Narrative essay

A narrative is defined as a chain of events in a movie leading to a cause and effect theme recurring in the movie. Narrative is how special and temporal events are organised leading from a beginning, through the middle, and to the end. The product I will discuss is my horror trailer. My trailer is a slasher, and relates more to Levi-Strauss’ Binary Opposition and Barthes’ Enigma codes.

Todorov’s theory of 3-Structure narrative does apply to my trailer. It had the equilibrium where the teenagers were introduced, and a foundation for the story was laid. The disequilibrium happened straight after the equilibrium and the villain was introduced, and he begins to stalk the protagonist like she was his prey. As we come towards the end of the trailer the stock scenes start to phase in, showing the entire cast get killed off. This trailer follows the linear structure of Todorov. In Scream you can find Todorov’s 3-act structure. The beginning has the introduction of a character, and the disequilibrium straight after with the deaths if the first two characters introduced into the movie and the introduction of the killer. The resolution n comes right at the end of the movie when Gale shoots Billy in the head. This theory is applicable because it is easy and basic to understand and is commonly used. It is relevant to the Narrative in my trailer because it follows this 3-act structure.

Levi Strauss’ Binary Opposition applies to my trailer as in the trailer at the end the final girl is chased by the antagonist. This connotes systematic opposition between good and evil, life and death, Teenage rebellion and adult society and even man and woman as the villain represents the male and the phallic object the tool of oppression of women, and the punishment teenagers must receive for disobeying their parents. An example of Binary Opposition would be in The Exorcist with the Warrens representing good/life/Religion in the movie, and the evil witch spirit representing evil/death/Witchcraft. My trailer is relevant to this theory as it incorporates the core element of binary opposition in it.

Barthes’ Enigma code is relevant in my trailer as without it my trailer would be pointless. The whole point of a horror trailer is to make it as appealing as possible without revealing too much, or the resolution. This gives the trailer an enigmatic air to it because if it is enticing enough without spilling the resolution it would entice the audience to go and watch it to find out what happens at the end. This applies to my trailer, as at the end the killer catches up to the final girl, appearing in front of her all of a sudden, with her screaming and the video cutting to black. This provides an enigma code as you do not know what happens next and it leaves an air of suspense around the trailer. This is very relevant as if the video didn’t cut to black and showed  the girl being killed then it would ruin the resolution and there would be no point going to the theatre to watch the movie.

Some of Propp’s Archetypes are applicable to my trailer. I have the villain, a common one that every horror should have, otherwise it wouldn’t be a horror, I have the virgin protagonist, I have the clown that makes a cliché comment that the event they’re going to “Won’t kill us or anything”, and the popular best friend. These archetypes are portrayed to an extent, but not to the level where you feel the characters are realistic enough, like in Scream, where Billy portrays the smooth boyfriend that wants to take his girlfriend’s virginity. The villain also doesn’t give a realistic enough performance that makes you feel the same terror the person being antagonised does.

To a fair degree, I have made use of Todorov’s 3-act structure as the trailer clearly follows the structure throughout the trailer; the theory of Levi-Strauss’ Binary Opposition is clearly met as the concepts are shown in the stock scenes; Barthes’ Enigma Code is also shown inn my trailer, as the resolution is not given away; and Propp’s archetypes, although not strongly enforced, are clearly portrayed throughout the trailer. These 4 rules of narrative are very important as without one the horror trailer would be incomplete. If you had a 3-act structure but included the resolution, then it wouldn’t be a 3-ct structure, and you’d rule the enigma code. If you only had the antagonist aimlessly killing, without any resistance from the protagonist then there would be no binary opposition, and if you didn’t follow Propps’s archetypes then there would be no plot as you would have no characters.