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Essay on Narrative Theorists

Essay on Narrative Theorists


Introduction
The trailer that I will be analysing is from ‘Jumpscare Productions’ and it is called ‘The Collector’, reason being is because they included multiple narrative theorists that can be explored within their teaser trailer. Narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events.  Mostly Todorov and Levi-Strauss are seen exponentially in the trailer as they would mostly be classed as the foundations of a typical horror film teaser trailer. The fact that they allow the audience to only view the equilibrium and disequilibrium but disregard the resolution shows their knowledge on the narrative theorist Todorov.

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 Expanding on their use of the narrative theorist Todorov helped allow the trailer to develop a structured base which included the Equilibrium and Disequilibrium. Following this pattern allowed the audience to follow the trailer identifying the antagonist in the trailer as by then the trailer included fast pace music, a quick montage and scenes of the protagonist being seen in a distressed state.  Furthermore the use of the narrative theorist Todorov allowed the disruption of the trailer to be singled out as the trailer coincides with the linear structure. Examples of where I have seen Todorov’s theory executed can be located on the film Cabin in the woods where we see the equilibrium, disequlibrium and resolution at the end all in the form of a linear structure. To conclude the importance of keeping the linear structure and Todorov’s theories is key as it is a classic form of a horror trailer.     

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Secondly the other narrative theorist that was embedded in the trailer was Levi-Strauss.  I noticed throughout the trailer how ‘Good vs Evil’, ‘Man vs Woman’ and ‘Protagonist vs Antagonist’ was consistently shown as it may give of the effect that having these binary opposites included was essential for the trailer to have its realistic intention. In my opinion having these binary opposites is also essential as it grants the trailer access to other routes the film could follow, such as a final girl which would be ideal as she tends to overcome the evil and adopt masculine features. Furthermore the trailer is constructed by Mis-en-Scene and having the young female as the protagonist sets up the trailer as being based teen punishment. The scene where the young girl is inside the cell and the antagonist creeps behind her can be seen as a vital scene as it introduces the antagonist as a predatory masculine figure who attacks young innocent females, proposing the image of a rape scene.

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Thirdly we see Barthes enigma code be put straight into use as in the early stages of the trailer I identified a range of clues that help create a picture to the audience of what the overall idea of the trailer is. For example the use of an establishing shot of ‘Stella Artios’, the word ‘Drug’ and ‘Graffiti’ located on the wall are all stereotypical habits associated for the troublesome teenagers to commit. This leaves a sense on the audience on what the trailer could be about but fully don’t know what it is as of yet. As a horror trailer it is important to include the enigma code as it creates a chance for tension, confusion or anticipation. 

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Finally Jump scare production used the narrative theorist Propp who decided that narrative needed to have different character statuses.  More subsequently I recognized how throughout the trailer the main character seen was ‘The Princess’ who can also be argued as the damsel-in-distress as she most of the time was seeking help from the hero (Charlie). In comparison to Russian fairytales the standard fairytale characters are seen to be in somewhat way almost identical as there is always a binary opposite of ‘Hero vs Villian’, plus the feature of a ‘Princess’ (Damsel-in-distress).  Although Propp’s standard characters are more realistic as they can be adapted to a typical horror film. Such as Hanzel and Gretal and Red riding hood.   

By Levi Bent     

Comments

  1. " Following this pattern allowed the audience to follow the trailer identifying the antagonist in the trailer as by then the trailer included fast pace music, a quick montage and scenes of the protagonist being seen in a distressed state" - (A) WHY is it unlikely that this theory would apply to a NON LINEAR Trailer that has a Montage? (A) WHY would it often not feature Equilibrium in a Teaser? (E) HOW was your trailer EDITED to achieve this structure?

    "The scene where the young girl is inside the cell and the antagonist creeps behind her can be seen as a vital scene as it introduces the antagonist as a predatory masculine figure who attacks young innocent females, proposing the image of a rape scene." (E) HOW have you put this opposition on screen? HOW can wee see the opposite in the MES and in the use of CAM (high abgles vs low angles) or SOUND?

    "This leaves a sense on the audience on what the trailer could be about but fully don’t know what it is as of yet. As a horror trailer it is important to include the enigma code as it creates a chance for tension, confusion or anticipation. " (A) HOW does this link to the sub text of Teen Punishment?

    "More subsequently I recognized how throughout the trailer the main character seen was ‘The Princess’ who can also be argued as the damsel-in-distress as she most of the time was seeking help from the hero (Charlie). " (E) WHAT does this look like on screen MES, CAM, EDIT etc to make these ARCHETYPES clear? HOW does this make the narrative make sense or move forward/conflict?

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