(propp)stock characters

The Hero – Richard

The Villian – Polly

The Helper – Annabel

The False Hero – The Mother 

The Donor – polly

The Dispatcher – Polly

The Princess – Annabel

(claud Levi)binary oppositions

rich vs poor

educated vs non-educated 

normal families vs destructive broken families

old vs young

incest vs normal

industries

• budget – independent micro budget film, cost £110,000 as B Good Picture Company is an independent production company based in London
• opposed to larger media corporations that produce films for larger amounts of money such as hidden figures which had a ‘small’ budget of $25 million
• low budget means unsure if there was going to be a high revenue gain + less mainstream which makes it a risky product – Hesmondhalgh
• this was experimental and non-mainstream so it was risky for media companies to invest in, thus had to be independently funded

• distribution – film was selected by MUBI and acquired by Film4.
• 2017 was released on blu-ray & DVD
• released in the US only on iTunes 2018
• available amazon prime
• used traditional marketing and distribution methods like trailers posters, and film festivals
• makes use of modern distribution methods – social media (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube) to market the film
• targets younger audiences as they are modern and online
• Livingstone and Lunt said that consumer based regulation creates an environment in which audiences make judgements about the kinds of media that are appropriate for their consumption

CHARACTERS:

Father Figure: Polly serves as a father figure to Richard / The guy at the fair can also be a father figure

The Donor: The Chicken (Fiona) gives Richard motivation

The False Hero: Polly at first is taking care of him, but is willing to leave his son/brother for any opportunity that arises.

Dispatcher: Polly is telling Richard that he is leaving and for Richard to sort himself out.

THEMES:

The Hero – Richard

The Villian – Polly

The Helper – Annabel

The False Hero – The Mother

The Donor – The Chicken

The Dispatcher – Polly

The Princess – Annabel

stock characters

protagonist/hero – Richard, Annabelle

antagonist/villain – Polly

victim/donor – Chicken

loner – Polly

false hero – Polly

dispatcher – Polly

father figure – guy from scrap yard & guy from fair

binary oppositions

rich vs poor

educated vs non-educated

public vs private

old vs young

incest vs being normal

			Theory
Characters	Polly= False hero		PROPP, presents the idea of STOCK CHARACTERS, inc ‘hero’, ‘false hero’, ‘princess’, ‘father figure’, ‘despatcher’
	Annabelle= Hero because she helps Richard when he was abandoned		PROPP, presents the idea of STOCK CHARACTERS, inc ‘hero’, ‘false hero’, ‘princess’, ‘father figure’, ‘despatcher’
	chicken= victim		PROPP, presents the idea of STOCK CHARACTERS, inc ‘hero’, ‘false hero’, ‘princess’, ‘father figure’, ‘despatcher’

category	familiarities	differences	theory
characters	the hero – richard		PROPP – the idea of stock characters, including the hero, the false hero, the princess, the father figure, the dispatcher, the victim, the villain, the donor,
	the false hero – polly
	the chicken – the donor, the victim

Stock Characters- Propp’s Theory

Villain– Brother/ Dad

Victim– Richard

Father Figure– Polly

Donor– The Chicken

False Hero– Polly

Theme- Levi Strauss

Rich and Poor

Educated and Uneducated

Country and Town

Family Relationship and No Family Relationship

Sexual Relationship and Incest

What is it

It is a paradigm of dramatic structure outlining the seven key steps in successful storytelling: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement.

1. Exposition= The setting is fixed in a particular place and time, the mood is set, and characters are introduced. A backstory may be alluded to. Exposition can be conveyed through dialogues, flashbacks, characters’ asides, background details, in-universe media, or the narrator telling a back-story

2. Rising Action= An exciting force or inciting event begins immediately after the exposition (introduction), building the rising action in one or several stages toward the point of greatest interest. These events are generally the most important parts of the story since the entire plot depends on them to set up the climax and ultimately the satisfactory resolution of the story itself.

3. Climax= The climax is the turning point, which changes the protagonist’s fate. If things were going well for the protagonist, the plot will turn against them, often revealing the protagonist’s hidden weaknesses. If the story is a comedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things going from bad to good for the protagonist, often requiring the protagonist to draw on hidden inner strengths.

4.Falling Action= During the falling action, the hostility of the counter-party beats upon the soul of the hero. Freytag lays out two rules for this stage: the number of characters be limited as much as possible, and the number of scenes through which the hero falls should be fewer than in the rising movement. The falling action may contain a moment of final suspense: Although the catastrophe must be foreshadowed so as not to appear as a non sequitur, there could be for the doomed hero a prospect of relief, where the final outcome is in doubt

Propp stock characters

CATEGORY	FAMILIARITIES:	DIFFERENCES:	CATEGORY FAMILIARITIES: DIFFERENCES: THEORY
CHARACTERS	Polly – The dispatcher/ false hero. He wants Richard to have a better life so he leaves him for both of their benefit. He also acts like a hero as he shows himself working however he never provides for Richard.		PROPP, presents the idea of STOCK CHARACTERS, inc ‘hero’, ‘false hero’, ‘princess’, ‘father figure’, ‘despatcher’
THEMES			LEVI-STRAUSS the use of key themes to structure stories and characters around familiar themes: family, community, law and order, justice. Often set up as binary oppostions: right/wrong urban/rural, young/old, good/bad