Category Archives: NEA

Filters

Author:
Category:

Moving Image nea

Synopsis for my film

Film sequence 1

Evangeline, 17 year old girl will find an odd looking tree and goes to have a look at it. Only, it is cursed so if you go up to it, you get stuck in a time loop. Evangeline tries to get out of the loop. Evangeline is the protagonist.

Film sequence 2

A 17 year old boy, Charlie, is lost and finds a really tall tree and goes over to look at it. He then disappears and can’t get out. Charlie is the protagonist.

I intend on creating a thrilling, on edge film

Statement of Intent: movie posters

For my first movie poster, I will include the sign the female character reads out and has it as the main focal point. The background will be the forest in which she gets stuck in and this will go on into the distance to symbolise the fact she gets stuck in a time loop. I will have two silhouettes of the main characters, this is because I want to put focus on the characters, without pulling the focus away from the background and sign. I will edit the movie title ‘It Won’t Always Be Like This’ in an eerie yet playful font, which should capture the playful and ominous feeling of the movie. I will write in ‘Featuring the music of Inhaler’ in a smaller font to promote the music soundtrack in the movie. The genre of my film is Sci-Fi, like the movie ‘Palm Springs’ but different in the sense that it is predictable yet unexpected.

For my second movie poster, I will have the forest in the background, but only the top of the trees with the sky, this also symbolises the time loop as the sky is never ending, but also includes the trees that will give away the setting of the movie. I will include the photos of the main characters but these will be the main focus this time, not silhouettes. The title will be edited in, in a typewriter font, in the sky but just as the trees stop, so it doesn’t take away from the main focus of the poster. To include the music artist into the movie poster, I will write in a slightly smaller font, but big enough to read it clearly, ‘Featuring the music of Inhaler’ to promote the music soundtrack in the movie.

moving image nea

  1. Linear – Progressing from one stage to another in a single series of steps; sequential.
  2. Chronological – In order of which they have occurred.
  3. Sequential – Forming or following in a logical order or sequence.
  4. Circular structure – The story ends where the film begins.
  5. Time based – Over a period of time.
  6. Narrative arc – A path that a story follows.
  7. Freytag’s Pyramid – A paradigm of dramatic structure outlining the seven key steps in successful storytelling: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement.
  8. Exposition – A comprehensive description or explanation to get across an idea.
  9. Inciting Incident – The event that sets the main character or characters on the journey that will occupy them throughout the narrative.
  10. Rising Action – This action starts right after the period of exposition and ends at the climax.
  11. Climax – Where a final action needs to be taken to resolve the problem/issue/conflict.
  12. Falling Action – Is what happens near the end of a story after the climax and resolution of the major conflict.
  13. Resolution – The ending of the story. Occurs after the climax.
  14. Denouement –  Is an aspect of narrative that gives context and resolution to a major theme, relationship or event in a story.
  15. Beginning / Middle / End – Different stages of a story.
  16. Equilibrium – One (First) of the stages in the theory of narrative structure of Todorov’s theory. It is explained about the condition that happens with a character. Is the beginning of the film, and the characters life is normal.
  17. Disruption – This is the second stage of Todorov’s theory, where a characters life is about to change / have interference.
  18. New equilibrium – The final stage of Todorov’s theory where a characters life goes back to normal. Is the ending of the film.
  19. Peripeteia – The turning point in a drama after which the plot moves steadily to its denouement. A shift of good to bad in a characters life.
  20. Anagnoresis – A moment of recognition or revelation in a story, where the characters life switches to a reversal of fortune.
  21. Catharsis – The release and relief of strong or repressed emotions and often leads to a resolution.
  22. The 3 Unities: Action, Time, Place – Action (a play / film should have one unified plot), Time (all the action should occur within one day), Place (a play / film should be limited to a single locale / location)
  23. Flashback / flash forward – A interruption of a character remembering past tragic events.
  24. Foreshadowing – An indication or hint of what is to come.
  25. Ellipsis – A jump or purposely missing out events to advance the story.
  26. Pathos – The persuasive technique that appeals to an audience through emotions and to gain an emotional effect from the film. The quality of pity and sadness.
  27. Empathy – The ability to sense other people’s emotions and to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling.
  28. Diegetic – Things that emanates from the story world of the film.
  29. Non-Diegetic – Things that occur outside the story’s line / world.
  30. Slow Motion – An effect either performed or edited to look as if a character / thing or object is slowed down. As well, so that the audience can take in certain info or focus on certain aspects of the film.
  31. In Media Re – Starting in mid-action
  32. Metanarratives –

Synopsis : Film Idea

a girl is kidnapped and entered into a sex trafficking ring and transported to Mexico this film is about her journey.

Statement of intent : for my two psotyer

Within my posters i intend to creat two advertising posters for my film “the captive” – which is about a 19 year olds journey whislt being tkaen and sold to a sex trafficking

the genre of my film would be a horror as well as a mystery because there are incidents of physical violence and psychological terror but also revolves around the solution of a problem

Todorov’s Theory :

Equilibrium – One (First) of the stages in the theory of narrative structure of Todorov’s theory. It is explained about the condition that happens with a character. Is the beginning of the film, and the characters life is normal.

Disruption – This is the second stage of Todorov’s theory, where a characters life is about to change / have interference.

New equilibrium – The final stage of Todorov’s theory where a characters life goes back to normal. Is the ending of the film.

Todorov recognises the stories are constructed and that stories are always linear – pg 32

Todorov’s theory can be manipulated into multiple equilibrium / disruption sequence, meaning that media companies try to produce a roller coaster effect to give the audience calmness and excitement.

multiple equilibrium/ disruption sequences – roller coaster effect for their audiences by developing

metanarratives – provide audiences with moments that draw attention to the idea that they are watching a story. Metanarration might knowingly refer to the product as a media construct or speak directly to audiences. drawing attention to the process of storytelling.

condensed audiences – contempory audiences often have a much lower boredom threshold, expecting products to deliver action or disruption quickly. producers therefore propel narratives towards moments of immediate disruption to hook audience engagement from the outset.

Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp suggests that stories use stock characters to structure stories.

Propp argued that stories are character driven and that plots develop from the decisions and actions of characters and how they function in a story.

Vladimir Propp was a Soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic structural elements of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irreducible structural units.

CHARACTERS FUNCTION TO PROVIDE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE:

  1. Hero – seeker hero and victim hero
  2. Helper – accompanies the hero on their quest, saving them from their struggles
  3. Princess – represents the reward of the heros quest
  4. Villain – fights or pursues the hero
  5. Victim –
  6. Dispatcher
  7. Father
  8. False Hero

moving image nea

  1. Chronological-the order in which the events occurred, from first to last
  2. Sequential-series of scenes that form a distinct narrative unit
  3. Circular structure– story ends the same as how it began
  4. Time based– is to watch it unfold over time according to the temporal logic of the medium as it is played back.
  5. Narrative arc–  the story a film follows along including a dramatic arc somewhere to draw attention from the audience
  6. Freytag’s Pyramid– the structure outlining events in a story
  7. exposition- a comprehensive description of an event, story or idea.
  8. inciting incident,
  9. rising action,
  10. climax-  everything that the plot leads up to
  11. falling action– what happens after the climax and the plot/action calms down
  12. resolution
  13. denouement 
  14. Beginning / middle / end– the idea that every storyline is split into three components
  15. Equilibrium
  16. Disruption
  17. New equilibrium
  18. Peripeteia– change in fortune
  19. Anagnoresis– dramatic revelation
  20. Catharsis–  the idea that we are freed by consuming something
  21. The 3 Unities: Action, Time, Place
  22. flashback / flash forward
  23. Foreshadowing– the idea of hinting towards events further on in the storyline
  24. Ellipsis– a jump/missing out certain events in films.
  25. Pathos
  26. Empathy
  27. diegetic / non-diegetic
  28. slow motion

Physical Internal Structures:

Technical equipment (lighting, sound), actors, set, camera crew, software, writers, props, special effects, director, editors and costume designers

Theoretical Internal Structures:

Storyline, performance, generating emotions, events, characters, themes, genre, antagonist/ protagonist, linear/circular, start middle and end, time based, chronological, sequential and freytag pyramid.

Synopsis– A girl goes missing on a night out, her family and friends are all worried about her and file a missing police report. We are shown the trauma they go through. 2 years later her dead body is found, her ‘ghost’ haunts her family and friends. They then discover the body was not her. A group of her friends form together to be detectives and figure out that the ‘ghost’ was actually her asking them for help. They go on a quest to find her and end up finding her however she is very mentally damaged.

Todorov– presents a three part structure (beginning,middle,end). He recognises that stories are constructed in ways that test and subvert the three act narrative structure outlined.

Equilibrium-the story constructs a stable world at the outset of the narrative. Key characters are presented as part of that stability.

Disruption- oppositional forces. The actions of a villain, perhaps, or some kind of calamity. Destabilising the equilibirum.

New equilibrium- when the disruption is repaired and stability is restored.

  • 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

Vladimir Propp– Famously analysed hundreds of Russian folk stories in attempt to uncover underlying narrative structures. He also suggests that stories use stock characters to structure stories and that not all characters listed have to be used.

  1. Hero
  2. Helper
  3. Princess
  4. Villain
  5. Victim
  6. Dispatcher
  7. Father
  8. False Hero

The idea that there is normally a villain who has done something bad to a victim, meaning that they need a hero, who may be accompanied by a helper that is sent out by a dispatcher to fight the villain. The dispatcher or similar donor, for example a father figure, prepares the hero in his quest by giving them some form of magical object. The hero generally then meets the princess as part of his quest which usually provides a happy ending. During the narrative we (and the princess) can be presented by a false hero.

Claude Levi-Strauss:

Suggests that narratives are structured around binary oppositions eg: good v evil. Creates a dominant message of a film, TV programme, advert, music video, animation. Can be seen to either support the dominant ideologies of a society, which would make it a reactionary text ,or to challenge, question or undermines the dominant ideologies of society, in which case it could be seen as a radical text.

moving image NEA

  1. Linear – Progressing from one stage to another in a single series of steps; sequential.
  2. Chronological – In order of which they have occurred.
  3. Sequential – Forming or following in a logical order or sequence.
  4. Circular structure – The story ends where the film begins.
  5. Time based – Over a period of time.
  6. Narrative arc – A path that a story follows.
  7. Freytag’s Pyramid – A paradigm of dramatic structure outlining the seven key steps in successful storytelling: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement.
  8. Exposition – A comprehensive description or explanation to get across an idea.
  9. Inciting Incident – The event that sets the main character or characters on the journey that will occupy them throughout the narrative.
  10. Rising Action – This action starts right after the period of exposition and ends at the climax.
  11. Climax – Where a final action needs to be taken to resolve the problem/issue/conflict.
  12. Falling Action – Is what happens near the end of a story after the climax and resolution of the major conflict.
  13. Resolution – The ending of the story. Occurs after the climax.
  14. Denouement –  Is an aspect of narrative that gives context and resolution to a major theme, relationship or event in a story.
  15. Beginning / Middle / End – Different stages of a story.
  16. Equilibrium – One (First) of the stages in the theory of narrative structure of Todorov’s theory. It is explained about the condition that happens with a character. Is the beginning of the film, and the characters life is normal.
  17. Disruption – This is the second stage of Todorov’s theory, where a characters life is about to change / have interference.
  18. New equilibrium – The final stage of Todorov’s theory where a characters life goes back to normal. Is the ending of the film.
  19. Peripeteia – The turning point in a drama after which the plot moves steadily to its denouement. A shift of good to bad in a characters life.
  20. Anagnorisis – A moment of recognition or revelation in a story, where the characters life switches to a reversal of fortune.
  21. Catharsis – The release and relief of strong or repressed emotions and often leads to a resolution.
  22. The 3 Unities: Action, Time, PlaceAction (a play / film should have one unified plot), Time (all the action should occur within one day), Place (a play / film should be limited to a single locale / location)
  23. Flashback / flash forward – A interruption of a character remembering past tragic events.
  24. Foreshadowing – An indication or hint of what is to come.
  25. Ellipsis – A jump or purposely missing out events to advance the story.
  26. Pathos – The persuasive technique that appeals to an audience through emotions and to gain an emotional effect from the film. The quality of pity and sadness.
  27. Empathy – The ability to sense other people’s emotions and to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling.
  28. Diegetic – Things that emanates from the story world of the film.
  29. Non-Diegetic – Things that occur outside the story’s line / world.
  30. Slow Motion – An effect either performed or edited to look as if a character / thing or object is slowed down. As well, so that the audience can take in certain info or focus on certain aspects of the film.
  31. In Media Re – Starting in mid-action
  32. Metanarratives –  Drawing attention to the process of storytelling.
  33. Quest Narratives – A character is on a mission / determined to completed an objective.

Synopsis with statement of intent : Film Idea – The Informal Messenger – 1916

A young British soldier based in London, takes on a task to deliver a critical message to a Lieutenant Commander of Platoon 7 in Leicestershire. Not realising an ambush was about to take place.

My film will include a main character as the young British soldier, also known as the hero, as well as a victim who will be duped with the solider. Giving my ‘hero’ two roles within my film. This being a mid ranged Netflix film, consisting of a large amount of action and blood, leading to an age rating of 16+. I intend to create a poster with a male standing side on and looking away, in a position of restfulness and shock. Behind the picture, the background will be created as a desolate battleground, with ruined infrastructure. My other idea for my poster is having a male character, point a gun towards the camera, forcing the camera to look down the barrel and be positioned in the centre of the photo. I hope to put lighting directly on the gun to put emphasis onto the weapon. Either picture I choose will be placed at the bottom of the A4 print and will be centred correctly. Above this, I will have white text for the name of my move – “The Informal Messenger” with a quote below “There is only one way this war ends” or “Time is the enemy”.

My film is very similar and is based around the film 1917. My film is different to 1917 by the location it is being based in as well as the difference in genders between my film (1916) and 1917. On top of that it is between different years.

Todorov’s Theory :

  • Equilibrium – One (First) of the stages in the theory of narrative structure of Todorov’s theory. It is explained about the condition that happens with a character. Is the beginning of the film, and the characters life is normal.
  • Disruption – This is the second stage of Todorov’s theory, where a characters life is about to change / have interference.
  • New equilibrium – The final stage of Todorov’s theory where a characters life goes back to normal. Is the ending of the film.
  • Todorov recognises the stories are constructed and that stories are always linear – pg 32
  • Todorov’s theory can be manipulated into multiple equilibrium / disruption sequence, meaning that media companies try to produce a roller coaster effect to give the audience calmness and excitement.

Vladimir Propp :

  • He believed that stories were constructed with 8 different stock characters such as the:
  1. Hero – 2 significant types of hero (seeker-hero) who relies more heavily on the donor to perform their quest and (the victim-hero who needs to overcome a weakness to complete their quest.
  2. Helper – A typically magical entity that comes to help the hero in their quest.
  3. Princess – The hero deserves her throughout the story and is seen as a prize for the hero.
  4. Villain – An evil character that creates struggles for the hero.
  5. Victim – A character who is in the middle of a quest / a fight between the hero and villain. Is caught in the cross fire.
  6. Dispatcher – Sends the hero on his or her quest at the start of the story.
  7. Father – The person who typically doesn’t allow the hero to marry the princess / daughter as he needs to show his worth by completing a quest or saving the princess if she is in danger.
  8. False Hero – A figure who takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.
  • Propp was a soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic structural elements of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irreducible structural units.
  • The different stock characters can be divided into categories such as:
  1. PREPARATION
  2. COMPLICATION
  3. TRANSFERENCE
  4. STRUGGLE
  5. RETURN
  6. RECOGNITION
  •  ‘These are not separate characters, since one character can occupy a number of roles or ‘spheres of action’ as Propp calls them.
  • The stock characters are called this because they have a function.
  • Propp published a book in 1929 called ‘Morphology of the Folktale’.
  • He also suggests that stores do not necessarily require all character types as well as organising narrative structures into a combination of 31 defined plot moments, that he called ‘narratemes’, also referred to the starting points of a story.

Moving image NEA

Internal Structures

actorsbackstage crew
settingcamera equipment
stylistsscript
a storydirector
editorcinematographer
set designergreen screen
sound mixerboom mic
lightprops
protagonist antagonists
synopsisflashbacks
T – things you need to do a filmC – things you have to have to create a film
set, build, or goa storyline
stylistssynopsis
director
editor
props
sound track
lights

Key terminology

  1. Linear
  2. Chronological
  3. Sequential
  4. Circular structure
  5. Time based
  6. Narrative arc
  7. Freytag’s Pyramid
  8. exposition,
  9. inciting incident,
  10. rising action,
  11. climax,
  12. falling action,
  13. resolution,
  14. denouement 
  15. Beginning / middle / end
  16. Equilibrium
  17. Disruption
  18. New equilibrium
  19. Peripeteia
  20. Anagnoresis
  21. Catharsis
  22. The 3 Unities: Action, Time, Place
  23. flashback / flash forward
  24. Foreshadowing
  25. Ellipsis
  26. Pathos
  27. Empathy
  28. diegetic / non-diegetic
  29. slow motion

Task 2

An American girl moves to a British school because of her father’s new job. Once the new girl always the new girl. All of sudden all the attention goes to you. People talking behind your back, chattering about how you are different. Always getting picked on, well not for to long, what will happen when they find out that you were brought up by a family of thief’s, or will she hide it and brake in to their house. Will she change herself to fit in or will she continue to be who she truly is.

Task 3

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

the final part of a play, film, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.

A drama is then divided into five parts, or acts, which some refer to as a dramatic arc: introduction, rise, climax, return or fall, and catastrophe. Freytag extends the five parts with three moments or crises: the exciting force, the tragic force, and the force of the final suspense. The exciting force leads to the rise, the tragic force leads to the return or fall, and the force of the final suspense leads to the catastrophe. Freytag considers the exciting force to be necessary but the tragic force and the force of the final suspense are optional. Together, they make the eight component parts of the drama.

moving image NEA

  • actors
  • equipment
  • money
  • director
  • makeup, hair etc
  • costume
  • editing team
  • script
  • storyline
  • production team
  • synopsis
  • structural devices
  • protagonist
  • antagonist
  • emotional attachment
  • empathy
  • linear/ chronological
  • flashback

Peripeteia – change in fortune

Anagnorisis – moment of revelation

Moving image nea

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.

MOVING IMAGE

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

moving image nea

Practical Elements of producing a media product include:

  • Actors
  • Set
  • Props
  • Technicians
  • Post Production Teams
  • Equipment
  • Scriptwriters
  • Producers
  • Musicians

Conceptual Elements of producing a media product include:

  • Storyline
  • Performance
  • Emotions
  • Events
  • Characters
  • Themes
  • Protagonists/Antagonists
  • Linear/Cyclical Structure

Key Terminology

  1. Linear – A straightforward structure with a very smooth progression and a definitive beginning/middle/end.
  2. Chronological – An order where events pass in an order of time.
  3. Sequential – When a media product is following a logical order or sequence.
  4. Circular structure
  5. Time based
  6. Narrative arc
  7. Freytag’s Pyramid
  8. exposition,
  9. inciting incident,
  10. rising action,
  11. climax,
  12. falling action,
  13. resolution,
  14. denouement 
  15. Beginning / middle / end
  16. Equilibrium
  17. Disruption
  18. New Equilibrium
  19. Peripeteia – A drastic and sudden change in fortune.
  20. Anagnoresis – A sudden dramatic revelation, usually occurs within the protagonist.
  21. Catharsis – The idea that we as humans can feel and absorb emotions from consuming a piece of media. 
  22. The 3 Unities: Action, Time, Place
  23. flashback / flash forward
  24. Foreshadowing
  25. Ellipsis
  26. Pathos
  27. Empathy
  28. diegetic / non-diegetic
  29. slow motion

Peripeteia in Blinded by the Light – When the tickets are ripped up.

Anagnoresis in Blinded by the Light – When his father is badly hurt.

Catharsis in Blinded by the Light – At the end when Springsteen’s music is played by his father in the car.

Moving image nea

Conceptual and Theoretical

  1. Linear – Film narratives are usually linear. That means we see the events of the story unfolding in the order in which they occurred.
  2. Chronological – Time order.
  3. Sequential – In film, a sequence is a series of scenes that form a distinct narrative unit, which is usually connected either by a unity of location or a unity of time. The sequence is one of a hierarchy of structural units used to describe the structure of films in varying degrees of granularity.
  4. Circular structure – In a circular narrative, the story ends where it began. Although the starting and ending points are the same, the characters undergo a transformation, affected by the story’s events.
  5. Time based
  6. Narrative arc
  7. Freytag’s Pyramid – a paradigm of dramatic structure outlining the seven key steps in successful storytelling: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement.
  8. exposition
  9. inciting incident
  10. rising action
  11. climax
  12. falling action
  13. resolution
  14. denouement –
  15. Beginning / middle / end
  16. Equilibrium
  17. Disruption
  18. New equilibrium
  19. Peripeteia – Change in fortune.
  20. Anagnoresis – Dramatic Revelation.
  21. Catharsis – Good Virtue.
  22. The 3 Unities: Action, Time, Place
  23. flashback / flash forward
  24. Foreshadowing
  25. Ellipsis
  26. Pathos
  27. empathy
  28. diegetic / non-diegetic
  29. slow motion
  30. genre
  31. theme

Synopsis

My film is going to be about a girl who has been shielded from the real world all her life. She has only been around her two parents and her auntie her whole life. She was never allowed to leave the house. Home schooled all her life and her parents controlled everything. They had conditioned her to believe that anything outside their home was a danger but obviously as a growing child, her curiosity grew also. The main character – the 17 year old girl – does look to escape her home as she wants to explore the outside world.

At age 10 her curiosity started to grow and she started to look more out the windows but all she ever did see were foggy skies as her house was so far up on a hill, secluded from any other civilisation. From 11, she started to notice strange deliveries during the night as she always seen a bright headlight shine through her window at exactly 1:30am. When she was younger she believed it was a star as that was what she was lead to believe.

This film will be targeting teenagers who may relate to some extent. Maybe not relate literally but can relate figuratively speaking. A viewer might feel trapped in their own life therefore would seek comfort through this film because it may or may not be a similar experience.

Examples

Todorov

Equilibrium, the story constructs a stable world at the outset of the narrative. Key characters are presented as part of that stability.

Disruption, Oppositional forces – the actions of a villain, perhaps, or some kind of calamity – destabilise the story’s equilibrium. Lead protagonists attempt to repair the disruption caused.

New Equilibrium, disruption is repaired and stability restored. Importantly, the equilibrium achieved at the end of the story is different to that outlined at the start. The world is transformed.

Freytags Pyramid

Exposition, Climax, Denouement

Vladimir Propp

Character Types and Function

Propp argued that stories are character driven and that plots develop from the decisions and actions of characters and how they function in a story.

That is not to say that all characters are the same, but rather to suggest that all stories draw on familiar characters performing similar functions to provide familiar narrative structures.

Propp identifies the types of characters:

  • The hero: he identifies two significant types – the seeker-hero and the victim-hero.
  • The Villain: fights or pursues the hero and must be defeated in order for hero to accomplish their quest.
  • The Princess and Princess’ Father: princess usually represents the reward for the hero’s quest.

Claude Levi-Strauss (Binary Oppositions)

Seymour Chatman: Satellites & Kernels

  • Kernels: key moments in the plot / narrative structure
  • Satellites: embellishments, developments, aesthetics

Roland Barthes: Proairetic and Hermenuetic Codes

  • Proairetic code: action, movement, causation
  • Hermenuetic 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.