1. Level: Green
By: Abigail Menzies

2. Part A: Todorov

3. Level : Yellow
Todorov Task 1
These are different conflicts and
disruptions and resolutions for
different genres

4. Todorov Task 2
 Todorov suggests there are five stages of narrative
Stages of narrative Film Example: Colombiana Evidence
Equilibrium The normality of this film is
This is the
when Cataleya’s father is first scene of
talking to Don Luis the film
where
everything is
normal and
balanced
Disequilibrium The conflict of the Don Luis
equilibrium is when Don Luis sends
gunmen
sends hitmen to kill Cataleya’s
to kill
family Cataleya’s
family
This
traumatizes
Cataleya as she
hears the whole
thing

5. Cataleya kills
Recognition of Years later Cataleya grows up numerous people
disequilibrium and gets revenge for the death that are related to
of her parents her parent’s death
Cataleya intrudes in Officer
Attempt to repair the •Cataleya realises she has no Ross’ house threatening him
damage other choice but to ask the to give her information
police officer for information
that can help her to stop her
parent’s killers
New equilibrium Cataleya leaves Chicago and r Cataleya
gets on the bus to start a new walking
life away

6. Part B: Levi - Strauss
Believes that our world is described in binary opposites e.g.
• good/evil
• light/day
• male/female

7. Genre: Drama
Film African American American citizen Explanation
citizen
‘The Help’ Sophisticated Elegant clothing •These two characters are
environment connote wealth opposites as they belong to
tow different social class and
this differentiation
reinforces the idea of status
and hierarchy.
•This character is a black working •This character is a white middle
class female classed female
•She works for the middle class •She hires the working class to do
white people in this film her house work
•She is the outsider to this white •She treats the black working
dominant society class as if they are not humans

8. Genre: Horror
Film Good (Christian) Evil (Supernatural) Explanation
‘The devil •These two characters are
opposites as they emphasize
inside’ the difference between good
and evil.
•The possessed woman is seen
as evil so as an audience we will
automatically assume the
daughter is good and she tries
to get her mother exorcised.
•This character is trying to •This character is
find out what’s wrong with possessed by a demon
her mother
•This character is the
daughter of the a possessed
woman and wants her
mother

9. Genre: Action
Film Hero Villain Explanation
‘Spiderman Superhero •This opposition of hero and
costume The villain is usually unattractive villain reinforces the idea that
2’ the young, handsome
character is usually loved by
the society and is the hero
whereas the old, ugly
character is usually an
outsider and is the villain.
•This opposition between
Good good and evil is recognisable
looking in action films
•This opposition also creates
the dominant ideology that
• This character Peter the hero is suppose to be a
Parker/‘Spiderman’ is the •After being the victim of an handsome, muscular male
superhero within the film science experiment gone wrong, character.
• This character tries to ‘Octavius’ rampages the city as
give up the role of spider revenge
man but returns after a
villain tries to annihilate
the city

10. Genre: Sci-fi
Film Hero Villain Explanation
‘Avatar’ •These two characters are opposites
as the first character ‘ Jake’ is the
hero of the film who fights for the
good and defeats other. Whereas
Quaritch is the villain as he kill
innocent lives and only looks out
for himself.
•This opposition between the hero
and villain cause conflict as their
goals and perspective of life is
different to one another
•This character ‘Quaritch’ plays
the role of the villain/ bad guy in
•This character ‘Jake Sully’ plays the film
the role of the hero/ the good guy •Quaritch’s mission is to obtain a
of the film mineral from the Pandora planet
•Jake sympathizes with the which is valuable to earth however
natives of the Pandora planet instead of evacuating the natives,
and helps to save there home he destroys their homeland
planet

11. Genre: Thriller
Film Good (Innocence) Evil (Violation) Explanation
‘Memento’ • These characters are opposites
as Lenny’s purpose within the
film is to get justice from his
wife’s murder. Whereas,
Natalie violates Lenny and his
short term memory to get
what she wants.
•This character ‘Lenny’ is seen •This character ‘Natalie’ is seen as
as the good character of the the evil character of the film
film because of his innocence because of his violation towards
•Lenny has short term and Lenny and his condition
relies on pictures and tattoos •Natalie uses Lenny’s short term
to solve his wives’ death. memory to his advantage

12. Part C : Barthes
This theory of codes encourages the audience to seek
answers and clues to make them anticipate the outcome
There are 5 different codes:
•Enigma code
•Action code
•Semantic code
•Symbolic code
•Cultural code

13. Enigma code
 This is how narrative is set up to puzzle the audience. It basically portrays a mystery and
causes the audience raise questions as a way to intrigue and draw them in. These enigmas
delay the ending /resolution to maintain the audience’s interest.
 Scream 4 is an example of a film with the enigma code as it allows the audience to seek
answers to events that happen in the film
Audience will look for clues
The mask keep the audience intrigued within the film to try and
and maintains their interest as they’re find out who the killer is
unable to identify the killer
Audience will question why
is the killer killing people

14. Action code
 This code shows how certain actions and behaviour within a film cause the audience to
assume and expect certain resolutions and consequences
 Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an example of a film with the action code as the audience
expect certain consequences such as the death of the character if they visit an old,
haunted house.
Girl walking up the
an old, haunted
house
The audience will assume that the
character will die or something bad will
happen as this is a convention used in
horror movies

15. Semantic code
 Iconographic features in a film have clear connotations and meaning s to an audience. This
allows them to identify to know the genre of the film by the characters, props and location.
 Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith is an example of a film with the semantic code as the
audience is able to identify the film’s genre which is sci - fi through the semantics in the
film.
Props such as spaceships are
associated with the sci fi genre
Character such
as aliens and
robots are
usually
associated with
the sci - fi
genre

16. Symbolic code
 This code is symbolic features about the oppositions and antithesis is a film e.g. savage and
civilised, light and dark.
 The Dark Knight is an example of a film with the symbolic code as it shows a clear
distinction between the opposition of good and evil from the characters Batman and the
Joker
Good Evil
The Joker threatens others
Batman puts his life at risk to save with weapons such as knives.
Rachel . This shows Batman being good Make up This creates a clear
rather than evil and letting Rachel die. distinction between being
good and evil.

17. Symbolic code continued…
Good Evil
The superhero g The Joker works alongside mob
costumes gang to terrorize the city
connotes being
good and
fighting for
justice
Batman
captures the
Joker in the end
The Joker blows up
the hospital and
kills innocent
people

18. Cultural code
 This code is used to explain how outside of the film, the audience has a commonly shared
knowledge that helps them understand the meaning of the text which is often in reference
to things in the popular cultures and historical events such as 9/11 and other wars
 The Pursuit of Happiness is an example of a film with the cultural code as the audience of
this film lives in a time where there has been an increase in the number of homeless people
on the streets on America so the audience would understand why there's a huge number of
homeless people in the film
Long line of homeless people for the
homeless shelter

19. Part D : Propp
Propp formed the theory that there are seven distinctive character
types called ‘spheres of action’
These seven spheres of actions are:
•Hero
•Dispatcher
•Villain
•Donor
•Helper
•False Hero
•Heroine

20. Hero
 This character is on a quest/ mission and is traditionally a male. The role of the hero is to
restore the disequilibrium, this is usually done by defeating the villain and winning the
heart of the heroine
 Jake Sully from Avatar is an example of a ‘hero’ character.
This character restore the disequilibrium
within the film by fighting alongside the
natives of Pandora to save their
homeland and defeat the other side
(villain)

21. Dispatcher
 This character starts the hero on their way and is often the father of the hero. The
dispatcher send the hero off so they can prove their worth.
 Grace from Avatar is an example of a ‘dispatcher’ character as she send the hero (Jake
Sully) into the Avatar to prove himself to the Na’vi tribe and to gain their trust
Grace is the ‘dispatcher’ character
of Avatar

22. Villain
 This character is the opposite of the hero and is the cause of the disruption within the
film
 Quaritch from Avatar is an example of a ‘villain’ character.
This character is the cause of the disruption within the film as
he leads the soldiers to destroy the homeland of the Na’vi in
order to obtain a mineral that is valuable on Earth

23. Donor
 This character helps the hero by giving them ‘magic; or advice to help them on their
journey.
 Norm from Avatar is an example of a ‘donor’ character as he helps the hero of the film
(Jake Sully) by mentoring him about the natives of Pandora so he is able to fit in with
them
Norm is the ‘donor’ character of
Avatar

24. Helper
 This character assists/helps the hero in restoring the normality/ equilibrium
 Trudy from Avatar is an example of a ‘helper’ character as she helps the hero escape
from imprisonment so he can complete his quest.
Trudy is the ‘helper’ character of
Avatar

25. False Hero
 This character is initially on the side of the hero but turns against them and tempts the
hero away from their quest
 Prince Charming from Shrek 2 is an example of a ‘false hero’ character as he pretends to
be on the same side as the hero (Shrek) so he can win the princess’ heart.
Prince Charming is the false hero
character of Shrek 2

26. Heroine
 This character is often referred to as the ‘princess’ in traditional narratives and is often in
love or ends up with the hero by the end of the film
 Neytiri from Avatar is an example of a ‘heroine’ character as she is the Princess of the Na’vi
and falls in love with the hero of the film (Jake Sully)
Neytiri is the ‘heroine’ character of
Avatar

27. Part E: Other Terms

28. Diegesis
 This is the world that the characters live in. This world is created by the story that the
characters experience
The dairy of a wimpy kid shows diegesis as
the characters within the movie encounter
their own problems

29. Narrative Range
 Unrestricted narrative
This narrative has no limits in the information that is presented to the audience e.g. Final
Destination 5
Final Destination is unrestricted narrative as
the audience knows what will happen next as
Sam (the main character) has premonitions
and the audience have access to these
premonitions
 Restricted narrative
This narrative only gives out minimal information to the audience to create an enigma e.g.
Memento
Memento has restricted narrative as Lenny
(the main character) is shown throughout
the film on the phone however, the audience
doesn’t know who he's on the phone to till
the end of the film

30. Narrative Depth
Objective character identification
 This is when the viewer is given access to the character’s point of view for example seeing the
character’s thoughts or dreams.
 Mean Girls is an example of a film with objective character identification as the audience is
able view Cady (the main character) thoughts
The audience sees Cady’s thought of
when she imagines herself
attacking Regina

31. Narrative Depth continued...
Subjective character identification
 This is the viewer is given unique access to what a range of characters can see and do.
 X-men: The Last Stand is an example of a film with subjective character identification as the
audience is able to view all the actions and thoughts of the characters in the film
Audience has
Audience has access to the character of access to the
Warren’s childhood & adulthood character’ of
Cyclops and his
life
The audience is able
to view fighting
scenes that happen
between the good
guys and bad guys
of the film

32. Part F:Modular Narrative

33. Episodic
 This is how a film is organized by a series of narrative.
 For Colored Girls is an example for a film that is episodic as this film shows a collection of
seven stories about seven different women and their lives.
The seven separate stories in the film
Crystal’s story
She lives with her alcoholic, abusive husband
and loses both her kids by the end of the film
Jo’s story
Jo who is too busy with her work to acknowledge her husband and
realise that he no longer loves her.
Nyla’s story
After spending graduation with a bunch of friends,
Nyla finds herself pregnant and gets a abortion to
resolve her mistakes

34. Episodic continued….
Tangie’s story
Sleeping with a different man every night, Tangie has no
time to realise her little sister needs a role model to look
up to
Juanita’s story
Despite knowing her husband is cheating on her Juanita
still tries to ignore these facts and forgives her husband
but he continues to cheat
Yasmin’s story
Yasmin who is a dance teacher gets herself raped by a
man she thought she could trust
Kelly’s story
Kelly who works as a welfare officer blames herself for the death of
Crystal’s children as she doesn’t take further actions and take the children
under custody away from their alcoholic father. On top of this, Kelly is
desperate to have children of her own however is unable to do so due to a
disease which causes her to be infertile

35. Anachronic
 This narrative manipulates time and uses flashbacks and flash forwards. This type of
narrative often repeat scene through a different perspective
 4, 3, 2,1 is an example of a film with anachronic narrative
-The film starts with the flash forward of the
ending of the film then shows each character’s
lives before the incident at the end of the film
-This shows different
perspectives during the
film
-The characters meet up in
a café then go their separate
ways after

36. Anachronic continued..
-This is where the narrative
is split into four sections of
the four characters
-By the end of the film the four different
narratives become one as the characters
meet up at a bridge to save their friend’s
life.

37. Split Screen
 This narrative is different from other types of modular narrative as its not determine by
time. Split Screen is when a film is divided into two or more frames showing events that
are happening within the same time period
 The phone call scene from Mean Girls shows split screen.