The document summarizes two narrative theories - Vladimir Propp's theory of character types and plot events in folktales, and Claude Levi-Strauss's theory of binary oppositions in narrative. It then explains how an opening sequence for a teen horror genre film fits aspects of both theories, containing some of Propp's character types and events and establishing various good vs evil binary oppositions described by Levi-Strauss.

1. Anna Mylan

2. Vladimir Propp studied hundreds of folktales and found they contained eight
character types and thirty one that move the story along…
The 31 events include events such as:
• The hero is prohibited from doing something
• The villain learns something about the victim
• The villain is punished etc.
Propp’sTheory

3. Propp’s theory fits in with our genre idea for the opening sequence in that it:
• Contains a few of the character types and
• Follows some of the events
Our characters consist of the Villain (Murderer), Hero (person who gets killed
last), Princess (Victim of the murderer), False Hero (friend of Hero),
Dispatcher (Police), Helper (Friends)
Through the theme of Propp’s events:
• Hero prohibited – Person stopped fromVigilantism
• Villain Learns - Finds out something about the princess which makes them angry and
murderous
• Villain Punished – Eventually gets found out (Not in the sequence)
Our idea fits in with a typicalTeen horror movie and Propp’s Narrative theory
through the types of character used and the events that happen throughout.
Propp’sTheory

4. Levi-Strauss suggested that binary oppositions are key to the meaning making
in narrative – he argued the constant creation of conflict and opposition propels
narrative, and that narrative can only end on a resolution of conflict
Examples of binary oppositions:
• Good/Evil
• Men/Women
• Truth/Lies
• Normal/Abnormal
• Strong/Weak
• Natural/Artificial
• Young/Old
• Light/Dark
It is important to note that we judge one half of each binary opposition in a
more negative way; therefore the meanings of the binaries are ideological as
they are culturally constructed
Levi- Strauss

5. Levi-Strauss’s theory fits in with our genre idea for the opening sequence in that
it:
• Judges one half of a binary composition in a negative way and
• Contains more than one binary composition
One of the main binary compositions in our opening sequence is Good/Evil.This
fits in with our characters of the Hero (person who gets killed last), and the
Villain (Murderer). A majority of viewers will be biased positively towards the
Hero and negatively towards the Villain which fits with Levi-Strauss’s theory
A few more binary compositions that work with our genre are:
• Truth/Lies
• Strong/Weak
• Normal/Abnormal
• Light/Dark
• It is important to note that we judge one half of each binary opposition in a more negative
way; therefore the meanings of the binaries are ideological as they are culturally
constructed
Levi- Strauss

6. Propp’s
Although this theory does not apply to every Teen Horror movie, it does
apply to the film ‘Scream’ as it contains at least 5 of the 8 characters in
Propp’s theory (Sydney being the Hero, Ghost face being the Villain, Gale
being the Donor, Dewey being the Helper and many characters acting as a
False Hero)
Levi-Strauss
This theory applies to almost all movies within the Genre of Teen Horror they
all contain at least 5 of the 8 binary compositions that consist of – Good/Evil,
Men/Women, Truth/Lies, Strong/Weak and Light/Dark
Some movies (such as Texas Chainsaw) also include the other binary
compositions that are - Normal/Abnormal, Natural/Artificial and
Young/Old
This applies to…

7. • Barthes’ enigma code was a theory putting forward the notion that media
(whether it be film, television or texts) are to entice people and draw them in
through a sense of mystery.The main aim of this is to get the audience
asking questions. If, at the start of a film, for example, there is lots of out of
focus images with a shallow depth of field. A murder mystery for example
will usually have the murder happen at the start but the murderer will not be
revealed until the end of the film. This allows us to ask the question ‘who is
the murderer?’ We can also come up with our own theories on who it is, this
makes the film experience more exciting, engaging and audience orientated.
• The different codes are:
-The Hermeneutic Code (HER)
-The Proairetic Code (ACT)
-The Semantic Code (SEM)
-The Symbolic Code (SYM)
-The Cultural Code (REF)
Roland Barthes
This fits in withTeen Horror as it
most definitely includes the
mystery of who the Killer is which
will have the audience asking
questions