Narrative Structure

Planning our narrative is important as it will give us a good grasp on what we want in our trailer and how we can convey this to our key demographic. Narrative structure is a key aspect to a good trailer, as Bordwell & Thompson say ‘Narrative is defined as a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time’ this was in the 1980’s which show that narrative structure has been around for a long time.

An important part of the narrative structure is the diegesis which is the internal world created by the storyline which the characters in the film encounter, in order to show this I will be using establish shots in every new scene.

The plot and storyline must be run through before we film, this is so that when we film we know exactly what we are doing thus allowing us to complete filming in a timely fashion. As we are creating a trailer the scenes will be in non-chronological order which is conventional and sets the tone of the trailer portraying that it is enigmatic.

We have taken into account the narrative range; we could use a restricted narrative which only offers minimal information about the narrative or an unrestricted narrative which a lot of information is showed, for instance news programs. The obvious choice is restricted narration as we are creating a horror trailer, however as we are trying to challenge some of the typical conventions in a horror trailer we are going to let more of the narrative in horror trailers that is usually shown, this will encourage the audience to go see the full film and as our key demographic are teenagers they will appreciate more information.

As part of narrative depth we can have either a subjective character identification which is where the audience is given insight all the characters alternatively we can use objective character identification where the audience is given insight into a characters fantasies, dreams and a unique point of view from them. After careful consideration I have decided to use objective character identification as I think it will draw on the audience’s emotion and thus will make the trailer better. The way I can portray this in the trailer is by camera angles and camera shots such as point of view and close up to see the characters emotion.

There are two types of narrative structure we could follow these are: Modular Narratives in Contemporary Cinema by Allan Cameron and Tzvetan Todorov’s Theory of Narrative:

Cameron has identified four different types of modular narrative:

• Anachronic
• Forking Paths
• Episodic
• Split Screens

Tzvetan Todorov’s Theory of Narrative, Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:

• A state of equilibrium at the outset.
• A disruption of the equilibrium by some action.
• A recognition that there has been a disruption.
• A attempt to repair the disruption.
• A reinstatement of the equilibrium.

After discussing with the group and getting everyone’s feedback we have decided to go with the second structure as we think it is more familiar to use as this is used in many mainstream films that our target audience are also used to.

This is how Tzveran Todorov’s theory will relate to our own trailer:

As we are trying to challenge some conventions we have chosen not to see a setting straight away but rather just start the storyline by seeing some characters, thus drawing the audience in. The disruption of the equilibrium is when we show the phone ringing on a withheld number and then see the stalker right after; this will create anticipation within the audience. The recognition is where our protagonist realises that something is not right and therefore tries to get away thus attempting to repair the disruption, at the end of the trailer however a reinstatement of the equilibrium will not be restored.

This is how Tzveran Todorov’s theory applies to other horror trailers:

The Devil Inside- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyT7xMPurgw: The location is not revealed at the beginning of the trailer instead there is a disruption of the equilibrium straight away which is generally unconventional in trailers. The recognition of a disruption is when a character that is being possessed is moved to a mental hospital. The recognition is when the protagonist tried to learn more about exorcism to try and help her mother which creates tension as this is a family bond and makes the audience feel more sympathetic for the protagonist. The attempt to repair the disruption is when the protagonist’s mother gets exorcised by a priest, however this does not work and the character gets progressively worse as the music gets louder and louder which creates anticipation within the audience, the reinstatement of the equilibrium.