Research: Narrative Ideas (Miss Hawkins)

Narrative

Narrative- is the structure of how a story is told in order for the audience to make sense of what is happening. from previous events in the story the viewer is able to make sense and construct in our mind the story itself, seeing a beginning middle and end.

Fairy tale structure

the typical structure of a fairy tale would be. damsel in distress -------> hero emerges -------> hero tries to save damsel -------> hero is deterred from doing so -------> hero overcomes problem -------> hero saves damsel -------> hero and damsel live happily ever after.

Vladimir Propp was a russian critic who was deeply interested in folk tales and their structures. he published a book on folk tales and there narratives. He noticed that the folk tales were very similar in many aspects. For example they were based around similar characters and their problems. he identified these characters and actions as 'Narratve functions'
The functions of characters this theory included was:

• The Hero- The protagonist that seeks something
• The Villain- The antagonist trying to deter the Hero
• The Donor- The character that supplies magical items
• The Dispatcher- the character that sends the hero on their quest through message
• The False Hero- Gets in the way of the Heroes through making false claims
• The Helper- The character who aids and helps the Hero
• The Princess- The damsel in distress which acts as  reward for the Hero and object of the villains plan
• Her Father- The rewarder to the Hero  for their efforts

10 points of a folk tale story:

1. Hero arrives in town
2. Hero sees the Princess (the Prize)
3. Her Father does not like Hero
4. Villain sees the Princess and plans his kidnap
5. The princess is kidnapped 
6. the Dispatcher messages the Hero by orders of the Farther
7. The donor supplies the Hero for his mission
8. The false Hero attempts to stop the Hero
9. The Hero overcomes all odds and rescues the Princess
10. The Farther finally rewards the Hero with the princess  and live happily ever after

problems with this theory like a lot of of theories is that it does not apply to all fairy tales but maybe the majority of old folk tales but still has exceptions to this theory none the less. this theory when established was very male orientated making the hero male, thus making this theory able to be applied to folk tales with female Heroes. this theory applies to old fairy tales like beauty and the beast and modern films like shrek.

Tzvetan Todorov also was involved with the narrative theory only that he simplified it whilst making the theory more complex with his interpretation of film texts and their equilibrium and disequilibrium.  this theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium is that in the beginning the fictional environment starts with everything being ok (equilibrium) then some sort of problem arises causing a disruption (disequilibrium) and then finally returning to equilibrium in the end.

Arisotle was a philosopher tat believed that a story can teach us a life lesson if percieved in the right way and basis his theories on themes of a film. for example one distinctive theme that would also be useful in creating our thriller would be 'character goal' having our antagonists goal to capture and sacrifice her to what they believe is a hiher cause sending the life message that achieving your goal should be above everything else even if they are dark and corrupt.