Day 8: Research into Technical Aspects; Film Theory

The typical narrative structure of a movie trailer would be to use open narrative, this is through the use of Cliffhangers and suspense. It will allow for the audience to be left with questions unanswered and give them a reason to want to watch the trailer. The opposite of this would be non-linear narrative, this includes answering all the questions and the story flowing seamlessly with everything answered for the user, this is generally bad for a film trailer as it doesn't leave a reason for the viewer to need to see the entire film. For my trailer I will be using a open narrative to allow for cliffhangers to be left and to create suspense for the viewers watching the trailer.
     
Todorovs Narrative Theory states that most movies follow this narrative structure;
The movie starts with a state of equilibrium, the equilibrium is then disrupted by some action, be it a villain or a nature disaster, there is then a recognition that there is a disruption in the equilibrium, followed by an attempt to restore the equilibrium, with a hero or main actor and the movie ends on a reinstatement of the equilibrium, this allows for a movie to flow seamlessly while stile having an enticing and open story. For my movie trailer I will be following Todorovs theory, except for the ending, for my trailer to remain open narrative I will not show the restoring of peace to allow for the viewer to question what will happen within the film and how the peace may or may not be restored.
     
Vladimir Propp has a theory known as Propps Morphology, this theory states that each role in a film follows a certain suit, this includes.
Hero; mainly white, male and strong.
Villain; Foreign (Depends upon current world news), Male and usually has some form of a disability or is deformed.
Damsel; Most often female, weak and attractive.
Helper; the helper is the side-kick of the hero, the helper is weaker than the hero of the film, but stronger than the villain.
Dispatcher; The dispatcher sends the hero on a quest or triggers the hero to be needed in the film.
Authority; The authority represents power, usually in the form of the police, FBI or a king/queen and the Authority is usually always in control.
Following this theory I will use some of the stereo types from Propps Theory, I will not be using a Foreign Villain as in the trailer the villain will remain a mystery and will never be fully revealed to the viewer in the trailer. I will also be using a child for the damsel of the film, this will stay with conventions mostly but will not follow all of the conventions of a damsel.

Roland Barthes developed a theory that every narrative is interwoven with four codes to drive one main interest within the story, these include:

Action Code; The action code is used to drive the narrative and to allow the viewer to recognise progress in the movie without the use of visuals, through the use of sirens, gunfire etc etc.

Enigma Code; The Enigma code is generally used in Conventional Trailers, it is used on master shots of objects to make the user believe that they are important to the film without having to describe them manually.

Culture Code; The culture code is real life references, for example, makes of cars and brands of drinks within James Bond Movies.

Semic Code; The semic code is signs and symbols that represent something else.

Following this theory I will be using Action Code within my trailer, this will allow me to progress the story of the trailer without having to completely focus upon it. I will also be using Enigma Code, I will use this to allow the trailer to add an element of mystery with objects being shown that are important to the story. Finally I will be using the Culture code to make real life references, I will do this through, brands of products.