A really good way to think about NARRATIVE STRUCTURE is to recognise that most stories can be easily broken down into a BEGINNING / MIDDLE / END. The Bulgarian structuralist theorist Tztevan Todorov presents this idea as:

Equilibrium
Disruption
New equilibrium

the stage of equilibrium
the conflict that disrupts this initial equilibrium
the way / ways in which the disruption looks to find new equilibrium
the denouement and/or resolution that brings about a new equilibrium

Most narratives can be broken down into beginning/middle/end. Todorov’s theory states that the beginning is the equilibrium where everything is ‘normal’ and balanced and around the middle there’s a disruption where things become unbalanced and by the end of the film there becomes a new equilibrium and everything becomes balanced or ‘normal’

condensed equilibriums – action and immediate disruption is delivered to hook the audience

Multiple equilibrium sequences- a roller-coaster effect for their audiences created by deploying multiple disruptions before resolving them in a final transformation. This offers audiences multiple moments of narrative calm and excitement.

2. Vladimir Propp

Suggests that stories use STOCK CHARACTERS to structure stories

Often there is a villain who has done something to a victim. This means that we need a hero, who (often) accompanied by a helper is sent out (by a dispatcher) to fight the villain.

Hero
Helper
Princess
Villain
Victim
Dispatcher
Father
False Hero

The hero generally meets the princess as part of his quest / journey which usually provides a happy ending. During the narrative we (and the princess) may be presented by a false hero.