1. Theories about narrative structure.
Narrative ­The
story of the film.
Narrative Structure ­The
way the story is told.
3 ways narrative can be structured:
Circular ­The
film begins with the end. E.g: Titanic, the story is
seen through a series of flashbacks
Episodic ­Where
the film is seen in chapters. E.g: Forrest Gump,
the film is broken up into sections/chapters.
Linear ­Straight.
E.g: Fairy Tales, they have an obvious
beginning, middle and end.
Tzvetan Todorov
“ All narratives follow the basic structure:
Equilibrium
Disequilibrium
Equilibrium”
Todorov proposed that all narrative includes 5
fundamental stages:
1. Equilibrium(everything is as it should be)
2. Disequilibrium (something goes wrong)
3. Acknowledgement of disruption
4. Attempt to repair disruption
5. Equilibrium (everything is as it should be again)
A film that supports Todorov’s theory is Along Came a Spider (2001).
The 5 fundamental stages for this film would be:
1. Maggie is at school as normal.
2. She gets kidnapped.
3. Cross is pulled off murder case to investigate kidnap.
4. Secret service man attempts to help Cross.
5. Cross kills antagonist and saves girl.
Examples of films that challenge this theory are Pulp Fiction and
Reservoir Dogs, these follow a more circular and episodic structure.

2. Vladimir Propp
Propp created the theory that every narrative has 7 character types.
Hero ­The
person who ‘saves the day’, or
protagonist.
Villain ­Also
known as antagonist
Donor ­This
person helps the hero by giving him/her
a clue.
Helper ­Like
a sidekick, helps the hero.
False Hero ­At
the beginning seems like a hero, but
in the end is ‘evil’ and not on hero’s side.
Dispatcher ­Acts
as a mentor. E.g: Nick Fury with the Avengers, he
sets them their task and how to accomplish it.
Princess ­The
character the hero rescues.
Another character which could also be considered is the Princess’s
father, who would be dominant and someone who the hero feels inferior
to.
In gangster films, sometimes it is hard to determine who is the
protagonist and who is the antagonist. This is because the ‘leader’
if you say, is the first character we meet, and in other genres, this
is known as the protagonist. However, in gangster films the main
gangster takes part in violent crime, drug dealing, and many more
extreme crimes.
A film that supports Propp’s theory is The Amazing Spider Man; as you
have the Hero (protagonist) ­Spiderman,
the Princess ­Gwen
Stacy,
The Villain (antagonist)­the
Lizard, and more to fit the other
character types.
Claude Levi ­Strauss
Claude Levi ­Strauss
suggests that all narratives
are based around conflict of binary oppositions.
For Example:
Good ­Evil
Weak ­Strong/
Power
Young ­Old
Male ­Female

3. An example of this for the gangster genre could be:
Crime ­Justice
Rich ­Poor.
Strauss’s theory enables the audience to see conflicts and
relationships between the two binary opposites. In gangster films
rich Vs poor is very common as gangsters ambitions are to become very
wealthy in order to become more powerful in the city. Examples for
Strauss’s theory would be the whole gangster genre really, as
gangsters are superior to many people in terms of wealth, power and
age (the older the gangster, the more power they seem to have due to
experience/time in the business).
What narrative structure will I use in my work?
For my narrative, I think I will focus on a circular structure. This
is because often in gangster films, such as Reservoir Dogs, circular
narrative is shown to inform the audience what the film is truly
about. However, this can often confuse the audience and therefore
leads to them not truly understanding the film until the end; this
can be seen in Pulp Fiction. I want to do this as is sets a scene
full of action within the first 2 minutes or so, putting the audience
on the ‘edge of their seat’. Also, I feel that as I am creating only
a gangster film opening, I am at a disadvantage for portraying the
narrative of my film across. Therefore I think that circular
structure will be useful in engaging the audience and portraying the
message of my film.