The Narrative Theory

Claude Levi Strauss

Strauss learnt about hundreds of myths and legends all around the world and from this adapted and gave an idea of how use as humans perceive the world by using binary opposites. By this he then discovered that the narrative is usually built around the idea of the conflict of to binary opposites.

This in fact can be used to describe the narrative in popular horror films, for example in Halloween starring an evil killer called Mike Myers. The fact that this killer goes round killing the stereotypical jocks and cheerleaders is in fact a conflict between each other. The fact that we realise that Mike Myers was in fact quite neglected i society shows this contrast between the jock and cheerleaders therefore showing that within Horror binary opposites are used to create a framework to build a effective narrative, this is shown by the  popularity of the film.

Tzvetan Todorov

Todorov is a Bulgarian literary theorist and created a theory that could easily represent the narrative of any Film. This theory was the idea that a story start in a state of 'normal' which is the equilibrium, this sate of 'normality' is then disrupted by a fore outside of it which causes a discourse the the 'normality' is is then called disequilibrium. This disequalibrium has to be fought to to reset the the course however the characters who are effected by this often gain a new meaning or perspective to the situation and the equilibrium becomes changed therefore becoming the new-equilibrium.

Horror often shows this within certain sub genres, for example within the sub genre supernatural. This could be shown by The Woman In Black, the character wants a new start in life due to his recently deceased wife this is the equilibrium. He then encounters a ghost named the Woman In Black this is a representation of the disequilibrium. Then finally the he defeats the Woman In Black however it is because he dies along with his child where he is greeted by his wife in the afterlife therefore happy, this shows the a new-equilibrium where is it not the same as the character a developed throughout the sequence.

Researching the development of narrative theories and learn how they have been used within the Horror genre, therefore I will use a variation of these theories to develop the narrative of my opening sequence.