Theorists

We have been learnign about film theorests and how applpying their throys can help us create a sucssesful product. Vladamir Propp is one my favotites. Propp was essentially interested in the narrative of folk tales. He noticed Folk tales were similar in many areas. They were about the same basic struggles and they appeared to have stock characters. He identified a theory about characters and actions as narrative functions.
Characters, according to Propp, have a narrative function; they provide a structure for the text, here are the vital ones he believed were used most commonly thorughout film productions:

• The Hero
• The Villain
• The Donor
• The Dispatcher
• The False Hero
• The Helper
• The Princess
• The Princess' Father

These characters don't nessasarily have to be people just so long as the item or person holds the same responsability as the name given. For example the princess it sterotypicaly the winning prise for the prince. So this could be a human or even a valubal object. One character and item can also posses two of these theory characters.
This therost fits really well with our superhero film as it's gong to be really easy to establish the roles of each character as they follow the names percisely. The two main characters will be obvious The Hero (the superhero) and the Villain (evil nemesis). We are tempted to include another character into the trailer who could be introduced as the helper to the hero. This character or even item is something that sticks with the main hero character all the way through their quest.

 

Gustav Freytag analysed Greek and Shakespearean plays to create a dramatic structure. His theory was that to create a successful narrative, they must contain the following in this order:

1. Exposition or Introduction This introduces any background information which is needed to understand what the story is, and also the problem which will need to be solved.
2. Rising Action During this stage the original basic conflict is complicated by the integration of secondary related conflicts, which make it harder for the protagonist to reach his goal. The secondary conflict could include adversaries of a lesser impact than the original antagonist.
3. Climax During the third act, also known as the turning point, a significant change occurs in the narrative for better or worse. Whether the story goes better or worse for the protagonist depends on which genre the narrative fits in to. For example, if the story is any kind of comedy, or maybe a romance film, the story so far would of been negative for the protagonist, and this act could show a change for them.
4. Falling Action At this point the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist is unravels, and it is revealed who is the 'winner' out of the pair. The ending of the Falling Action is when the viewer realises that the narrative is now moving on towards the resolution or ending of the narrative.
5. Denouement, resolution or catastrophe This is where any conflicts that have been apparent during the narrative are sorted. The main characters can then return to some sense of normality, and simply it is the unravelling of any complexities in the plot. Once again, the genre of the movie decides what the ending of the movie will mean for the protagonist. If the film is a tragedy, then the protagonist will probably end up in a worse position than at the beginning of the narrative.