people and events by seeing and using binary opposition everywhere.

He observed that all narratives are organised around the conflict between such binary opposites.

Examples of Binary Opposites

• Good Vs. Bad • Protagonist vs. antagonist

• Black vs. White • Actions vs. inaction

• Peace vs. War • Motivator Vs. Observer

• Young vs. Old • East vs. West

• Peace vs. War

• Good Vs. Bad

Example OF Binary Opposites Film

Vladimir Propp

• He was a Russian critic and literary theorist• He analysed over 100 Russian fairy-tale in

the 1920’s• He says that it is likely to classify the

characters and their actions into clearly defined roles and function

• He states that all fairy tales have common narrative structures and character functions.

Vladimir Propp

He developed a character theory for studying media texts. There were 8 broads character types in the 100 tale he analysed:

1. The Villain (opposes the hero)

2. The Dispatcher (who sends the hero on its way)

3. The Helper (who aids the hero)

4. The Princess Or Prize (the reward for the hero)

5. Her Father (who rewards the hero)

6. The Donor (offers an object with magical stuff)

7. The Hero (seeks something)

8. False Hero (falsely assuming the role of hero)

1. The Villain 2. False Hero 3. The Donor4. The Helper5. The Dispatcher6. The Princess Or Prize 7. Her Father 8. The Hero

Darth Vader

Luke Skywalker

Obi Wan

Leia

Leia’s Father

1. The Villain 2. False Hero 3. The Donor4. The Dispatcher5. The Helper6. The Princess Or Prize 7. The Hero

CypherAgents

Morpheus

Trinity

Neo