Me and Lilian had previously worked together and so our narratives were similar. Our idea was to feature a stalker like, obsessive man who is fixated on having a female character all to himself. He goes to extreme measures to make sure this happens, such as tormenting the female characters little sister to an underwater fight for her life. Our inspiration for this was from the frozen pond scene in the film Orphan, where the victim struggles underwater whilst fighting the villain in order to survive.
To create the underwater effect, we suggested purchasing a large paddling pool and adding false blood to the water to portray the injuries and violence that occurs between the male and female characters. We also intended to film the clip in a dark place in order for low key lighting to be effective as the shadows made would build the tension. In addition, we also said that we would hide the killers identity in order to make the audience feel on edge, creating a sense of enigma, and would use parallel sounds to emphasise the events that take place in the clip to build suspense.
The advantages of this narrative would be that it is a very unique idea, therefore if it is pulled off and made to look as realistic as possible it would look really effective. It's also conventional to the thriller genre as it involves a fight scene and also shows the theme of obsession which has been used since the 1940's. However, the disadvantages of this narrative is that the underwater scene would be hard to make look realistic which would make the scene less tense for the audience.
Deanna then discussed her idea with the group and told us it is about a child having a nightmare and she dreams about being in a park on a swing, happily playing , before the killer takes her. She told us she would set this in a detached house and a park which is surrounded by forest. She said she would use cinematography such as a high angled shot to portray the child as the victim and music & sound effects to build suspense. She would keep the killers identity hidden and would try to create an enigma to leave the audience guessing. As an example, she told us she would have one main piece of iconography such as a teddy bear or scarf that belongs to the child, which she has with her when playing on the swing. When the child wakes from her nightmare, all would seem well again, but to create an enigma, I would use a zooming in shot through the bedroom window to the park where the teddy bear or scarf would still be.
The advantages of this narrative is that there is a variety of cinematography we can use and it is conventional to the thriller genre because of the detached house and forestry setting. However, the disadvantages could be that this is cliche to any thriller film, especially the nightmare aspect, meaning this idea would not stand out from any other narratives.
When deciding which narrative to go with, we decided to incorporate the best elements of both of our ideas, and create a brand new narrative. The new narrative is about a little girl who goes walking through the forest alone, where all we can hear is the sound of the crunching of the leaves beneath her feet. She then looks at a tree and gets a flashback of herself playing with her older sister. She carries on walking and experiences several other flashbacks such as seeing a scarf caught on a branch, which would have a flashback to her walking with her sister with one of them wearing that scarf. She then walks to a river or lake and kneels down on the ground where we see the reflection of the girl looking into the river. It is here she notices she has a cut on her forehead and so goes to touch it which leads into a close up of the blood on her hand. She then has a flashback of an underwater fight scene that happened in this river, which involves an unknown person fighting the little girl. She then begins to walk back the way she has come when she notices the track marks in the soil, where she has another flashback to her older sister dragging her out of the water. The next part of the scene involves the little sister realising she is dead, which creates an enigma to how and why this happened.
When thinking about this narrative, we changed the nightmare idea into using flashback as we thought this would be more conventional to the thriller genre. We also kept the underwater fight scene from the other members in my groups narrative, as well as us all deciding to leave the scene with an enigma.
Vladimir Propp -
Propp's theory was that the characters should have a narrative function as they provide a structure for the text. The characters he thought should be included were;
He thought that once you use all of these characters then you can build into the narrative more easily. An example of this theory would be a fairytale or fantasy film such as 'Shrek'.
Aristotle's Theory-
He believed that no narrative or characters were needed as such, but all that was needed to make a good film was themes. The themes were seen as headings which are used by some producers and screenwriters and include;
Which theory relates to my narrative?
When comparing my narrative to the 3 theories, the one that suits it best is Aristotle's theory that any film should be made and followed using themes. This is because dramatic questions are raised throughout our narrative. These dramatic questions run through the audiences minds such as 'Who is the murderer of the little girl?' 'Why is the little girls sister in the flashbacks?' 'Why is she all alone in the forest?' these dramatic questions create a great sense of enigma and tension for the audience as they are left feeling on edge from the fear of the unknown. The use of enigma also means that no one would expect the ending to be of the little sister realising she is dead and so this creates shock which is conventional to the thriller genre.
Deanna then discussed her idea with the group and told us it is about a child having a nightmare and she dreams about being in a park on a swing, happily playing , before the killer takes her. She told us she would set this in a detached house and a park which is surrounded by forest. She said she would use cinematography such as a high angled shot to portray the child as the victim and music & sound effects to build suspense. She would keep the killers identity hidden and would try to create an enigma to leave the audience guessing. As an example, she told us she would have one main piece of iconography such as a teddy bear or scarf that belongs to the child, which she has with her when playing on the swing. When the child wakes from her nightmare, all would seem well again, but to create an enigma, I would use a zooming in shot through the bedroom window to the park where the teddy bear or scarf would still be.
The advantages of this narrative is that there is a variety of cinematography we can use and it is conventional to the thriller genre because of the detached house and forestry setting. However, the disadvantages could be that this is cliche to any thriller film, especially the nightmare aspect, meaning this idea would not stand out from any other narratives.
When deciding which narrative to go with, we decided to incorporate the best elements of both of our ideas, and create a brand new narrative. The new narrative is about a little girl who goes walking through the forest alone, where all we can hear is the sound of the crunching of the leaves beneath her feet. She then looks at a tree and gets a flashback of herself playing with her older sister. She carries on walking and experiences several other flashbacks such as seeing a scarf caught on a branch, which would have a flashback to her walking with her sister with one of them wearing that scarf. She then walks to a river or lake and kneels down on the ground where we see the reflection of the girl looking into the river. It is here she notices she has a cut on her forehead and so goes to touch it which leads into a close up of the blood on her hand. She then has a flashback of an underwater fight scene that happened in this river, which involves an unknown person fighting the little girl. She then begins to walk back the way she has come when she notices the track marks in the soil, where she has another flashback to her older sister dragging her out of the water. The next part of the scene involves the little sister realising she is dead, which creates an enigma to how and why this happened.
When thinking about this narrative, we changed the nightmare idea into using flashback as we thought this would be more conventional to the thriller genre. We also kept the underwater fight scene from the other members in my groups narrative, as well as us all deciding to leave the scene with an enigma.
Narrative theory
Propp's theory was that the characters should have a narrative function as they provide a structure for the text. The characters he thought should be included were;
- Hero - someone who seeks something
- Villain - opposes and blocks the hero's quest
- Donor - provides an object with magical properties
- Dispatcher - sends the hero on a quest with a message
- False Hero - someone who disrupts the hero's success by making false claims
- Helper - aids hero
- Princess - is the reward
- Father - rewards hero for effort
He thought that once you use all of these characters then you can build into the narrative more easily. An example of this theory would be a fairytale or fantasy film such as 'Shrek'.
Todorov's theory
- Tzvetan Todorov simplified the idea of narrative theory whilst also allowing a movre conplex interpretation of film texts with his theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium.
- The fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium (everything is as it should be)
- It then suffers some disruption (disequilibrium)
- New equilibrium is produced at the end of the narrative.
Aristotle's Theory-
He believed that no narrative or characters were needed as such, but all that was needed to make a good film was themes. The themes were seen as headings which are used by some producers and screenwriters and include;
- Inciting Incident
- Dramatic Question
- Character Goal
- Antagonist/Protagonist
- Stakes
- Resolution
- Sympathy & Empathy
Which theory relates to my narrative?
When comparing my narrative to the 3 theories, the one that suits it best is Aristotle's theory that any film should be made and followed using themes. This is because dramatic questions are raised throughout our narrative. These dramatic questions run through the audiences minds such as 'Who is the murderer of the little girl?' 'Why is the little girls sister in the flashbacks?' 'Why is she all alone in the forest?' these dramatic questions create a great sense of enigma and tension for the audience as they are left feeling on edge from the fear of the unknown. The use of enigma also means that no one would expect the ending to be of the little sister realising she is dead and so this creates shock which is conventional to the thriller genre.
