Tzvetan Todorov and narrative structure

Todorov proposed that all forms of narrative (live performances, books, film ect) contain five fundamental stages. The first been the state of equilibrium, this is conventionally the world that is established within the beginning of the film and how the protagonist is represented to the audience.
Then there is the disruption, this disrupts the balance between the protagonists equilibrium causing a chain of events that will be used to establish and advance the narrative. During the disruption there will be the recognition that the disorder has occurred this is often a symbolic or verbal code as the protagonist realises the disorder. This is followed by an attempt to repair the damage of the disruption creating a solution and in film this often around the second half of the film as it is often more entertaining. And finally the stage of restoration seen as the new equilibrium where the protagonist has resolved the disruption and found a new balance thus creating a new form of equilibrium.

How I plan to use Todorov's narrative structure within my product,

General Plot/ Synopsis

My trailer will feature the protagonist, seen as an outcast and strange as he has presumed physiological issues as he hears voices in his head, which when acknowledged lead him to the disruption (related to Todorov's theory). He takes medication to prevent the voices until one day the bullies discard his medication leaving the voices in his head very loud and irritating causing him to react during a lecture and making him aggravated and run out of college and keeps running until he realises the voices have stopped as they guided him to the ring (disruption). He equips the ring to then black out and somehow wake up in his bed the next day. Heads to college but misses the bus as he notices he no longer needs to wear his glasses and he doesn't hear any voices. As a result of this he begins to run to college and unknown to him teleports to college. With this new found mystery he begins to document his abilities until one day he is confronted and chased by the antagonist who has recently began tracking the ring as his farther had been tracking it for years and failed as he died due to an illness. The protagonist realises how serious and deadly the antagonist is as he captures the protagonists best/ only friend. He then gives up the ring to the antagonist to then see he uses it for evil and self gain. After a short while the protagonist regrets giving the ring as it is been miss-used. The voices then come back

Treatment

Treatment

My concept is to create a trailer that represents the sci-fi and action drama. To do this my trailer will have a range of paces, starting climactic and slowing down towards the end. To do this I plan on having the trailer start/ portray the later stages known as the disruption and then suggesting the equilibrium towards the end as it rewinds, much like the Chronicle trailer at 1:46.

The beginning of the trailer will feature the protagonist in a beaten and bloody state then featuring a flashback of some key scenes within the film that capture the general plot. I may even feature a rewind instead of a flashback as this may look more effective as well as help establish the story by including a female interest it will help establish a sub plot. The trailer will also feature the protagonist’s current equilibrium of being bullied and seen as a misfit and outcast. This is due to alleged mental issues however these voices lead him to a ring that grants him powers (Much like Steven from The Tomorrow People).

I shall have a narrative within the trailer of an older figure saying that the ring chose him as this helps represent the protagonist’s role as a hero. Similar to the scene within the Flash trailer at 0:40 seconds.

Existing Genres and Genre Conventions

There are many forms of existing genres, the genres that I have chosen to follow is Action Adventure, Sci-Fi and drama.

The action genre is one of the major genre types if not the main genre type. With such a mass audience that are appealed to the conventions within the genre. Action films generally have tremendous impact, features continuous high energy, lots of physical stunts and activity, chase scenes, races, rescues, battles, martial arts, destructive disasters, fights, escapes, fast pacing and adventurous heroes. The reason action is so popular is due to the sense of escapism the film bestows upon the audience and how it can empower a general gender, often males as they are the conventional protagonist.
Action typically centers around a male protagonist, these are often portrayed by a number of prominent actors known within the genre, Bruce Willis for example. Whereas women within action films often feature as an accomplice or romantic interest of the protagonist. Recently some action films have featured strong female characters to broaden the demographic appeal.
The general structure within the action genre features

Existing Movie Trailers

A film trailer is a short representation of an upcoming feature film. Trailers are conventionally formed from a variety of segments throughout the film showing significant and appealing scenes throughout the film. A trailer should be very fast paced with a dramatic soundtrack to make the product look climactic and appealing to a mass audience. The purpose of a trailer is to promote the film in such a way that the audience desire and anticipate viewing the film.

A trailer should, make the film seem exciting, interesting and very appealing, it should raise the expectations of the audiences in order to engage with the audience, as well as promoting the stars and the genre of the film whilst showing the basic plot and structure of the film in order for the audience to categorise the film to a specific genre and more importantly to the audience that are appealed to that genre. The final major objective of a movie trailer is to showcase the unique selling point and originality of the film plus highlighting  any cast and production that the audience may recognise.                

After looking at numerous music videos and identifying what makes a good product I then began looking at film trailers as they relate more to my chosen brief as well as giving me a reference to a successful movie trailer.


The first movie trailer that I have chosen is Guardians of the galaxy a recent  summer blockbuster that is renowned for its film score especially within the movie trailer.

The trailer for this film was very appealing to a mass audience because it was a very bankable concept with a very popular franchise that has a very large fan base. The factors of this been a bankable concept is because it is based on a comic book and has aspects of a large variety of genres, it has lots of science fiction elements and like most modern Marvel Superhero films it has an appealing comedy aspect. It also obviously an action/adventure and finally comic book/superhero which has a very avid fan base within itself as Marvel fans. What I like about this trailer is how it display all aspects of the genres just mentioned in under 3 minutes. It also has a very unconventional soundtrack by using familiar and popular songs that are familiar to their target audience.


The next trailer that I chose was The Lord Of The Rings: The fellowship of the ring.

What I found appealing about this trailer is the epic shots that are featured, the opening shot shows the camera gliding above a large forest area with beautiful scenery. Also it features a voice over, however the voice over isn't the conventional protagonist instead it is Gandalf, although he plays an important role he isn't the protagonist that would be generally featured. The voiceover narrates the trailer as it features a montage of shots relating to the subject mentioned. An interesting feature of this trailer is how it ranges from climax to climax with slower scenes throughout.


The final trailer that I am looking at is for the movie Cloverfield:

I find that this trailer represents Tzveten Todorov's theory of equilibrium really well as the beginning sequence represents his friends and current happy lifestyle, followed by the disruption . By using just these two factors within the trailer it really appeals and intrigues the audience as tho what happens next. Another way that this trailer appeals to me is how it is all portrayed through the characters within the filmas it is all handheld and diegetic.

Existing Music Videos

Wheatus- Teenage Dirtbag: I like the narrative and how it was created alongside the movie "Loser" as it features the characters from within the movie. What I don't like is that the narrative of the video isn't parallel to the movie.

Smash Mouth- All Star: What I like about this music video is the vibrant and comical value, many of the scenes are far-fetched and bizarre. I also like how they included recognisable actors like Ben Stiller. However I do not like how the video lacks narrative as some of the scenes don't relate to the song.

Outkast-Roses: I like the stereotypes included and how comically they represent them especially with the choreography, however there are scenes within the video that for effect include sound. Personally I feel as though this was not needed.

Mayday Parade-Hold on to me: The contrast between the mellow and uplifting scenes. They could have however used a variation of speeds for the clips as the whole video was slowed down for a more dramatic fell however the song at parts became lively.

The Maine- Run: I feel as the simplicity of the lighting and whole video very appealing and effective. The variation of dark and colourful light has an aesthetic appeal to it. The only thing however is how they include no narrative as it is all continuous.



I then looked at several other videos but instead of focusing on what I liked and what I didn't I began to look more at the narrative and the techniques and conventions used within the videos.

Crystal Fighters- Follow (Alt, electric): I found the narrative of this video strange and abstract, it was very minimal in terms of narrative however narrative is included. The composition of the whole video and the style that it is represented is in a very artistic and creative way. In a sense the video could be interpreted as our own curiosity of the video as the antagonist unconventionally followed the strange character. Some techniques and conventions used within the video some from this video that I noticed were the establishing shot at the start, lip syncing and the high key lighting and pace of editing was very fast and light much like the pace of the song. An unconventional technique used for this video was stop motion and a large change in costume.

5 Seconds of Summer- Amnesia (pop): The narrative of this video was more sentimental as the video was looking back hence the title amnesia. It was also interpreting a love story which is a very conventional theme within both boy bands and pop music. The video featured the band looking back at numerous memories that they shared with a companion and each other. This video had a lot of techniques and conventions. For example, there were numerous slow motion scenes this can add drama and help capture the expressions and composition of the scene much more. There was also a title, this is a conventional form of branding and used by many artists. Also the pace of the editing and duration of the scene matches the speed of the song very well as the song uses a combination of slower acoustic sections plus a range of instruments later on. The last thing from this video that was effective was the blurred lens motif to signify the flashback.

Rhianna- We Found Love(pop): Another love story however it was more the love story of this video that was unconventional as it was essentially a montage of arguments and bad influences that they both shared and how they essentially "found love in a hopeless place" hence the song title. One of the editing techniques used that I really like was the scene were the frames were reduced so the video was staggered to give a similar effect to stop motion.

My Course Work Brief

The brief that I have chosen is to create a promotion package for a new film, I will need to include a teaser trailer as well as two of the the following three options:
-A website homepage for the film;
-A film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
-A poster for the film

I chose this as I feel very comfortable creating both a poster for the film and a magazine front cover as I enjoy using Photoshop and look forwards to manipulating and creating a series of digital images to include on both products.