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Narrative theories

Vladimir Propp

Narrative

"A Chain of events in a cause effect relationship  occurring   in time

Vladimir propp was a  Russian  theorist who come with a narrative theory which  involves  8 types of characters which he has  broken  down from a typical 'fairy tale' including :

Hero,

Villain,

Donor,

Dispatcher (messenger),

False Hero,

Helper,

Princess

the princesses father.

However not all of them 8 characters are expected to be individuals as often in a lot  of media context like films or anything with this narrative match can have shared acts between them for  example a classic would be the hero marrying the princess in some that would not happen  because  they could be related to one another. There are several ways how narratives end  and not all story line are based on the  same thing although he says they all do contain the same characters and the same roles just shown in different ways suiting the context.  There are many different  films and  videos this rule applies to such as star wars that's one of the most simplest examples but because  i am studying  music videos  i have found an example.

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Izetan Todorov 

this shows the equilibrium of the video, and their affection for one another

stage 3 is her recognition of his frequent exit from the house realising he's cheating

Stage 4 is her way of resolving the issue by taking all his clothes and burning them, as if she is erasing it from her mind.

Stage 5 shows him returning and her showing no signs of remorce towards him as if nothing happened and they are as they were at the start

Stage 2 shows the disruption of him having an affair with another woman

Tzeton's theory  is about having 5 main stages throughout the narrative and basing your ideas upon them. 

  1. State of equilibrium

  2. Disruption of equilibrium

  3. recognition of disruption 

  4. Attempt to repair disruption

  5. Reinstatement or equilibrium

Looking at music videos  i  am going to use 'Sam smiths  - I'm not the only' one single  which  matches  Todorov's  theory.  At the beginning of the video  it states the  equilibrium  being the marriage. The disruption  is the man's alcohol and him having an affair which  his wife then realises but still tries to resolve the marriage  by acting as if everything is fine how they were at the beginning, showing  affection  for one another.

'Equilibrium' is the scenario the narrative's based upon. 

Levi strauss

Strauss's theory is all about  Binary opposition.

Binary opposites  are  where there are two completely different words but used for similar context. Example's of a few would be:

  • "Hot & Cold"   

  • "Evil & Good" 

  •  "Old &  Young"

The narrative behind this theory is that it is all  based around opposition  and conflicts like  the narrative   behind  "Romeo and Juliet" because they are both from different families who have always had conflict and not accepted one  an others   peace this then meant they could not be together resulting in consequences.

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Below shows the binary opposites at the top there are the gang of men trowing money around enjoying luxurious items and goods in contrast to the people locked away behind the bars in dark conditions with nothing other than their clothes.

Imagine Dragons - Radioactive

In the picture to the right you can see the 'poorer' people getting held prisoners  beneath the surface where the   'rich'   men  are throwing money around whilst betting   on the 'champions' as shown in the image above.

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