Tuesday, 19 July 2016

Strauss Narrative and film trailers

Levi Strauss's theory about media, is similar to that of Vladimir Propp's. But he didn't just consider the types of characters involved in narratives; he thought that the narrative's revolved around conflict between 2 opposite types of characters.
Here are the 9 binary opposites that are most commonly used to drive a film's plot;
  • Hero VS villain
  • Good VS evil
  • Human VS inhuman
  • Humane VS inhumane
  • Beautiful VS ugly
  • Innocent VS corrupt
  • Modern VS archaic
  • Town VS nature
  • Civilization VS barbarity
He also thought that the moral of the film (e.g. how the conflict is resolved) was interesting. For
example, would good always triumph over bad? Can human beat inhuman?


This Batman poster shows the conflict between Hero (batman) and villain (penguin) which also implies good VS evil. Cat-woman could be considered as a chaotic neutral in this role.

The trailer for Spider-man shows a clear conflict between Spider-man the hero (who represents good) and green goblin the villain (who is evil).
The movie is about the battle between these 2 opposite forces and the innocent parties that get dragged into the process.
It is obvious that Spider-man will win, which enforces the lesson that good will prevail over bad. Since the target audience is children, this might be to convince them to behave sensibly.
In most conflicts, the 'good side' (e.g. human, humane, beautiful, innocent) will win. This gives the movie a happy ending and leaves the audience feeling relived and uplifted.
However, in a lot of horror movies, the inhuman enemy (e.g. zombies or serial killers) will win at the end. This is to make the film more disturbing and enhance the unsettling feeling of it.   
My trailer will show the deadly encounter between a person (who represents innocence and humanity) and a dark, bloodthirsty force. The taunting of the demons and the battle of sanity and survival will form the narrative. But I won't show the resolution of the conflict because that will ruin the ending. Trailers should have a sense of mystery, so as to intrigue and audience and make them want to watch the film.

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