Narrative

Narrative:
The way in which the story is organised.

Elements of Narrative:

• Time - how much time is covered
• Enigma - what, why, when, who, where, how?
• Closure - solve all the enigmas for closure, -> if unsolved the text is open.

Classic Hollywood Narratives:

• Linear
• Few, if any, sub-plots
• Tendency towards closure

Tzvetan Todorov's Theory;

Equilibrium, Disruption, Resolution, New Equilibrium.

• Equilibrium - everything is normal, characters are happy and there are no problems.
• Disruption - there is a a disruption, that causes problems for the characters.
• Resolution - the disruption, or problem, has been dealt with and there is no longer a disruption.
• New Equilibrium - the difference between the old equilibrium and the new equilibrium is that, the characters have developed, and learned from the disruption.

Roland Barthes' Theory;
Barthes described all texts as complex 'bundles' of meaning which can be unravelled to create a whole range of different meanings.

Texts can be:

OPEN - numerous 'threads to pull'

CLOSED - only one obvious thread to grasp

POLYSEMIC - texts can be read in a number of ways.

For example; Inception

Vladimir Propp's Theory;

8 Key Character Roles:

Hero (Protagonist)

Villain (Antagonist)

Donor (Provider)

Helper

Father

Dispatcher

Princess

False Hero

In applying these narrative theories to my Thriller I have found that our film;

-follows a Linear sequence, the film follows the events over two days, in the order that they happen, there are no flashbacks or flash-forwards.

-if we shot the rest of the film, I believe that our film would follow Todorov's theory, in following the Equilibrium, Disruption, Resolution, New Equilibrium.
-the equilibrium would be before the female is kidnapped, the disruption is the agent getting shot, the resolution would be to either have revenge, and the new equilibrium would be when the Mafia boss and the double crossing agent is dead, or arrested.

Stan - Eminem

Todorov's theory cannot be applied to 'Stan' as it has an equilibrium, the scenes where Stan and his pregnant wife live their lives. The disruption begins when Stan becomes irritated by the fact that his idol, Eminem, hasn't replied to his letters, as this leads to Stan killing himself and his wife, who is played by Dido, in a car accident. The reason Todorov's theory cannit be fully applied to 'Stan' because there is no resolution, and therefore there cannot be a new equilibrium. It may be argued that the resolution is that Eminem feels guilty for not replying to Stan's letter, and does eventually reply. The new equilibrium could then be when Eminem realises that Stan killed himself and his wife, and feels remorseful, but I still believe that Todorov;s theory cannot be applied to this music video.

Roland Barthes' theory can be applied to 'Stan' because there are many questions to be asked throughout the video, such as 'Why is Stan so obsessed with Eminem?' or 'Why does Stan put his wife in the boot of the car?'. I believe this music video is an open text, as we never fully understand why Stan did the things that he did, or never are the questions we have become answered.

Propp's theory can again only be slightly applied to 'Stan', this is because there are only a few of the 8 key character roles within this narrative. Through Stan's eyes, he himself is the Hero, and both Eminem and Stan's wife are the villains. This is because Eminem is 'ignoring' Stan, and therefore he is villainous, Stan's wife is also the villain. This is because she doesn't understand the obsession Stan has, and consequently isn't happy with Stan. From the audience's perspective Stan is quite the opposite, as it could be argued Stan is the antagonist, or the villain, for he develops into a murderer. Also from the audience's point of view the wife is the princess, for she is in need of saving from her husband. The audience also learn how despite Eminem's inability to respond to Stan was not through choice, but through lack of free time, and therefore Eminem is not the villain.