Narrative Theories research

Narrative has Long existed as long as human beings from the cave paintings in the 18th century France. The definition of narrative is the theory of storytelling this could be from being passed on through the generations of a family. It can be used to describe events Fictional or non-fictional this can be from songs television magazines etc. The story telling tradition of Once Upon a Time has a much deeper meaning with once inviting the subject into the narrative world where it is in the past tense. Then upon a time situates us in a world we know is different to our own and a time along ago.

Three Narrative theories

Vladimir Propp :

Vladamir Propp was a Russian critic who analysed over 100 Russian fairy tales he began classifying the characters into their actions and roles. A film that fits to Propps theory is star wars all of his character classifications tie in to the roles of the star wars characters. The new films released now however have become less easier to classify with some not fitting at all as times have changed.

The Hero: He leads the narrative usually seeking to find or solve something E.G A quest, crime.
The Villain: Conflicts with the Hero
The Heroine: Usually a reward or a prize for the hero
The Father: An authority figure offers a reward to hero completing his quest
The Helper: Helps the hero (sidekick)
The Donor: Gives something to help complete the quest
The Mentor: Teaches or guides the hero

Tzvetan Todorov:

Tzvetan Todorov was a Bulgarian literary theorist he came up with the theory that most narratives started with a state of Equilibrium. This starts of with the normal day to day routine where the character is happy and enjoying his life. Then this state is tipped upside down in order for the normal state tot return they must find a way to return to the equilibrium. This is a more used theory as it fits in with a wide range of films even to now unlike Vladamir Propp's

Example of Todorov's theory

The Happening

Starts of as an average day for the protagonist

The Virus cloud Arrives and tips the main characters life over it causes people to commit mass suicide

They then try to escape from the cloud fighting back trying to return to the state of normality.

Claude Levi-Strauss:

Claude Levi-Strauss was a social Anthropologist who studied the myths of tribal cultures. In his work he began to look at how Narrative/Stories Unconsciously reflect the beliefs and values of a culture. These are called Binary Oppositions his research is still used by media theorists to reveal underlying themes and oppositions in a text. It can allows an audience to see who is the good and bad characters in a film

An Example of Binary oppositions

Good vs Bad
Strong vs Weak
Black vs White
Hard vs Soft

The most useful theory to use to create an effective opening for our film would be Tzvetan Todorov's. This will allow us to show how our characters life has changed from what he claims to be normality as we can choose what part of equilibrium the opening will consist of. If we chose to have disequilibrium we can have the fight to return back to normality opening the start of the film with lots of action and mystery making the audience want to carry on watching.

Bibliography
http://www.class.uidaho.edu/narrative/theory/what_narrative.htm
 http://www.slideshare.net/guest9e3b3b/narrative-theory-2104298