Narrative Theory

Halloween (Carpenter, 1978)

 

Todorov:

Normality    >     Disruption    > Closure

Equilibrium > Disequilibrium > New Equilibrium

Todorovs theory is famously known as the Classical Hollywood Narrative, which suggests that every film starts with an equilibrium (normality) followed by disequilibrium (something goes wrong) which is then concluded by a new equilibrium (the problem is solved). However Halloween does not follow this structure. At the beginning Mike Myers kills his sister with a knife on halloween night (disequilibrium), he is then institutionilised for 15 years with normal life continuing ( Equilibrium), Mike Myers then escapes on halloween night (disequilibrium). As you can see Halloween is the complete opposite to the classical hollywood narrative, especially because the problem is never solved, and is left at the end with Mike Myers escaping.

Propp:

Propp identified 8 character roles that can be applied to all kinds of narratives after studying 100s of folk tales. The character roles are:

1) The Villian- The baddie.

2) The Hero- The main protagonist and victor.

3) The Donor- Someone who provides an objects with some magic property.

4) The Helper- Someone who aids the hero.

5) The Princess- The sought for person.

6) Her Father- Who rewards the hero.

7) The Dispatcher- Who sends the hero on his way.

8) The False Hero- Who hinders the hero rather than helping.

Not all these characters are found within Halloween, however those that can applied to the cast of Halloween would be as followed:

1) The Villian - Mike Myers

2) The Hero - Dr. Lumis and Laurie because they both aid in hurting Mike Myers and scaring him away.

4) The Helper - Dr. Lumis because he comes in at the right moment and helps Laurie get away from Mike by shooting him.

5) The Princess - Laurie because Mike is trying to murder her.

6) Her Father - The Police Force.

8) The False Hero - The Police Force

Levi-Strauss:

Levi-Strauss saw narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values, e.g Good and Evil. Therefore instead of looking for order, they looked at arrangements of themes. Some Binary Oppositions are:

1) Earth/Space

2) Good/Evil

3) Humans/Aliens

4) Past/Present

5) Normal/Strange

6) Known/Unknown

 In Halloween it's clear that the binary opposition used is Good and Evil. Laurie is cleary extremely innocent and good, which is why Mike is so determined to murder her because he is pure Evil. We know the Mike is Evil throughout the film. Not only because he killed his sister as a child but also because Dr.Lumis Repeats 'purely and simply evil'.

Bordwell and Thompson:

Bordwell and Thompson defined narrative as 'a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space'. When we are watching a film we try and connect events together to make sense of what is happening and therefore create a narrative. The director uses technical techniques to help the audience understand at which time the film is taking place. Examples of technical techniques are: flashbacks, Replys of action, slow motion, speeding up and jumping between places and times. Also the director creates mood and atmosphere by putting certain shots in a certain order. For Example you will have a shot of a house, then a interiour of the house. We naturally presume from this that the room is inside the house.

An example of this within Halloween is:  When there is a establishing shot of Mike Meyers house in 1963, which then cuts to a point of view shot of Mike Meyers watching his sister and her boyfriend kissing on the coach. We can tell that it is the same house because the shots are continuous. Also we can tell that this is a flashback because the shots are being filmed through the eyes of Mike Myers and at the beginning it has the date.



The Crazies (Eisner, 2010)

Does the Crazies follow the CHN? Why or why not?

The Crazies does not follow the classical hollywood narrative. This is because it begins with a dis-equilibrium which then goes to equilibrium which finally ends with another dis-equilibium. The first scene is of Ogden Marsh set on fire and clearly in ruin (dis-equilibrium). We are then transported two days earlier to a cheery, perfect village, carrying out everyday life (equilibrium). This then gets ruined when a man (infected with the virus) trys to shoot David, the local sherif. After the first attack severall others occur, and events begin to spiral out of control with the military getting involved and almost everyone is infected with the virus (dis-equilibrium).  As you can see the narrative is infact the opposite of the classical hollywood narrative.

How many of Propp's character types can be identified in the film?

TheVillian - The governmet because they created the virus and kill innocent people who do not have the virus.

The Hero - David ( Sherif) is the main protagonist because he helps everyone around him to survive.

The Donor - David and Russel both help eachother and those around them by either being there for them in their time of need, or giving them something they need e.g David has a car.

The Helper - Russel and Judy because Russel is like David's sidekick and Judy is a doctor and therefore gives medical help.

The Princess - Russels reason for coming back is to save Judy, therefore Judy is Russels motivation to survive.

Her Father - Russel rewards David for his actions and help, by giving his life as a distraction so tey can escape.

The Dispatcher - Judy because she is the reason David escapes the government and comes to save her, and unknowingly his life.

The False Hero - The government because they act as though they are doing the right thing and saving the un-infected citizens of Ogden Marsh, however they are killing innocent people to try and stop the virus spreading.

List five examples of binary oppositions in the film and explain them briefly.

Good/Evil: The innocent ciziliains are the good characters in the film, especially David and Judy because they are both innocent yet being hunted. The Government is the bad character because they created the virus and are killing the town.

Past/Present: The contrast between the boring, prefect town of Odgen Marsh compared to the derelict ruins of the ghost town 2 days later.

Normal/Strange: The un-infected citizens (Judy and David) are classed as normal and the infected citizens (the crazies) are strange.

Innocent/Guilty: Although the Crazies are presented as the guilty, they are actually the innocent people, they did not choose to get the virus and therefore are actually the victims. The government on the other hand are actually the guilty party because they kill innocent people and were the creators of the virus.

Freedom/Trapped: At the beginning of the film everyone carried out their normal day to day routines being able to do, and travel where ever they wanted. This is then destroyed when the virus breaks loose. The government murders everyone in the town, including those who weren't suffering from the disease, and therefore trapping them.

Identify the three 'durations' and give an estimate of the time each duration covers. 

The film itself is 92 minutes, however within this time we are shown 3 whole days. Within these 3 days the virus has been able to spread, the government take over, and thousands of people murdered. Amazingly the film is able to involve these three massive events in a matter of minutes, whereas realistically such events take days/weeks. What isn't involved in the film is the creation of the virus. This would have been created years before the virus had even spread, let alone the time it would have taken to crash into the lake and travel to everyones tap water. 

Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film 'starts'.

1). The creation of the virus. This is the cause of the infected people and also what causes the horror within the film.

2) The plane Crash. This happened a couple of weeks before the virus had even spread. It had crashed in a lake in Odegan on its way to be destroyed. If the plane hadn't of crashed then none of the film would have happend. 

List two events from the 92 minute film that happen in different time and space to the one we are shown. 

1). The Flashback to the final day of Odegan Marsh at beginning of the film. This flashback shows us the destruction caused by the virus, to which we are then shown the town as it originally was. We can tell that this is a flashback, and also the same village, because we are shown the same scenes however one is destroyed and the other fully intact.

2). When David (the sheriff) shoots the first person to be infected witht he virus, we are then taken to the scene where his coffin is shown. We understand that this is the body of the person who was shot, even though there would have had to be alot of actions and time passed before he would have got there. This i done through the clever arrangement of shots.