Narrative

Narrative is the way the story is told and the sequence it is told in. It an be either linear or non linear as long as it makes sense and works with the film and the story. Although narrative tells the story, there is a difference in story and narrative. Story just tells the blunt facts, but narrative can start at the end and reflect on the events and present them from different perspectives.  The narrative is constructed through the use of all the elements that go into making the film including; camerawork. lighting. sound, mise en scene and editing.

There is a five stage structure that gives a basis for the way films should go in order to make sense and appeal to the audience. The stages are;

EXPOSITION (setting scene and introduction of the characters) 

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DEVELOPMENT (situation develops, introduce more characters)

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COMPLICATION(something happens to complicate the lives of the characters)

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CLIMAX (decisive moment, high suspense)

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RESOLUTION (matters are resolved and a satisfactory end has been reached)

This relates to my plot layout and story line and this structure can be applied to my plot outline; 

EXPOSITION (the three girls are seen walking around in the country lost after trying to find their way back and it is dark)

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DEVELOPMENT (they find an abandoned house and decided to sleep in as it is getting dark. One girl feels unsure and feels like she is being watched)

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COMPLICATION (the girl that felt unsure wakes up to find one of her friends dead, gets captured and finds another being tortured)

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CLIMAX (the girl tries to save her friend, get tortured herself, and fights for her survival)

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RESOLUTION (the girl gets away after being chased by the murderer, finds help but is seen as mentally unstable after no evidence at all has been found of any of the events that happened that night)

This five stage structure also relates to the theory of Tvzetan Todarov, who suggests that there is three main stages in a narrative - EQUILIBRIUM - DISEQUILIBRIUM - NEW EQUILIBRIUM. 

This theory can be expanded to have five stages, very similar to those above which are; EQUILIBRIUM - DISEQUILIBRIUM - RECOGNITION OF DISRUPTION - ATTEMPT TO REPAIR DISRUPTION - CHANGE TO NEW EQUILIBRIUM. 

Another key narrative theorist is Vladimir Propp. Although he analysed Russian fairytales from which he compiled a list of key characters, this can still be applied to other texts in terms of character analysis. He said that there is a hero, villian, donor, princess, her father, false hero, and helper. Although my film does not include all of these characters, it does still relate to it. This includes; Villain (antagonist), hero (protagonist), and the princess. The villain would be the masked murderer, the hero would be the girl that fights against the murder and manages to escape, and the princess would be all three girls as they all need saving, even the one that acts also as the hero as she needs help once she gets away from the murderer. 

Propp also identified that there are stock situations within narratives which he called narratemes. These are necessary for the narrative to exist and keep it moving forward at a pace relevant for the genre and direct the narrative to its climax. Although this idea cannot be applied to all narratives - depending on genre and the aims - it can be applied to my narrative, as for the film to reach its peak and to match the genre, thus appealing to the intended audience, certain actions have to be taken. For instance, the girls have to stay in the house, and the girl has to go looking for her friends and have the strength and will power to try and escape. 

Ferdinand de Saussure is a theorist relating to structuralism. He stated that a sign has no deep rooted meaning, but relies on its context (syntactic dimension) and the group (paradigm) it belongs too. He said that language must be considered as a social phenomenon, as a structured system that can be seen synchronically (as it exists at any particular time) and diachronically (as it changes in the course of time). He also gave information relating to semiotics. This is in the form of a two part model of the sign; 

SIGNIFIER - the form that the sign takes 

SIGNIFIED - the concept it represents

This also emphasized the negative oppositional differences between sign, and the key are these binary opposites. 

Claude Levi Strauss is responsible for the idea of binary opposites, stating that the understanding of certain words does not come from the word itself, but instead is derived from their opposites or what they are not. For example, the word hero is not only understood from itself, but from the opposite being villain. Some obvious examples are; youth/age, good/evil etc. 

It is also important to remember that one side of the binary pair are seem as more valued by a particular society or culture. This can be applied to my media text in terms of the protagonist and the antagonist. For example; when you see the antagonist you will expect the binary opposite being the protagonist to appear soon.

Roland Barthes suggested that narrative works because there are different codes to help the audience make sense of it. These include; 

ENIGMA CODES - puzzles to be solved, cliffhangers, unanswered questions

ACTION CODES - words, actions, expressions that suggest action in the genre and narrative

SYMBOLIC CODES - an object, event, or action that holds a deeper meaning

SEMIC CODES - hidden codes

CULTURAL CODES - clues indicating as to where it is set such as accent. This could attract certain audiences

These can be applied to the way I am planning my trailer and my plot idea as included these elements both through camera work, lighting, mise en scene, and editing to make sure the trailer get across the genre, narrative and key points of the film whilst not giving too much away.

Barthes also gave us two narrative codes, that in their own ways push the narrative forward and keep the audience hooked. Both create suspense, and due to people natural want for resolution therefore keeps them hooked. These two narrative codes are;

HERMENEUTIC CODE - refers to the plot element that raised questions that the audience wants answers too. Such as, why is there a dead body or weapon someone. 

PROAIRETIC CODE - refers to actions that lead to other actions, for example, the victim running away from the attacker, makes the audience wonder if they will get away or not.

Syd Field suggests that typical Hollywood films can be divided into three sections. Plot points are pieces of lot that effects the lives of the characters, and change the tone of the film. This happens between Acts 1 and 2, and 2 and 3.

ACT 1; The first 10 minutes of the film are crucial in order to grab the audiences attention. They should see the main character, and be able to identify the genre. 

ACT 2; This is the confrontation. The longest section of film and shows difficulties for the hero. They will at first be seen as weak, but then they will realize something or something happens which flips this in order to overcome the second plot point. 

ACT 3; The resolution. The hero will win, often by overcoming their binary opposite. 

This is similar to Todarov's theory relating to the equilibrium of the narrative. This can be applied to my plot to ensure there are plot points to keep the audience engaged and to encourage the film to reach its pinnacle. However, not all of this will be shown in my teaser trailer, most likely just focusing on act two.

Another approach used by Stanley Kubrick as well as others is the term NON-SUBMERSIBLE UNITS. These refer to essential elements in the narrative which the film could not do without. These should be so strong that they should be able to keep the audience hooked alone.