Narrative Theory - Chris Phillipou

Theories We Used:

Todorov's Theory

This theory is like a template for most narratives, a sense of a good start, then something bad happens, and then moves back to its normal state, this sequence is referred to as "Eqilibrium, Disequilibrium, and New Equilibrium. There are 3 stages to this sequence however, those are as follows:

1) Normality (Equilibrium)
2) Cause of Disruption and a period of unsettlement and disquiet (Disequilibrium)
3) Renewed state of peace and harmony for the protagonists and a new equilibrium brings the chaos to an end (New Equilibrium)

 Relating Todorov's theory to our comedy production, equilibrium is set for example in the beginning of our short film, the normal things were happening during a sixth form environment a gathering entered the common room and a few characters were just chilling, it seemed like a normal place. However in the scene where Arran has his lunch sabotaged by laxatives, this turns out to be a catalyst which speeds up the narrative and has a knock on effect for Arran especially, this sets the disqeuilbrium which is influenced by fellow characters Armani and Omar who subsequently plant the laxatives on his so called 'friend' in a bid to destroy Arran's attempts to impress Neena. Arrans attempts to find a lavatory and relieve himself finally end and all seems back to normal, which then sets the new equilibrium as the chaos dies down.

Levi-Strauss' Theory

Levi-Strauss' theory is about binary opposites (conflicts) within narratives, and now narrative tension creates conflicts, these conflicts can literally be just two people fighting within a scene, but more often function at an ideological level.

Relating this theory to our production, binary opposites/conflict is set out from the scene where Armani and Omar prank Arran and sabotage his lunch with laxatives. This sets out as "Arran vs Friends". This is an ideological conflict, as both parties think differently and act differently, all Arran wants to do is try his luck on Neena by asking her out, whilst his binary opposites (Armani and Omar) are doing the exact opposite by trying to destroy his chances and laugh at his expense, however little does Arran know that they are responsible, however they sat there laughing whilst Arran had a sense of desperation written on his face once realising the sixth form toilets were out of order, and he became desperate as he tried to find an alternative.

Hypodermic Needle

The hypodermic needle theory is the theory of injecting a message or an ideology straight to the audience, i.e a prop related to a certain genre, to make the audience aware of what genre the film is.

Relating this to our production, we used the hypodermic needle theory to inject a message straight to our audience, we did this for example by showing the first sense of comedy which was a close up of the "laxatives bottle". This connoted to the audience that this was going to be a comedy film, this was also at the beginning of the film, which set the mood for the comedy film and made our audience aware of the genre.