Narrative Theory

When studying narrative theory I looked a 3 different people and there theories. When looking into each individuals ideas I found each one to be considerable different and for the theory of film and media to have changed greatly over the years, particular in the last few decades.

The first theory I looked at was by a russian critic, called Vladimir Propp, activie in the 1920s he published 'morphology of the folk tale' in 1928'. he believed that narrative is not very important compared to the characters and functions in the performance. Propp believed there would always be a certain character present in fairy tales for example a hero and a villain. He had a keen interest in folk tales and thought they were simular in many areas. characterization is a big part of props theories. He states that in every film there always has to be set rules such as the princess, (the weak female who is being saved) the villain (evil killer) and hero (strong man, heroic ect)

The second theory I looked at was Todorov. His theory consisted of a simplified idea of narrative theory whilst also allowing a more complex interpretation of film texts with his theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium. This essentially means that when everything is normal in a play such as the beginning everything is 'equilibrium'. Disequilibrium means when there is a disruption or problem with normality. He also though that during a performance after a problem occurs everything is soon sorted out which is true for many modern films and is a very common feature in worldwide cinema.

Aristotle had further ideas about the theory of narratives. He believed productions should feature the following: Inciting incidents, a dramatic question, character goals, antagonist and protagonist, resolution and sympathy empathy. These made the audience relate
the film more and get the most out of viewing the performance. 

My own film would relate to both Aristotle and propps theory because the theme of a thriller film relates strongly to both these narrative ideas. The young female victim credits sympathy and empathy. The dramatic question would be why is this woman in this situation? this situation is that the woman is tied up and she needs to run away from her capturer. If follows props theory as well as the characters fit in with the conventions of thriller films, this means a weak female character, and an evil male villain. This enigma follows the conventions of a thriller film and also the above narrative theories.