Narrative Theory

Theory 1: Levi - Strauss - Binary opposites

e.g. Good VS Evil, Protagonist VS Antagonist. 

Theory 2: Todorov - Equilibrium > Disruption > New Equilibrium 

Theory 3: Propp - Character types

e.g. Hero, Villain, Helper, Princess (and/or Hero's motivation)

Theory 4: Bathes - Codes

- Action

- Enigma

- Symbolic

- Semic

- Cultural

These theories are used in many different films today. As an audience, we use these theories to be able to decode and understand what we are watching. However 'The Dark Knight' is a clear example of Levi - Strauss' Binary Opposites and Propp's character types. 

Using Levi - Strauss believes his theory of binary opposites is what makes a narrative. In 'The Dark Knight' it is clear to the audience that the film consists of a Protagonist (being 'The Batman') and an Antagonist (being 'The Joker'). We know, as an audience, that these two characters are against each other as 'The Joker' causes chaos in Gotham City and Batman is the one who has to save the city from his troubles. Levi - Strauss' theory links in well with Propp's theory of character types. As an audience we use different coding to recognise the different characters in a narrative, we have the idea that Batman is the one who is saving the city from evil, therefore we know he is the hero. We also know that 'The Joker' is the one who is opposes Batman and therefore we know him ti be the villain. Propp's other character types are also made clear in the film;

- The Donor = Lucius Fox. Fox provides Batman with personalised armour and any other weapons he needs.

- The Dispatcher = 

- The False Hero = Harvey Dent. He was seen as the cities 'White Knight', however when we see Dent pointing a gun towards James Gordon and his family, innocent people and a mass killing of prisoners, the audience begin to see that Dent is portraying traits almost like a villain. He is not a villain in this narrative however because he is still someone who is trying to help Gotham City, her believes what he is doing is really genuinely good, which is why is nit seen as a villain. He is also seen as the false hero because his flaws point out what is better about Batman. For example, Harvey Dent kills people, whereas Batman does not. 

- The Helper = Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred is Batman's trusted butler. He supplies useful advice to Bruce (Batman). He is seen as the one who saves Batman from himself, he is also seen as the father figure in this narrative because of this. During the film we find Batman to be struck between being with his love (Rachel Dawes), or being 'The Batman'. When Rachel writes Bruce a letter saying that she is choosing Dent over him, Alfred burns it before Bruce can read it because he knows that Gotham City needs a hero but he also knows that if Bruce knew that he had to give up being the hero to be with her, he would have. So Alfred was helping Bruce to stay true to himself.

- The Princess = (love interest, damsel in distress) = Rachel Dawes. As we already know, Rachel is Bruce Wayne's love interest. He would have given up everything just to be with her, she was also his motivation (which is another reason to why Alfred burned the letter). She is also the princess/damsel in distress because she is someone who Batman has to save many times within the narrative. 

My Thriller Film

Film title - "THE GONE"
Tagline: "They may be gone but do they ever truly leave?.."

Format: DVD Cover and Movie Poster

Genre&Audience: 
The genre of my thriller film will be a crime-supernatural thriller, aimed towards a teen audience. I have chosen to do a crime-supernatural thriller because I know the conventions of these films well. For example, there will often be a murder of someone in the past who is now haunting someone or someone has gone missing mysteriously and the protagonist will often try to find them and/or will be threatened. This genre is also often popular amongst teens. 

Plot: 
The plot of my thriller film will be about a man, who will be the protagonist of the film. He is a former detective but since his last investigation at an old, abandoned home in the woods, people whom are close to him have been "going missing' however, he cannot explain why this could be happening. Being a former detective, he uses his skills to try and find the source of the problem. He finds links between his last case and the events happening to him now, he visits the home once again, trying to find anything useful but however is haunted by the "things" in the woods, which happen to be the souls of the missing people, being controlled by the one main evil spirit, the spirit of the woman who died from his last case of a terrible death, who's soul has yet to rest. Something seems to draw the detective back to the house over and over again and the spirits begin to drive him insane and the local people of his suburb and the police being to blame him for the deaths of the missing people, as he is the only possible link. The evil spirit is doing this to him because in his last case, he didn't find the cause of her death and therefore no justice was served and she cannot lay to rest and she feels it is her fault so haunts him as revenge. 

Characters: 
Protagonist - 

Who are they?: Male former detective

What do they want?: Wants to find the missing people

What's stopping them?: The ghosts (the antagonists) 

Theme&Settings: 
It will be set in the suburbs, where the detective lives alone and also in the abandoned home in the woods. The main themes will be death/murder, revenge and crime. The death of the previous woman, the death of his close ones, the revenge of the evil spirit and the detective being accuse of the death of the people being the crime.

Emotional Effect: 
The emotional effect I want my thriller film to have on the audience is suspense, fear, tension and excitement. I also want them to be part of the mind games happening in the film, they will be in the same position as the protagonist and learn whats happening at the same time as him.

Movie Posters and DVD Covers

General Layout: Mis-en-scene/iconography, main image, other images/background, stars, language (mode of address), tagline, reviews, promise of pleasure, colour and lighting. 

DVD cover analysis: Seraphim Falls

- Mis-en-scene/iconography: Actor Liam Neeson's character is wearing what looks like a cowboys hat and the smaller image t the bottom of the front cover is of the two men in the main image having a stand off. Both of these are iconography for a western film. 

- Main Image: Both men are looking into the distance, which suggest they are looking forward into their journey, however they are not in the centre of the dvd cover, which is unusual but can suggest that they are enemies of each other. It gives an idea to the audience that as they are on different sides, in the narrative they are against each other. 

- Other Images/background: The is a second image at the bottom of the front cover of two men aiming guns at each other, this also shows to the audience that the two characters are against each other, they are also divided by the title, showing the distance between the two characters.

- Tagline&Reviews: The reviews are placed in the centre of the front cover. This implies that the producers want to advertise to the audience how good people think the film is. Both reviews come from well known newspapers, The Star and The Daily Mirror. This suggest to the audience that as these newspapers often give reviews to good films, that this film will also be good. 

The tagline is at the bottom of the front cover, it reads "Never turn your back to the past" This implies an insight to the narrative. It suggest the narrative might have something to do with betrayal, which would suggest why the two men on the cover are opposite each other. it also leaves the audience confused , 'the past'  implies that the two of them may have been on the same side in the past but something had happen for them to be against each other. Which also implies why it is a thriller as it leaves the audience in suspense to what has happened. 

- Promise of pleasure: This is given through the tagline "EXCITING CHASE THRILLER" It says to the audience that if they are to watch the film they are sure to be excited, that is what the film wants to audience to feel. 

- Colour and lighting: The main colours of the cover are brown, black and red. The brown gives the sense of an old, gritty western film. The red connotes to the audience danger  or violence in the narrative.  The red line in the middle looks like blood that has been wiped on the cover, it has an image of what looks like mountains and eagles, which can both be seen as conventions of a western film. 

Stars/characters: The fact that two older men are used, despite the age rate being 15, it is aimed towards an older audience, as well as the genre being western. The fact that is it a thriller is why it would be aimed towards a teen audience as that genre appeals to teenagers. Also as the reviews are from newspapers, older people tend to read the newspaper more often than younger people, where as if the reviews were from a movie website (online), it would suggest that the film is more targeted to a younger audience. 

Magazine Front Cover Analysis

Magazine One: Empire Magazine

Masthead: 'Empire' being the masthead of this magazine is brightly coloured, red. This could connote strength and boldness which can also link in with the fact that it is on fire. The fire links in with the theme of the magazine as the masthead on Empire magazines are not usually on fire. It show the audience that the theme is probably something to do with danger. 

Tagline/Slogan: The tagline of this magazine is 'THE WORLD'S BIGGEST MOVIE MAGAZINE" This informs the audience that this magazine series will be about the latest films, screenings and big productions. 

Cover lines & Sell lines: The cover line "GODS! MONSTERS! HEROS! THE EPIC RETURNS! CLASH OF THE TITANS. FIRST LOOK AT 2010'S HOTTEST BLOCKBUSTER!" informs the audience that the main subject of the front cover will be about this. As Clash Of The Titans probably has a large fan base and was probably the new upcoming screening in 2009, it attracts an audience to want to buy the magazine and find out about it. The other cover line "ALL-NEW INTERVIEWS! NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN PICS! 30 YEARS OF ALIEN" widens the target audience for the magazine by introducing a different theme but ill still appeal to the same wider group of people, an audience into fiction films and adventure. Sell lines such as "FREE! NEW MOON POSTERS!" doesn't only just widen the audience even more, maybe more to a female audience as Twilight is aimed more towards that target audience but, getting free things appeal to an audience. Promise of pleasure is used to make more people want to buy the magazine as they are given free things or the price is reduced for example. 

Central Image: The main image is of what the audience would assume to be the main character of Crash If The Titans, as the main image links in with the main cover line. He is dressed in armer, is holding a sword and is in a strong, bold stance. The conventions of the sword and armer are battle, fighting and danger, this tells the audience more about the theme of the magazine. This actor isn't named on the cover, which could also show that he either is so well known that his name isn't needed or that his importance to the subject isn't that relevant. 

Lighting & Colour: The lighting is directed mainly onto the left side of his body and his face. The lighting on his face could be used to show the significance of his emotion or just the importance of who he is. The colours of the background are mainly dark colours, this allows the main image to stand out a lot more and the little lighting on his armer can be seen. The colours of the cover lines, masthead and sell lines are bold, bright colours such as white, red and green. This allows them to contrast greatly to the background so they are clear and easy to read. The use of the green for the different cover line makes it stand it which tells the audience that that subject is just as important as the main subject. 

Mode Of Address & Lexis: This particular magazine uses informal language, words like 'epic' and 'hottest' shows this. It also show that the target audience would be of teens or young adults and mainly a male audience as the conventions of danger and war appeal stereotypically to a male audience. 

House Of Style: The masthead 'Empire' is usually in red in each issue, however editors may edit the masthead to fit the theme better like they have for this issue, they may also change the colour of the masthead. As the magazine is so popular when it comes to film, the main image often covers part of the masthead, this shows the importance of the character(s) in the main image but it also shoes that they are so well-known that not the whole of the masthead needs to be seen, they don't need to show they are important. The main cover lines will be to the left of the magazine and the main subject may also take up a large space to show its importance.