Narrative Theory.

Narrative is, in media terms, an order given to a series of events or facts in order to create a desired meaning. This means that we are given a beginning, middle and an end in order to create a structure that we can easily follow. Over time many theory’s have been contrived about narrative and how structure works. It is easy to confuse Narrative with story, but the main difference is that story is more like a summery where as narrative is how the story is told, or indeed shown.

One of the most prevalent theories is that of Todorov. He suggests that every narrative has a simple structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and then return to a state of equilibrium. This is a simplified version of a five step theory.

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption of order
3. Recognition of disruption or a disequilibrium
4. Attempt to repair the disequilibrium
5. New equilibrium

Heres a visual representation:


However, not all narratives fall within this theory. For example, John Carpenter’s film ‘Halloween’ ends with the films villain, ‘Michal Myers’ escaping and therefore the film has no new equilibrium. This is the same with a lot of horror films, because it not only creates a sense of hopelessness but also set the film up for a sequel. This feeling of no real new equilibrium is also prevalent in our film. At the end Edgar is left with his reality smashed to pieces. We left it like this to show the harshness of schizophrenia.

Another Theory is that of Propp. Propp was a Russian critic, active in the 1920’s and he noticed Folk tales were similar in many areas. They were about the same basic struggles and they appeared to have stock characters. He identified a theory about characters and actions as narrative functions.

These characters were:
• The Hero – a character that seeks something
• The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero’s quest
• The Donor – who provides an object with magical properties
• The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message
• The False Hero – who disrupts the hero’s success by making false claims
• The Helper – who aids the hero
• The Princess – acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s plots
• Her Father – who acts to reward the hero for his effort

Once again this theory can be applied to most narratives, however in a modern culture has been disproven by certain films. This theory, however, is more relevant to ‘Living with Ronnie’ in that all our characters fit into one of the above, with Edgar as the hero, seeking the truth of reality, Ronnie the villain, obscuring his way, and Edgar’s mother the Donor, holding the truth.


Having known about the theory’s from previous lessons in film studies and mentions in AS media they were in the back of my head when my partner and I where shaping our film. We consciously made the decision to not restore equilibrium at the end of the film. However Propp’s theory seemed less relevant, and the characters seemed to fall into the above categories, therefore making the theory more present in modern films.

Research on Schizophrenia

Before and during our writing of the first draft of ‘Living with Ronnie’ we did a lot of research into Schizophrenia in order to fully understand the condition and all its varieties. We started by just looking ate the definition of the condition, the effects and how people cope with the illness. We found that our preconceptions of the illness were floored. We original believed that Schizophrenia meant a split personality, when in actual fact it is something slightly different to this. The person with Schizophrenia, depending on the servility of the case, will see a second person. They will talk and interact with this ‘personality’ and in cretin situations will become their second personality, looking at themselves.



We also found that, People with the disorder may believe other ‘people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them.’ (National Institute of Mental Health) We wanted to include this to a degree, with the confrontation scene in later drafts, so decided that Edgar would have a debate with his mother about the existence of Ronnie. This also helped trigger the realization at the end of the film.

We wanted to handle the subject matter with as much care as possible, and to portray a server case of Schizophrenia without being insensitive. For this reason we also looked at how people live and deal with the situation. We discovered a support group called ‘Mind’. This helps us to understand how families and patients deal with the situation they are in.


Sources:
• http://www.mind.org.uk/help/diagnoses_and_conditions/schizophrenia
• http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Schizophrenia/Pages/Introduction.aspx
• http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia/complete-index.shtml

Genre Theory

Genre theory is simply a system used to categories films into different genres, such as horror, drama or western. Conventionally these are based on themes and settings, or a particular structure to the film. These genres are defined by many elements that combine together in order to create a genre. These elements include the mise-en scene, iconography and style.
Firstly, mise-en scene is everything we can see within the frame, such as costume, props and location. These elements all go into making a film into a genre. For example, a western will most likely have Stetsons, horses, drinking whisky, and will be set in the ‘Wild west’, where as a horror film will properly have teenagers, alcohol and lots of blood.

Iconography links closely in to the mise-en-scene. It is the idea that cretin elements of the mise-en-scene can become near essential in creating a genre. For example, think about how many times you will see blood or a murder weapon such as a huge knife in a horror film. We almost expect it, and it therefore becomes iconic.
Style is all to do with the technical codes. This includes camera work, lighting, sound effects, speech, music and editing. These are the things that build the atmosphere in the way that creates the genre.
However it is easy to underplay the differences within genre. Steve Neale says “genres are instances of repetition and difference”. Some films can have a genre, without following a lot of the conventions. For example the TV series ‘Firefly’ is a very popular western with a difference. It is set in space, yet it still is classed as a western by critics and fans alike, due to the narrative, mise-en-scene and style.