Narrative enables the audience to read and make sense of a text, essential for any
media piece. My foundation portfolio was a film opening in the genre horror. I
am going to talk about four different ways in which narrative applied to my
work.
The theorist Todorov broke
down the concept of narrative that could be applied to any text: from
equilibrium to disequilibrium to a new equilibrium. Although my film opening
was only two minutes long, their was evidence of at
least the first two stages of Todorov's idea through my use of music. At the
beginning, calming, slow and sweet piano music can be heard as an innocent
looking artist is setting up her studio to paint. This state of peace and
equilibrium is present until the music and shot changes with black and white
cross cutting of someone burying a plastic bag. With this dramatic visual
change, there is also a change in the music. A sinister sounding musical piece
can be heard over top, with eerie tweezing birds and thunder adding drama.
This change in the mood of the film alarms the audience, leaving the idea
of why has this drastic altercation occurred?
Character typology plays a
key part in narrative as Propp established a number of character types, classic
to a range of texts. In my film opening, it was obvious a villain had been
introduced through the use of blood splattering and the burial of a plastic
bag. However, not so sure as to who is this villain.
Our
understanding of the word "villain" depends on the difference between
that word and the opposing word "hero". Strauss’s Binary oppositions are used often in the
horror genre to give the audience a form to work against. I used the typical
good vs. evil concept which was well displayed through the innocent act of
painting, and contrastingly, the suspicious burying of plastic bags to the
alarming use of a bloody knife, making the possibility of an evil character
more prominent. Black and white plays a key part in expressing this parallel narrative as it shows them as unconnected, although the audience can work out this puzzle of how the narrative fits together.
One of the other elements of the horror genre is the enigma that attracts the audience. Roland Barthes’ enigma code
applies to my film opening as the audience is trying to solve the mystery of
the identity of my villain. This complex plot line is expressed clearly through my use of cross cutting, allowing the audience to view both parallel narratives of the villain's and possible hero. Although, a question still
remains as to whether the villain is my artist, or if she is in trouble. This
engages the audience and allows them to solve the puzzle which we, as viewers
love to solve.
In conclusion, narrative was
necessary as it is the way for audiences to be able to watch a film because our
lives work in a similar way of events happening in concession. I displayed a
typical narrative of my horror genre through the use of good vs. evil which
enabled the audience to engage to the piece through fear.
