In a film there are Tangible and Conceptual items that make it up
Tangible
Actors
Equipment
Set
Props
Costumes
Crew
Scenes
Dialogue
Conceptual
Plot
Soundtrack
Synopsis
Structural Devices
Pro/Antagonist
Emotional Attachment
Character Development
Empathy
Linearity
Sequential
Flashback(s)
A Synopsis is a short sentence about the film’s plot
Gustav Freytag
Peripeteia – A change in fortune
Anagnorisis – A moment of dramatic revelation
Catharsis – Realising yours’ and societies’ virtues
TODOROV
Tztevan Todorov states that most media has a beginning, middle and end. He calls these the “equilibrium”, “disruption” and “new equilibrium”. This is similar to Freytag’s pyramid, which also has the beginning, middle and end structure but instead calls them “Exposition”, “Climax” and “Denouement”.
Anachronic Devices – Flash forwards/flashbacks
These subvert traditional linear storytelling techniques and can provide moments of disequilibrium before equilibrium or can be used to disrupt the predictable nature of the three act structure.
Multiperspective narratives
Can be used to repurpose equilibriums as disequilibriums when the story shifts from one character to another.
Vladimir Propp
Propp suggests that there are 8 “stock characters” in a piece of media
1.Hero – The character completing the “Quest” of the story
2.Helper – Usually accompanies the hero on their quest
3.Princess – Usually represents the reward of the quest
4.Villain – Fights or pursues the hero & must be defeated to progress the story
5.Donor – Provides the hero with an agent to defeat the villain
6.Dispatcher – Sends the hero on their quest
7.Princess’s Father – Often sets the hero difficult tasks to prevent the hero marrying the princess (Other adaptations may be to prevent the hero from seeing their wife, family etc.)
8.False Hero – Performs a largely villainous role, usurps the hero’s position in the story
He suggests that these characters operate in “Spheres of action” to help move the story along
Claude Levi-Strauss
Strauss suggests that binary opposites in media can create conflict and drama, binary opposites are 2 opposing things on different sides of a scale e.g. men vs women or young vs old. This creates an ideology within a piece of media, audiences are encouraged to make a judgment about characters, groups, places etc.
“explore human experience using polarised themes: birth has to compete against death, success against failure”
“Character oppositions: audiences expect villains to battle heroes.”
“Narrative oppositions: media stories… are organised to construct moments of opposition”
“Stylistic oppositions: media producers also encode products using juxtaposed stylistic presentations”
“Genre-driven binary oppositions: some binary oppositions… entrenched within genres that they become a convention or expectation of that genre”
Seymour Chatman
Chatman suggests that stories are broken down into satellites and kernels, Kernels being key moments in the plot and Satellites being embellishments, developments and aesthetics. Kernels are important to the story, and cannot be removed easily without preventing the story from moving forward.
Roland Barthes
Proairetic Code: Action, movement, causation
Hermeneutic Code: Reflection, dialogue, character or thematic development
Enigma Code: The way in which intrigue and ideas are raised – which encourage an audience to want more information.
