Narrative

I integrated Propp’s theory of having some of the conventional characters in my film. The first is the villain, who is Mallory and the second is the hero who is the protagonist, Sophia.

Levi Strauss’ Binary oppositions by representing good and evil as Mallory was the evil one and the three other characters along with the audience in the theatre as being the good ones. This connection results in changing the stride of the film from joyous and upbeat, where the group of friends have fun to measured and miserable. This was important as it shows Mallory, the tour guide is actually the villain and evil. It also suggest not to trust someone so easily as the group of friends did not know her true identity. This outcomes in audience interaction as they feel sympathetic towards the group of friends.

Barthes’ Enigma code is used when it comes to my film as the plot constructs a puzzle that the active audience is asked to solve while the characters act out the story. The audience do not know that the tour guide is actually a ghost who has come back to haunt people who enter the building. Narrative is delivered to the audience by expectation, suspense, tension and closure. The audience is led to believe that Mallory is a kind and welcoming normal person which leads to tension and suspense during the ending. The enigma ends with a surprising twist and the audience soon realise Mallory is malevolent.

Todorov’s theory regarding equilibrium was another narrative theory that applied to my short film. The equilibrium that opens our film presents a group of friends visiting an old building o film their story. This is then followed up by the dis-equilibrium where Mallory kills two of the characters. I challenged the Todorovs’s theory by not having a new equilibrium at the end. The enigma code is combined at the end of the film when the screen goes blank. This can be seen as a sad ending, using the uses of gratification theory as the audience’s reasons for seeing it may be for entertainment or social interaction.

My films narrative was multi-stranded through the perspective of Mallory’s side and the character’s as the non-linear flashbacks indicate more than one side of the story telling us how Mallory died and also the character’s point of view. This style of narrative manipulates time.

I included an enigma code in our film because it would create an active audience rather than a passive one. I wanted our audience to try and figure out what happened to the character Sophia and also to the audience in the film when Mallory appeared in front of them. The blank screen will leave open ended questions from the audience. This goes against Carroll’s argument when he says that the third phase of a film was the ‘Disruption phase’ where the characters destroy the source of the disorder and restore normality.  This however does not happen in our film because of the enigma code which is the cliff-hanger which is stereotypical in a horror film.