1. Media theories
Vladimir Propp
Who is he?
He was born April 17th 1895 he was a Russian born
scholar who analysed and theorized the plots of
narrative. He started by theorising folk tales and
legends from various different countries.Through
his lifetime he witnessed a large amount of change
happening to the way in which narrative was
presented. The ideas on how character roles were
constructed are still relevant in many Hollywood
blockbusters today.
What was Propp’s NarrativeTheory?
Propp’s narrative theory originated through folk tales
that he studied, he discovered they had simplistic
plot lines.They seemed to be about the same basic
problems, and the character types kept appearing.
He focused on the way characters fitted to ‘Types’
apposed to individuals. He recognised 8 different
character types that consistently appeared within
narrative.
Hero- Who’s on a quest
Villain-The opposing foe to the hero
Donor- Character who provides a tool to the
hero character
Dispatcher- Who starts the hero on his quest
False Hero- Character who tires to divert the
hero from his quest
Helper- Self explanatory, helps the hero
Princess- who is the reward for the hero
Father- who rewards the hero for his efforts
8 Character types

2. How is Propp’s Narrative theory
represented in present Narrative?
The Joker plays ‘The villain’ in the
film the Dark Knight. (This
character struggles with the hero
normally ending up in a fight or
battle) This is a very exact
representation of Propp’s narrative
character type ‘Villain’.
‘Nick Fury’ represents the
character type ‘The
dispatcher’ ( the character
who invites the hero to
eliminate the evil. In
Avengers Assemble, he
collects the hero's to fight of
evil.
Robin from batman
resembles ‘The Helper’
in the film he aids
Batman in fighting evil
How is Propp’s Narrative theory represented
within my trailer?
Lia Busy represents
‘The villain’ within
my own trailer, she
goes out of her way
to scare and frighten
the teenagers that
enter the house.
Celia represents the
‘Hero’ in my trailer, as
she is challenged to
enter the house alone.
( quest )
Kathryn represents the
‘Dispatcher’ within my
trailer as she encourages
the hero (Celia) to enter
the house

3. Tzvetan Todorov’s narrative theory
Todorov proposed that all
narrative whether it be plays,
books, files ect.. Contain five
fundamental stages in the order
below.
1. A stage of equilibrium ( all is as it
should be )
2. A disruption of that order by an
event
3. A recognition that the disorder has
occurred
4. An attempt to repair the damage of
the disruption
5. A return or restoration of a NEW
equilibrium ( it does not have to be
the same old system)
In these stages, narrative is not seen as a
linear structure but a circular one.
The narrative is driven by attempts to
restore equilibrium. However, the
equilibrium attained at the end of the
story is not identical to the initial
equilibrium.
Todorov argues that narrative involves a
transformation. The characters or the
situations are transformed through the
progress of the disruption. The disruption
itself usually takes place outside the
normal social framework. In my trailer it
is clear that stage two of the narrative
theory takes place when Celia enters the
house. Also when the two girls try to find
Celia stage 4 of Todorov’s narrative theory
is apparent.
This type of narrative structure is very
familiar to us and can be applied to many
‘Mainstream’ film narratives

4. Roland Barthes Codes
Theory
Roland Barthes describes a text as ‘a galaxy of
signifiers, not a structure of signifieds; it has no
beginning; it is reversible; we gain access to it by
several entrances, none of which can be
authoritatively declared to be the main one; the
codes it mobilizes extend as far as the eye can read,
they are indeterminable…’
What Barthes meant was that the text is like a
ball of thread. The thread needs to be
unraveled. Once unraveled, we encounter an
wide range of potential meanings. We can start
by looking at narrative in one way from a
particular viewpoint, one set of previous
experience, and create one meaning for that
text.You can continue by unraveling the
narrative from a different angle and create a
entirely different meaning,
The five codes
The Hermeneutic Code- This is the way a
story avoids telling and revealing all the facts,
in order to drop clues to help create mystery
My film trailer does this as the villain ( the
mother) is present within the film however
the audience do not understand why she is
looking for her child
The Enigma Code- This code is the way
tension is built up and how the
audience are left guessing what will
happen next. This is a vital code when
it comes to the horror genre as keeping
people in suspense creates
entertainment. I think I have done this
well as I have used sound such as the
heartbeat along side fast paced shots.

5. The Semantic code- The semantic code
points to any element in a text that suggests
an additional meaning by way of connotation
which the story suggests. In my trailer I have
used a abandoned and isolated location this
immediately connotes danger it is associated
with the horror genre. Also the dark and low
key lighting suggests danger and the genre
of the film. As it’s a popular convention of
horror films as it prepares the audience for a
traumatic and scary event.
The cultural code- This code looks at the
audiences wider cultural knowledge,
morality and ideology. The cultural codes
mostly point out our shared knowledge
about the way the world works. For
example we know that three young
teenage girls are seen as ‘weak’ as they
may not be able to handle things as well
as other people can creating this
vulnerability and wider knowledge.
The symbolic Code- Similar to the semantic
code however the symbolic code acts at a
wider level, organizing semantic meanings into
greater depth of meaning. This code is to do
with the symbolism within the text. It usually
means the opposites show contrast and create
greater meaning. For example The costume of
the main character and villain lia is a white
dress this is usually associated with innocence
however this ideology is completely subverted
by the characters actions.

6. Claude Levi Strauss
Claude Levi Strauss studied hundreds
of myths and legends all around the
world, from that he found out that we as
humans make sense of the world,
people and events by seeing and using
binary opposites.
He found out that narratives are
arranged around the conflict of Binary
opposites
In the mid 20th century, two major
european academic thinkers Claude
Levis Strauss and Roland Barthes,
came together and discovered the way
in which we understand words does not
depend so much on their meaning but
more by our understanding between
the word and its ‘opposite’ or, as they
called it ‘Binary opposite’
Examples of Binary
opposites
Good vs Evil
Boy vs Girl
Peace vs War
Man vs nature
Young vs Old
I have used binary
opposition within my trailer
as there are good
characters vs the evil
character.