Typical narratice structure of my chosen genre and character types

 Propp’s character types

Vladimir Propp (1969) studied 100 tales and as a result developed a character theory that identified 7 broad character types. He argues that these character types could be applied to any other media. He stated that ccharacters have many functions within narratives and each serves a purpose to it.

Propp’s character types -

1.  The villain (struggles against the hero)
2. The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)
3. The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)
4. The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)
5. The father
6. The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)
7. The hero or victim/seeker hero, reacts to the donor, weds the princess

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After getting to grips with these character types are then watched two horror/thriller films and identified the character types suggested-

Batman the Dark Knight

·         The villain – The Joker and Two Face, these characters work together as they both share the same enemy (Batman), they cause constant disruption.

·         The donor – Alfred the butler, helps batman in the preparation of his quests and supplies him with fighting equipment.

·         The Princess – Rachel Dawes, she prevent Batman from fighting and the villains use her as an asset of Batman in order to get to him.

·         The hero – Batman, constant attempt to overcome the villain(s)

The Hills Have Eyes

·         The villain – The deformed people living within the mountains are attempting to feed on the characters on their territory.

·         The helper – One of these deformed people living within the mountains however, she attempts to help the family by caring and protecting their child.

·         The Hero – the man who attempts to save his family from the villains by going into their homes and kill them.

So it is evident that not all the character types are typically used within horror/thriller movies but more attention should be spent on the villain, hero and helper. I have also noticed that the villains ever just include one character or a group of. These villains have typically experienced trouble events themselves and show no real reason for their evil. The helper often only plays a minor role in the scheme of things, however, makes a large difference in the success of the hero. The hero, is often part of a group and is the last to survive and comes close to death themselves until they demonstrate a final stand against the villain.

 Todorov’s Narrative Structure

A story can be described as a sequence of event typically known as a plot. This sequence of events are then put together and become a narrative, all media texts have a narrative. So when identifying the narrative we do not look at the story, but the way in which the story has been put together.

Tzvetan Todorov’s Theory of Narrative is a key theorist in media; he outlined five stages of conventional narratives. This is a typical narrative structure and is evident in many mainstream and independent films.

There are as follows:

1. a state of equilibrium at the outset

2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action

3. a recognition that there has been a disruption

4. an attempt to repair the disruption

5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium

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I then analysed one the media texts associated with my chosen genre outlining the stages of narratives it follows.

The Hills Have Eyes

The film begins and we are established with a State of equilibrium. The family seem to be on their on the way to a holiday destination in a caravan. A Disruption of the equilibrium then takes place as the car towing the trailer breaks down in an isolated area and the creatures begin to prey on the characters, the young boy is the first to be murdered. This disruption continues for a long period of time as these creatures access the female characters within the caravan. However, there is no real recognition that there has been a disruption instead the male main character attempts to repair the disruption which he assumes is only the broken car as he is not yet aware of the murders some of his family. However, he then reaches a location where these creatures are living and then Attempts to repair the disruption. He realises the threat of these creatures and tries to kill them. There is no Reinstatement of the equilibrium.

So therefore, typical Horror/Thrillers narratives will include the majority of Todorov’s stages of equilibrium. However, disruption of the equilibrium and attempt to repair are likely to make up to majority of the film as this is the stages the build anxiety and excitement to horror films. As shown in this example, reinstatement of the equilibrium is not always apparent. This leaves the audience on a cliff hanger, causing the audience to be left guessing and related to horror it maybe may suggest that the cause of this disruption can’t be stopped and may still be living.

However, in terms of our media production, we are producing a teaser trailer so while we may include elements of these stages they are likely to follow no chronological order in order to not give the plot of the story away.