Narrative Theory

1. NARRATIVE THEORY

2. PROPP’S THEORY
Vladimir Propp studied of folktales and found they
contained eight character types and thirty one that
move the story along ….
• The hero is prohibited from doing something
• The villain learns something about the victim
• The villain is punished etc.

3. PROPP’S NARRATIVE THEORY
• Propp’s theory fits in with our genre idea for the opening sequence in that it:
-Contains a few of the character types and
-Follows some of the events
• Our characters consist of the Villain (Murderer), Hero (person who gets
killed last), Princess (Victim of the murderer), False Hero (friend of Hero),
Dispatcher (Police), Helper (Friends)
• Through the theme of Propp’s events:
-Hero prohibited – Person stopped from Vigilantism
-Villain Learns - Finds out something about the princess which makes
them angry and murderous
-Villain Punished – Eventually gets found out (Not in the sequence)
• Our idea fits in with a typical Teen horror movie and Propp’s Narrative theory
through the types of character used and the events that happen throughout.

4. LEVI-STRAUSS’S NARRATIVE
THEORY
• Levi-Strauss suggested that binary oppositions are key to the meaning making in
narrative – he argued the constant creation of conflict and opposition propels narrative,
and that narrative can only end on a resolution of conflict
• Examples of binary oppositions:
-Good/Evil
-Men/Women
-Truth/Lies
-Normal/Abnormal
-Strong/Weak
-Natural/Artificial
-Young/Old
-Light/Dark
• It is important to note that we judge one half of each binary opposition in a more
negative way; therefore the meanings of the binaries are ideological as they are
culturally constructed

5. LEVI-STRAUSS’S NARRATIVE
THEORY
• Levi-Strauss’s theory fits in with our genre idea for the opening sequence
in that it:
-Judges one half of a binary composition in a negative way and
-Contains more than one binary composition
• One of the main binary compositions in our opening sequence is
Good/Evil. This fits in with our characters of the Hero (person who gets
killed last), and the Villain (Murderer). A majority of viewers will be biased
positively towards the Hero

6. ROLAND BARTHES
• Barthes’ enigma code was a theory putting forward the notion that media (whether it be
film, television or texts) are to entice people and draw them in through a sense of
mystery. The main aim of this is to get the audience asking questions. If, at the start of
a film, for example, there is lots of out of focus images with a shallow depth of field. A
murder mystery for example will usually have the murder happen at the start but the
murderer will not be revealed until the end of the film. This allows us to ask the
question ‘who is the murderer?’ We can also come up with our own theories on who it
is, this makes the film experience more exciting, engaging and audience orientated.
• The different codes are:
-The Hermeneutic Code (HER)
-The Proairetic Code (ACT)
-The Semantic Code (SEM)
-The Symbolic Code (SYM)
-The Cultural Code (REF)