Propp's 7 recurring character types:
The villain - struggles against the hero
The donor - prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object
The helper - helps the hero in the quest
The princess/prize - the hero journey is often ended when he marries the princess
The dispatcher - character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off
The hero - reacts to the donor, saves the day, weds the princess
False hero - takes credit for the heros actions and tries to marry the princess
Star Wars example:
The villain - Darth vader
The donor - Obi-Wan Kenobi
The helper - Han Solo
The princess - Princess Leia
The dispatcher - R2D2
The hero - Luke Skywalker
False hero - Lando
The Gant rule:
Box office analyst Charles Gant has argued that a typical box office hit (a success in both the UK and US markets) will make ten times as much in the US ($) as in the UK (£). A great example of this is that Maze runner made £4million in the UK and $40 million in the U.S.
Stuart Hall:
Stuart Hall analysed the role of audience positioning in the interpretation of media texts in different social groups, he came up with a model suggesting three ways in which we may read media texts:
Dominant reading (Preferred reading): The reader fully accepts the preferred reading and understands it in the way the creator desired
The negotiated reading: The reader partly believes and accepts the preferred reading
The oppositional reading: The readers social position places them in an oppositional relation to the preferred reading.
Male/Female gaze:
The female gaze is a feminist film theoretical term representing the gaze of the female viewer. It is a response to feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey's term, "the male gaze," Male gaze theory utilises cinematography and editing to objectify and represent the female in a way that would appeal to the male audience, this is done by accentuating parts of the body through camera angles and framing.
Todorov's model of narrative structure:
Traditionally narrative structures follow an order of events:
1. The narrative starts with an equilibrium
2. An action or character disrupts the equilibrium
3. A quest to restore the equilibrium begins
4. The narrative continues to climax
5. Resolution occurs and equilibrium is restored
How we will used this theory:
1. Couple is in bed, relaxed as normal
2. Santa appears on TV, scaring Tiffany and disrupts the equilibrium
3. The couple head to the garage to find santa
4. The couple arrive at the garage and get attacked
5. Michael is killed
Auteur Theory:
Auteur theory is when the director behind the movie is credited as the main creative force behind the movie, this is a more simplistic definition of the theory but can be seen widely in the industry. A stricter definition is when the director has a distinctive style and approaches social realist subjects whilst being credited for it.
Levi-Strauss
Strauss believed the way we interpret words depends not so much on the meaning but our understanding of the different/opposite of the word, such as protagonist and antagonist or hero and villain. Possibly the most common example of this in a slasher movie is the final girl vs scream queen roles.
Barthes:
Narrative enigma is the use of withholding information from the viewer whilst giving just enough to make the audience watch on to find out what is happening, this can be done through many ways:
- Suspenseful Music
- Creates suspense as the viewer doesn't know what is going to happen next but knows something will happen
- Camera angles that don't show faces
- CU of body parts
- Shots from behind
- Over the shoulder shots
- Witholding enough information to stop anchorage
How we will used this theory:
- Extreme long shots of house
- Close ups of couple getting dressed that don't show the face through the use of narrative enigma
- Suspenseful music that builds up as the attack approaches
