Tzvetan Todorov's Narritive Theory:Todorovs theory on narrative suggests that films begin with normality. The film is then disrupted and this sets off a series of events, once the events are over the film then seeks closure. Halloween doesn't follow this structure. Right from the get go there is disruption in the film as Mike Myers kills his sister and is then found by his parents holding the bloody knife he just killed his sister with. Once this has happened there is a small amount of normality in the film as Mike Myers is put into a mental institute. Disruption then comes again in the film when he escapes and begins to kill the teenagers. There is never actual closure in the film as even though you think Myers is killed as he was shot several times his body disappears. Most films do follow Todorovs theory however some like Halloween do not. Not following the structure and not having closure in the film also allows sequels to be made as its left on a 'cliff hanger' and you're left wondering what happened to Mike Myers body.
Todorovs theory structure:
Normality < Disrupted < Closure
Equilibrium < Disequilibrium < Resolution/New Equilibrium
Vladimir Propp - 8 Characters Types:
Propp looked at hundreds of folk tales and identified 8 character types roles and 31 narrative functions. The 8 character roles are:1) The Villain(s)
2) The Hero - our main protagonist and victor
3) The Donor - Who provides an object with some magic property
4) The Helper - Who's aids the hero
5) The Princess - (the sought of person) - 'reward' for the hero and object of the villain's schemes
6) Her Father - Who rewards the hero
7) The Dispatcher - Who sends the hero on his way
8) The False Hero - The double agent who hinders the hero rather than helping him.
Halloween again doesn't quite have all the of character types and some of the characters are not meant to be in that category. The villain is clearly Mike Myers, with Laurie being our hero of the film as she in a sense defeated Mike Myers and was the only survivor, The director John Carpenter said the reason she was the survivor was not because she was seen as virginal and the 'tom boy' its because out of everyone she was the one that payed full attention to the things going on around her. The helper would of course be Dr Loomis as he followed Myers after he escaped from the mental institute and tried to warn everyone that he was coming and that he was going to kill. The false hero could be the police as even though they done none of the detective work and do anything to help that much they would probably take full credit of the work of others.
Claude Levi-Strauss:Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts for example good and evil (Mike Myers and Laurie Strode). Not really interested in the plot they looked for deeper arrangements of themes. There are many binary oppositions in Halloween, such as good/evil which would be Mike Myers/Laurie Strode. Past/Present is also in Halloween as you get the past of Mike Myers killing his sister and then the present where he kills the rest of the cast. Normal/strange also appears in the film as you get the normal lives of the teens and then the strange things that are going on and also the strange things Mike Myers is doing to the teens, such as all the dead teens in a room with his sisters gravestone.
Bordwell and Thompson:
Bordwell and Thompson defined narrative as "a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space". A narrative typically begins with one situation, a series of changes occur according to a pattern of cause and effect. Finally a new situation that brings a end to the narrative. Halloween doesn't quite follow this. At the start there is one situation that then does start off a series of changes however the situation at the end hasn't changed from the start. Its still the same situation, Mike Myers is still alive and on the lose even after being shot multiple times. When we watch films we try and connect the events so we are able to make sense of the film and even if there is no obvious connection in the film we still try and make one.
Narrative Structures and The Crazies (Eisner, 2010)
Does The Crazies follow the CHN? Why or why not?
The Crazies does not follow the typical CHN structure. The reason for this is the film doesn't start with an equilibrium or normality. You see a small town burning and then you get to see the town 2 days before that and you get to see the events unfold. So it doesn't follow the structure. Everything is then disrupted which does follow the structure however a new equilibrium isn't at the end as the whole thing starts again like at the start of the film.
How many of Propp's Character types can be identified in the film?
The Villain - The Government - The reason for this would be as they developed the virus and started the whole outbreak.
The Hero - David (The Sheriff) is the main protagonist because he is the the one that saves everyone he can.
The Doner - Both David and Russell a they both provide each other with objects they both need to escape, eg, its Davids car however Russell puts the wheels on it.
The Helper - Russell, Judy - They aid David in escaping from the town and Russell even sacrifices himself for David and Judy to escape and Judy is a doctor and helps make sense of the virus and help David when hes hurt.
The Princess - Judy - David has to save her from the man with the pitchfork and the containment room at the high school.
Her Father - David and Judy as they both help each other and want to survive, that's the ultimate goal and they are rewarded with surviving.
The Dispatcher - Judy - She was the only reason why David decided to go back and save her as its his wife and she was pregnant and we find out later in the film that if David didn't go back he would have been killed even though he was tested and didn't have the disease/virus.
The False Hero - The government/Army as they try and contain the virus and try to make things better however they were the ones that started this entire thing.
List five examples of binary oppositions in the film and explain them briefly.
Good/Evil - David, Judy etc are classed as the 'good guys' and the government who created the virus are the 'bad guys'. The village is also good to start off with and then turns bad as it becomes a huge burning village, also the crazies are not actually evil. Although they are trying to kill people they have been corrupted by the virus and again its actually the governments fault for this.
Innocence/Guilt - Although the 'Crazies' are running around killing people they are actually innocent and the at the start the whole village is a small innocent village, hence why when David killed the old man with a shotgun that was a huge deal within the community. The government feel guilty as they have unleashed this deadly virus apon the small village and in fact the world and try to help by containing it although it does involve killing everyone they feel that it will save the rest of the world and because the people with the virus are suffering so they're slightly helping them by putting them out of misery.
Normal/Strange - When Judy gets home she starts to take down the washing from the washing line, she's carrying out her normal day to day routine, however this is strange because of the circumstance with the virus and all the death going on around her. She's trying to get back to the normal life of being in a small community where its always safe and nothing ever happens and she tries to find comfort and go back to that place by carrying out her daily routine before the virus outbreak.
Past/Present - The burning town at the start is the complete opposite of the beautiful small little town which is actually is. We see the burning town at the start of the film however we then see the town 2 days later and its a small town which is very clean and surrounded nature. References between past and present are shown throughout the film, for example near the end of the film they see large lorries full of dead bodies with tags on their hands. We know who these people are because of earlier on in the film. They were the people who were tested and didn't have the virus however they were killed anyway. We then realise that if it wasn't for Judy being pregnant and being seen as having the virus, David would have never have gone to save her and David would be dead because he would have been in one of them lorries.
Freedom/Being Trapped - At the beginning of the film you see this small town that is surrounded by nothing, and nothing ever seems to happen. You get a real sense that they are free not only in they're free to do what they like but they're free from the 'Big World'. The government doesn't really effect them and they are no stresses of big city life so they're free in more ways than one. From being completely free they're then completely trapped. Once the government know that the virus has hit the town and is effecting people they decide to try and contain the town. All cars are clamped so they cannot move and road blocks are set up on all the main highways out of the town. Anyone that manages to escape the town is then shot and killed by military helicopters. The characters have gone from complete freedom to being completely trapped.
Identify the three 'durations' and give an estimate of the time each duration covers.
Screen Duration - 92 mins
Plot Duration - 3 days
Story Duration - Years - The story duration could have been going on for years, the reason for this is because Judy is pregnant and that would be over a long period of time. The plane crash would have also have happened before what we see on the screen as the virus had to crash and also get into the water system. The longest one would be the actual making of the virus. This could have taken years for the government to create.
Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film starts.
Judy being pregnant causes later events in the film, the reason for this is, Judy was pregnant before the film 'started' and so because of this saves Davids life. If Judy wasn't pregnant and had a fever she wouldn't have been taken by the military to the high school where all of the infected people were taken. As David wasn't seen as having the virus they were separated. David then decides to go and save his wife as she isn't actually ill shes pregnant. We later find out that the people that were seen as not having the virus were killed anyway and if David stayed and didn't go and save Judy, David and Judy would both be dead.
The second event would be the plane crashing into the water. As the plane crashed into the water this then contaminated the drinking water for the town and because of this people then caught the virus. This sets off the event of the whole story and having to get the whole town contained and in the end because of this event the whole town gets bombed and completely destroyed.
List two events from the 92 minute film that happened in a different time and space to the one we are shown.
One event that happened in a different time and space to the one we are shown is when Russell had his tyres spiked by the military. You know this as he not only tells us that they slit his tyres but later in the film when we later see his truck the spikes that they used to pop his tyres are there and they actually use the bed of nails to stop the government truck from getting away and to get answers on the situation. Another event that happened in the film but in a different time and space is when all of the people that were seen to as not being 'infected' were killed by the military by shooting at the lorries. You know this has happened at the end of the film as Judy finds the dead bodies with hundreds of bullets on the floor. You see the wristbands on the dead bodies that were given to the people that were not infected.
Innocence/Guilt - Although the 'Crazies' are running around killing people they are actually innocent and the at the start the whole village is a small innocent village, hence why when David killed the old man with a shotgun that was a huge deal within the community. The government feel guilty as they have unleashed this deadly virus apon the small village and in fact the world and try to help by containing it although it does involve killing everyone they feel that it will save the rest of the world and because the people with the virus are suffering so they're slightly helping them by putting them out of misery.Normal/Strange - When Judy gets home she starts to take down the washing from the washing line, she's carrying out her normal day to day routine, however this is strange because of the circumstance with the virus and all the death going on around her. She's trying to get back to the normal life of being in a small community where its always safe and nothing ever happens and she tries to find comfort and go back to that place by carrying out her daily routine before the virus outbreak.
Past/Present - The burning town at the start is the complete opposite of the beautiful small little town which is actually is. We see the burning town at the start of the film however we then see the town 2 days later and its a small town which is very clean and surrounded nature. References between past and present are shown throughout the film, for example near the end of the film they see large lorries full of dead bodies with tags on their hands. We know who these people are because of earlier on in the film. They were the people who were tested and didn't have the virus however they were killed anyway. We then realise that if it wasn't for Judy being pregnant and being seen as having the virus, David would have never have gone to save her and David would be dead because he would have been in one of them lorries.Freedom/Being Trapped - At the beginning of the film you see this small town that is surrounded by nothing, and nothing ever seems to happen. You get a real sense that they are free not only in they're free to do what they like but they're free from the 'Big World'. The government doesn't really effect them and they are no stresses of big city life so they're free in more ways than one. From being completely free they're then completely trapped. Once the government know that the virus has hit the town and is effecting people they decide to try and contain the town. All cars are clamped so they cannot move and road blocks are set up on all the main highways out of the town. Anyone that manages to escape the town is then shot and killed by military helicopters. The characters have gone from complete freedom to being completely trapped.
Identify the three 'durations' and give an estimate of the time each duration covers.
Screen Duration - 92 mins
Plot Duration - 3 days
Story Duration - Years - The story duration could have been going on for years, the reason for this is because Judy is pregnant and that would be over a long period of time. The plane crash would have also have happened before what we see on the screen as the virus had to crash and also get into the water system. The longest one would be the actual making of the virus. This could have taken years for the government to create.
Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film starts.
Judy being pregnant causes later events in the film, the reason for this is, Judy was pregnant before the film 'started' and so because of this saves Davids life. If Judy wasn't pregnant and had a fever she wouldn't have been taken by the military to the high school where all of the infected people were taken. As David wasn't seen as having the virus they were separated. David then decides to go and save his wife as she isn't actually ill shes pregnant. We later find out that the people that were seen as not having the virus were killed anyway and if David stayed and didn't go and save Judy, David and Judy would both be dead.The second event would be the plane crashing into the water. As the plane crashed into the water this then contaminated the drinking water for the town and because of this people then caught the virus. This sets off the event of the whole story and having to get the whole town contained and in the end because of this event the whole town gets bombed and completely destroyed.
List two events from the 92 minute film that happened in a different time and space to the one we are shown.One event that happened in a different time and space to the one we are shown is when Russell had his tyres spiked by the military. You know this as he not only tells us that they slit his tyres but later in the film when we later see his truck the spikes that they used to pop his tyres are there and they actually use the bed of nails to stop the government truck from getting away and to get answers on the situation. Another event that happened in the film but in a different time and space is when all of the people that were seen to as not being 'infected' were killed by the military by shooting at the lorries. You know this has happened at the end of the film as Judy finds the dead bodies with hundreds of bullets on the floor. You see the wristbands on the dead bodies that were given to the people that were not infected.
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