Narrative

There are many different ideas and approaches to what a narrative is within a trailer, however every trailer follows some type of narrative. When looking at the trailer my group and I made over the summer, it is evident to me that Todrov’s theory can be applied. According to Todrov there are three stages which occur within a narrative: the equilibrium, the disequilibrium and the resolution. However the purpose of a trailer is to create enigma and for this reason the resolution is not shown. Furthermore, the trailer does not go into too much detail with things like the characters, therefore the equilibrium does not usually feature. Due to this, the main stage we see is the disequilibrium which is what the focus is  in our trailer. For this reason I believe we used this theory well. In addition to this, I believe that our trailer applies to some of Barthes narrative codes. For example, the enigma code applies through building suspense and mystery within our trailer by not revealing too much. In addition to this, the hermeneutic code (the voice of the truth) also assists this in helping to create mystery by giving clues and holding back details. Propps narrative talks about specific stock characters which must feature, however our trailer only featured 3 characters and even our characters did not relate to any of Propps stock characters. Propp bases narrative on fairytales and on teaching morality, therefore when applied to horror it is relevant to teen punishment which comes under the slasher genre and not the genre of our trailer. Therefore Propps’ narrative doesn’t apply to my trailer. Levi Strauss talks about binary opposites and how characters and themes must be completely the opposite in order to be recognised and able define the difference. Our trailer can relate to good vs evil, the good being the innocent civilians and the evil being the alien invaders. For this reason my trailer successfully follows Strauss’ narrative. Kate Domaille claims that every story fits into one of 8 categories, the main ones that apply to the genre horror are faust, chase and orpheus. However I personally don’t feel that any of these apply to my trailer. Orpheus is the loss of something personal and therefore may apply to my trailer through the loss of freedom as their planet has been invaded and is being destroyed which can obviously result in the loss of many personal things. 

Comments

  1. ctkmedia11 October 2017 at 01:38

    You need to write in paragraphs as per the essay plan you were given. There should be 6 of them in 30 mins.

    "There are many different ideas and approaches to what a narrative is within a trailer, however every trailer follows some type of narrative. When looking at the trailer my group and I made over the summer, it is evident to me that" This does not follow P1 structure (P) WHY is narrative relavant to Teaser Trailers?

    "at Todrov’s theory can be applied. According to Todrov there are three stages which occur within a narrative: the equilibrium, the disequilibrium and the resolution. However the purpose of a trailer is to create enigma and for this reason the resolution is not shown. Furthermore, the trailer does not go into too much detail with things like the characters, therefore the equilibrium does not usually feature. Due to this, the main stage we see is the disequilibrium which is what the focus is in our trailer. For this reason I believe we used this theory well." (E) WHAT does this stage look like on screen? MES CAM, EDIT? WHAT did you show during the disruption (A) WHY have a MONTAGE and HOW does this disrupt Ts theory?

    "n addition to this, I believe that our trailer applies to some of Barthes narrative codes. For example, the enigma code applies through building suspense and mystery within our trailer by not revealing too much. In addition to this, the hermeneutic code (the voice of the truth) also assists this in helping to create mystery by giving clues and holding back details. " (E) WHAT does this look like on screen/ CAM EDIT MES - WHAT are the CLUES you refer to? (A) WHY are enigma codes so important to the function of a Teaser Trailer? HOW effective are these CLUES and what are the enigma questions raised by your Trailer?

    " Propps narrative talks about specific stock characters - NO THEY ARE ARCHETYPES - which must feature, however our trailer only featured 3 characters and even our characters did not relate to any of Propps stock characters. Propp bases narrative on fairytales and on teaching morality, therefore when applied to horror it is relevant to teen punishment which comes under the slasher genre and not the genre of our trailer. Therefore Propps’ narrative doesn’t apply to my trailer" (A) WHY do they not apply to your Trailer - WHAT does this suggest about REALISM?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cabin in the Woods - Conventions of Horror and Sub-genres

Cabin in the Woods is a horror which features a combination of the typical conventions from a variety of subgenres. These subgenres include, slasher, zombies, monsters, werewolves and splatter. The film uses the iconic stock characters of a slasher. The film features 5 teenagers who indulge in certain activities such as drugs and sex. The teenagers are killed as a sacrifice to the Gods, however they do not know this until the end. Their killings are controlled in a technical lab underneath the cabin which is run and controlled by adults who are making the sacrifice. They are killed by the order of adults for their youth and therefore this can be viewed as teen punishment.   The teenagers include the blonde slut who is typically the first to die for being promiscuous, therefore supporting this common convention. It also features the final girl, the virgin who survives. However this convention of a slasher is challenged as another male character survives too. However, unlike a usual
Read more

Media Language

Horror films use established signs and codes in their conventions to signify deeper meaning. In my summer trailer symbolic codes such as mise-en-scene and location were used in order to portray the characters and set the tone. The characters clothing was just casual wear to show that they were average teenagers and the field denoted connotes a feeling of emptiness and no escape. However I feel as though we could have used many more symbolic codes in greater depth in order to convey meanings more. For example we didn’t use any makeup for effects and our location didn’t feature enough in order to set the tone as it wasn’t something we focused on. However these are key elements used that people become familiar with and therefore can identify a horror film with. For this reason, when creating our horror trailer I will ensure that aspects of mise-en-scene our considered deeply and connote meanings as well as ensuring that our film locations set a tone as it is important for viewers to be ab
Read more