Group narrative
The purpose of a narrative is to engage the viewers into the story of the film, creating certain atmospheres, for example a film in the thriller genre uses the elements of action, suspense and shock to draw the audience in. To discuss our ideas we spoke in lesson, and spoke about all of our individual narratives followed by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each one, before deciding on our own.
The first narrative we discussed was Scott's, involving a paranoid child ignored by his parents, leading to him being murdered by a ghost that he feared, in front of his family. Advantages of this narrative would be that it there would be a lot of suspense involved, which would draw the viewers in to watching the film, as well as there is a teenage victim meaning the younger audiences watching the film can relate to to. However disadvantages are that we cannot use a ghost as a provocateur because we do not have the equipment to create one, and disadvantage are that it would be hard to find people who would act as parents in the opening sequence.
The second narrative we discussed was mine, about a couple staying in a house in the mountains, the first night there are noises from upstairs so she goes to find out what is making the noises, she finds a locked room which the house owner doesn't want her to see. This happens for a few nights and then one night the male goes missing, she then goes onto find that the male has been taken and murdered in the room even though the male didn't believe that the room existed, as she tries to rescue him she is trapped in the room herself. Advantages of my narrative are that its simple and would be easy to film, however disadvantages are that it would be very long and would not be possible to fit into three minutes.
The third narrative we discussed was Devon's, the narrative is that a man and woman are walking late at night through a forest and they hear noises, the boy goes to check for danger and leaves the woman alone. She waits for his return yet he does not come back for a while, she feels as if she is being watched so she decides to head out of the forest. As she is walking the noises return and she starts to run, as she is being chased she trips over a figure on the floor. It is her boyfriends dead corpse. Advantages to this narrative is that it would be easy excess to the location and the story line is very simple. However it will be hard to film during dark hours as the lighting will not be very clear.
The narrative we decided was to choose was a variation of Devon's, with the same concept that there is a victim and killer, and the killer stalking the victim. However we decided that there will be one single female victim walking down the street on her way home, when she begins to think that she is being followed through the forest, she then runs into the forest in an attempt to get away. She is then chased by the killer until she hides, believing she has gotten away, the killer then re-appears and takes her.
There are many different narrative theories, the main three are Vladmir Propp's, Todorov's theory, and Aristotles. Propp claimed "every film has a different character which has a different function", his theory generally applied to fairy tales, for example there will be a hero who seeks something, villain who actively blocks the hero's quest. Todorov's theory is not about the characters but the narrative and that they evolve around an equilibrium and disequilibrium, there is a state of equilibrium, a disruption to the equilibrium, recognition of disruption, attempt to repair the equilibrium followed by the restore or the return or the equilibrium.The third theory was Aristotle's, this was again a theory based on the narrative again, that there is an inciting incident, a dramatic question, character goal, the introduction of an antagonist/protagonist, stakes, a resolution followed by sympathy or empathy. I believe that our narrative would follow the Todorov's theory, because there is an equilibrium, where our victim is walking down the street, followed by a realisation of a disequilibrium, then an attempt to repair, when she is running away trying to escape the killer.
The first narrative we discussed was Scott's, involving a paranoid child ignored by his parents, leading to him being murdered by a ghost that he feared, in front of his family. Advantages of this narrative would be that it there would be a lot of suspense involved, which would draw the viewers in to watching the film, as well as there is a teenage victim meaning the younger audiences watching the film can relate to to. However disadvantages are that we cannot use a ghost as a provocateur because we do not have the equipment to create one, and disadvantage are that it would be hard to find people who would act as parents in the opening sequence.
The second narrative we discussed was mine, about a couple staying in a house in the mountains, the first night there are noises from upstairs so she goes to find out what is making the noises, she finds a locked room which the house owner doesn't want her to see. This happens for a few nights and then one night the male goes missing, she then goes onto find that the male has been taken and murdered in the room even though the male didn't believe that the room existed, as she tries to rescue him she is trapped in the room herself. Advantages of my narrative are that its simple and would be easy to film, however disadvantages are that it would be very long and would not be possible to fit into three minutes.
The third narrative we discussed was Devon's, the narrative is that a man and woman are walking late at night through a forest and they hear noises, the boy goes to check for danger and leaves the woman alone. She waits for his return yet he does not come back for a while, she feels as if she is being watched so she decides to head out of the forest. As she is walking the noises return and she starts to run, as she is being chased she trips over a figure on the floor. It is her boyfriends dead corpse. Advantages to this narrative is that it would be easy excess to the location and the story line is very simple. However it will be hard to film during dark hours as the lighting will not be very clear.
The narrative we decided was to choose was a variation of Devon's, with the same concept that there is a victim and killer, and the killer stalking the victim. However we decided that there will be one single female victim walking down the street on her way home, when she begins to think that she is being followed through the forest, she then runs into the forest in an attempt to get away. She is then chased by the killer until she hides, believing she has gotten away, the killer then re-appears and takes her.
There are many different narrative theories, the main three are Vladmir Propp's, Todorov's theory, and Aristotles. Propp claimed "every film has a different character which has a different function", his theory generally applied to fairy tales, for example there will be a hero who seeks something, villain who actively blocks the hero's quest. Todorov's theory is not about the characters but the narrative and that they evolve around an equilibrium and disequilibrium, there is a state of equilibrium, a disruption to the equilibrium, recognition of disruption, attempt to repair the equilibrium followed by the restore or the return or the equilibrium.The third theory was Aristotle's, this was again a theory based on the narrative again, that there is an inciting incident, a dramatic question, character goal, the introduction of an antagonist/protagonist, stakes, a resolution followed by sympathy or empathy. I believe that our narrative would follow the Todorov's theory, because there is an equilibrium, where our victim is walking down the street, followed by a realisation of a disequilibrium, then an attempt to repair, when she is running away trying to escape the killer.
This post demonstrates some planning techniques. You have evaluated the individual group ideas well, but you need to include further detail, on the individual ideas.
ReplyDeleteAim to include further detail on the group narrative, so that your opening sequence can be visualised in further detail.
You have also made a start in including points on the narrative theories, but further discussion of how your group narrative follows Todorov's theory is needed, to demonstrate further understanding of the task.