2. Todorov’s Narrative
Per sonal Interpretat ion
Todorov is a famous and well-known
philosopher and has made a significant
contribution to literary theory. He states
that there are stages of five common
conventions that many linear texts can
be applied to. These stages are as such:
3. Five Stages
1.Equl ibr ium
The start of the story shows characters in a content state
of mind where everything is as it should be and any
potentially opposing forces are in balance; for example
Toy Story begins with Andy playing with his toys happily .
Children's animation films conventionally have a linear
narrative in order for a young child to understand and
follow the narrative. Therefore it must have a simplex
structure which begins and ends in a state of equilibrium
to make children feel happy.
4. Five Stages
2.Di s rupt ion
This is the stage in which a problem occurs
that effects the content state of mind of a
character. This occurs in ‘Titanic’ when the
ship hits the iceberg. Disruption is
extremely different within in a children’s
genre to an adult film as in a children’s
narrative in for example Finding Nemo the
most disruptive part is when Nemo is
caught by a fishermen and no harm
comes to the characters. Whereas in
Titanic an extreme amount of people die
which isn’t appropriate to a child.
5. Five Stages
3. Recogni t ion of Di s rupt ion
This is the part of the narrative in which
others/the person becomes aware of the
disruption. An example of this is in The
Simpsons movie where the family are
kicked out of Springsteen and forced to
move to Alaska.
6. Five Stages
4. At tempt To Repai r Di s rupt ion
This is the stage of the narrative where characters
attempt to fix the issue at hand in order to restore
equilibrium. For example in Your Next when the
heroin attempts to kill all of the masked lunatics.
During this stage within adult films typically
someone who has a close relationship to the main
character dies. For example in The Amazing
Spiderman 2 when Gwen(Peters love interest) falls
to her death.
7. Five Stages 5.Reins tatment of
Equi l ibr ium
This is the final stage where the problem is
solved and characters are able to go back
to a content and happy mind set. This
occurs in Harry Potter and The Chamber of
Secrets where Hagrid is released from
Azkaban, walks down the grand hall and is
hugged frantically by Hermione, Ron and
Harry.
8. Narrative Structure and Theory
Soap Operas
I intend to create a soap opera trailer. However a trailer does not conventionally
show a linear narrative. Nevertheless Todorov believes that elements of the five
stages are applicable to a trailer. Typically Disruption and Recognition of
Disruption appears due to soap operas focusing on melodramatic tragedies like
in Eastenders. However as my trailer will be for a NEW soap opera it needs a
balance between Equilibrium and Disruption in order to convey to an audience
that there are elements of both within a soap opera.
