Narrative theory

 Bordwell and Thomposn

This theory of narrative relates to the relationship of plot and story. Our film “Greed” relates to this because as our film develops the events do, and they are fully explained to the audience. However, this is indirectly done. This is because the audience don’t know that Destiny has to kill herself. Has the film is set in the present this also relates to the theory. The events are all follow on from each other telling a simple narrative.

Vladimir Propp: Spheres of action

This theory relates to the 31 function in each storyline and fairy tales. This shows there is common structure throughout the storyline. The theory believed that there are common characters: the doner, the helper, princes, father, false hero, villain, and dispatcher. These link to:

False hero- this is the Loan Shark, he “saves” Destiny and tries to save her from not having any money. However, this links to the twist that he uses her greed as a price of debt. This is commonly used in a lot of films especially fairy tales such as Tangled: where the princess’s mother acts like she is trying to stop her from getting hurt but she is actually using her to keep herself young. This is also common in Frozen where Prince Hanns acts like he loves Anna and he wants to save her but he just wants to take the throne. The false hero is using vulnerability to get something they want.

The Helper- This is Maddy as a friend she lends Destiny money and a home. This shows the generic feature of many fairy tales such as the fairy God mother from Cinderella as she makes it possible for the Princess to meet the Prince. This shows our film relates to this theory from the general conventions of past films.

The villain- The loan shark again as he plays the false hero he uses Destiny’s desperation to his own gain. The convention of this is that villains often use someone’s desperation for their own good. Another example of this is from the fairy tale Little Mermaid as the princess is used for her desperation of love to the villain’s advantage.

The father- As destiny needs money and the film is fixed on this idea of materialism and greed.

This theory is used by a lot of films because the character always follows an often role and convention. This is because it is convenient to the audience and makes the film follow either a simple or complex plot. This shows there is ways to easily build layers of storyline to make the plot as complex as the production team want. But then the film can be easily cut down into small and solid blocks of theory of narrative.

Syd Fields: Three act plot structure

This theory relates to the idea that all films split into three sections. For example act one is used to make the audience build an understanding of the film. In our film at the start we see Destiny losing her job and house and struggling to pay her friends back. In the middle of the film is normally the bulk, this relates to ours as it shows Destiny going to the Loan Shark and spending the money. The final section of the film is the end, in our film Destiny opens the letter. Most films follow  this dissect of three sections. However, some films that leave an open narrative ending such as Stay or films that have a following sequel such as Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Claud Levi- Binary Oppositions

This theory suggests that in most narritives, there are opposite character. This can be: heor and villain; good and bad; happy and sad; rich and poor. Even though in our film Destiny is poor and Maddy is well-off there is no real explanation of this. Also the Loan Shark and Destiny come to an equal agreement where they are doing something in exchange for each other so this does not make them too fair opposites.