1. Todorov in 1969 produced a theory which he believed to be able to be applied to any film. He
believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern. They all went through stages called the
equilibrium, disruption, acknowledgement, solving and new equilibrium. We used this narrative
structure to our own film narrative.
There are five stages the narrative can progress through:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A state of equilibrium (All is as it should be.)
A disruption of the equilibrium by some action.
A recognition that there has been a disruption.
An attempt to repair the disruption.
A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium.
1. Equilibrium
Nicholas and Amelia the parents of Isaac live together in .... The family spend most of their time
together when Nicholas isn’t at work. One day Nicholas’ sister Nicole comes to visit the family and
she brings a box full of Nicholas’ old stuff from when he was younger from their parent’s house.
2. Disruption
Within the box of stuff Nicholas finds his old Jack in the box which brings back bad memories. This
jack in the box was once evil and took over Nicholas’ life when he was a young boy. Nicholas goes
out into the woods and buries the Jack in the box hoping to never see it again. The Jack in the box
comes back to the house in the middle of the night and the son Isaac hears the music which is
coming from the box and goes to gets the box and plays with it.
3. Recognition of the disruption
Isaac starts acting weird and Nicholas releases there is something wrong with him. He tells his wife
that he believes that the box may have taken over Isaac and then tells her what happened to him
when he was a child.
4. Repair
Nicholas and Amelia seek help from their priest to perform an exorcism and get rid of the evil spirit
taking over their son.
5. New Equilibrium
The exorcism worked and their son is safe and the evil spirit left his body. The family moved out and
found a new home in the city to be closer to their family.