The character roles being: 1)The villain - 'baddie' 2)The hero - main protagonist 3)The donor - provides an object with magic property 4)The helper - who aids the hero 5)The princess - reward for the hero/ object of the villains schemes 6)Her father - who rewards the hero 7)The dispather - who sends the hero on his way 8)The false hero - the double agent who hinders the hero instead of helping them Halloween applies to this partly as there are some evident character types which Propp had identified being; The villain (Michael Myers),The hero (Laurie), The helper (Dr. Loomis). The character role of Laurie is also relevant to the princess, due to being the object of the villains schemes, but her personality defies the generic representation of the stereotypical princess character. The donor, father , dispatcher and false hero were not involved in Halloween's narrative. Levi-Strauss focused on narrative structure in terms of binary opposites which are sets of values which reveal the structure of media texts. A plain but obvious example would be good vs evil, as it is understandable that good is the opposite of evil. Levi-Strauss was not so interested in the order in which events were arranged in the plot, but more intrigued in the arrangment of themes. For example, this is evident in Halloween as there was a strong representation of good vs evil with Laurie and Michael. The film also used the binary opposites of day/night (light/dark) which enabled the connotation of Laurie being 'safe' in the day time, but in danger at night time. Bordwell and Thompson defined narrative as 'a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occuring in time and space. In their opinion, a narrative typically beings with one situation, a series of changes arise according to a pattern of cause and effect, to conclude a new situation occurs that brings the end of the narrative. Narrative can shape material in terms of time and space - it defines where things take place, when and how quickly they happen. The use of techniques in narrative can manipulate our awareness of time and place (flashbacks, replays of action, slow motion, speeding up, jumping between places and times. For example, in Halloween the beginning situation of Michael killing his sister, sets off the chain of events which happen in the film. Michael kills his sister -> As a result of killing his sister, he then meets Dr.Loomis -> meets the nurse, where he escapes -> he fleas to his old home -> Laurie's father (an estate agent) gives her a key to put in Michael's old house -> Michael spots her doing so, then makes her his target etc. This snippet of Halloween's plot shows how one event can escalate to many more events in the future.
1) Does The Crazies follow the classic Hollywood narrative? Why or why not? I would agree that The Crazies follows the classic Hollywood narrative because it begins with normality (the preview of everyday life of the town, showing their jobs and home life). Then the enigma (the rise of the infected) -> pathway to resolution (quest to escape the town and to survive)-> closure (David and Judy surviving and moving on to the next state. The plot pretty much follows the classic Hollywood narrative until the very end, where the cliff hanger turns out to be the government wanting to infect the next town where it says 'initiate protocool'. Furthermore, the film does not conclude with a type of closure like the classic Hollywood narrative.
2)How many of Propp's character types can be identified in the film? In my opinion there are 5 of Propp's character types displayed in the film, with some these types being represented by two characters. The Villain can be displayed by government as they are the force of initiation for all the events which happen. They are the ones that were root cause the tragedy of the town dying. The soldiers were also seen as the villain as they were following the orders of the government and killing the innocent people of Ogden Marsh. The crazies were also seen as the enemy, but were in fact not to blame as all they done was drink the contaminated water, so I do not think I would class the crazies as villains, but merely obstacles which the hero had to defeat. The hero was mainly represented by David as he lead the quest being a typical alpha male and saved Judy and Becca whom mimicked the stereotype of being 'damsels in distress'. Russell also showed some characteristics of a hero as he saved David's and Judy's lives three times, and gave them an outlet to escape which lead to his own death. The Donor could be seen as Scotty as they hide in his barn when the soldiers come, and Russell as he has a gun which saves them in a fair few scenarios from the crazies. The helper can represented by Steve and Judy. As Steve, being David's deputy, occupationally plays the helper to David on a day to day basis. So this role comes naturally to him and protects him as much as he can throughout their journey together. Judy being his wife is by David's side was his companion throughout the whole of the storyline, and they done what they could to stay together and fought to not be separated. The princess was shown by Judy as she was number one in the list of David's priorities. All he done was for her, and he was even prepared to die for her.
3.List five examples of binary oppositions in the film and explain them briefly. Day and night; in the day time it wasn't always 'safe' but as soon as the morning came a sense of security was established if only for a little while was given, because as soon as it was dark a sense of danger overwhelmed and the majority of horrific things happened. Normality/chaos due to the perfect town image which runs smoothly, to the complete destruction of the town. Uninfected/infected as there are evidence of both throughout the film, the differences are astounding as the infected completely lose all morals. Past/present as we are shown the future and then shown the past as a flashback. 4.Identify the three ‘durations’ and give an estimate of the time each duration covers. The screen durations is approx. 92 minutes. Story duration about 2 years. Plot duration 3 days. 5.Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film ‘starts’. Judy's pregnancy is already known before the storyline begins, and this affects the whole story as it is why she gets sectioned in the first place. The plane crash was not visible to the audience either but is the whole reason why people become infected. 6.List two events from the 92 minute film that happen in a different time and space to the one we are shown. Firstly, when David and Judy return to their home after escaping the camp, we are unaware of how the infected mother and son got there, as they are waiting for them. Secondly, when Becca and Judy meet in sectioning, as the capturing of Becca was not shown.
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