Theorists in my work.

I have researched into theorists of media. I have discovered that there are 2 theorists that are in my work. These theorists are called Tvzvetan Todorov and Claude Levi-Strauss. The reason I am looking at media theorists are because this will guide me as to what works in the real life, such as these theories have not been thought out of thin air, so these theories have been created out of high professional work and look at the rules these media texts follow, so by abiding with these theories will help my work be of high quality.

Tvzvetan Todorov

Tvzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian philosopher born on March 1st, 1939. He has developed the theory of the classic narrative structure in films which I have researched and found out that his theory will be in my thriller film so I have decided to look into and blog about. Todorovs narratives theory has been split into sections. These sections are;

• Stage 1 - Equilibrium
• Stage 2 - Disruption
• Stage 3 - Recognition of the disruption
• Stage 4 - Attempt to repair the disruption
• Stage 5 - Resolution

Equilibrium

This is the stage in the classic narrative structure at the start of the film when all is well with the verisimilitude world which the director has created. This usually shows a happy world were characters are progressing through the career ladder.

Disruption

This is the part of the film when the equilibrium at the start of the film is broken. This is the stage when a problem has occured for the main characters but this has gone un-noticed, the film uses parralell action to show the audience that a problem has happened but the main characters are usually not there to witness this problem.

Recognition of the disruption

This is the part of the film when the main characters have worked out or have recognised the problem that has occured, by the time that they have noticed the problem then it is al-ready too late to stop the problem at its small stage, so by the time the main characters have recognised the problem then the problem is near the uncontrolable stage.

Attempt to repair the disruption

This is the part of the film when the characters have worked out a soloution to the problem and they are trying all they can to repair the disruption, in the stereotype narrative structure the characters would have tried 2 or 3 soloutions before the 4th soloution has repaired the disruption.

Resolution

This is the part in the film when the characters have resolved the problem and everything in the world that the director has created has been returned back to the same state as the start of the film but usually something has changed, such as a character has died or some buildings have dissappeared.

This is Todorov's theory in the classic narrative structure, I have learnt that his theory will be used in my film. There will be a world where everything is okay, then there is a problem, then there is attempts to fix the problem and finally then the problem is resolved. This will be used in my film and I now have the confidence to use this theory in my work.


Claude Levi-Strauss

Levi-strauss's theory is that when there is a binary opposite clash, that is the point when there is a problem, such as high and low, light and dark. His theory is when these 2 opposites meet, that is the point when there is a problem and this is where the excitment is because we as the audience would like to see which one of these opposites win the clash.
The reason that this theory will be used in my film is because there will be loads of conflicts in my film, such as;

• Life and Death
• Male and Female
• Light and Dark

These are only a few conflicts that will be in my film but I have considered these my best binary oppositions that will be in my work. I believe that these opposites will create a exciting conflict in my film that will excite the audience in my film.

By studying Tvzvetan Todorov and Claude Levi-Strauss I have learnt that both of their theories are in my work. Tvzvetan Todorov's theory is giving me the structure to my film because this gives me a clear idea of how to set up my film. Claude Levi-Strauss's theory is that when binary opposites meet, that is where the conflict is at its most entertaining. So therefore both of these theories are in my work.