How does my trailer fit into narrative theory conventions?

The Russian Formalists of the 1920’s were influential in identifying conventions of narrative. Vladimir Propp’s theory states that there are seven character types which each took on the role of different narrative spheres of action. Propp states that a hero embarks on a quest to defy the villain – this is definitely the case in my film – the final girl, my main character, is on a quest to survive the killer. There are only two main characters in my music video; Emily, the final girl who could be classed as the hero and the killer (the villain), although there are many other smaller characters. Some character types such as the dispatcher are missing in my video, which contests Propp’s characterisation theory. However, there are characters in the plot that do not appear on screen; the dispatcher could be Emily’s mother, who raised her typical of a final girl and willing to fight for her life. I find it difficult to distinguish the extent to which I followed Propp’s theory; my piece does not follow the typical conventions of characterisation, however this is to be expected in a trailer as it is much shorter than full length films. I believe this was more effective as introducing many characters on screen in a short time may confuse viewers and the plot may not develop as effectively as it would in a longer piece of moving image. Also, music videos and film did not exist in the 1920s as they do now. Technology and the media has developed and changed extraordinarily in the last century, possibly rendering Propp’s theory as outdated.

Tzvetan Todorov’s, another Russian formalist, generated a theory which states that there are five stages in a conventional narrative :

1. A state of equilibrium at the outset

2. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action

3. A recognition that there has been a disruption

4. An attempt to repair the disruption

5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium

Although Todorov’s theory shares the same contextual issues as Propp’s, these stages can be identified in most mainstream media texts, such as Hollywood movies. However, a teaser trailer’s limited time length renders it extremely different to many other texts, which often causes the musician to use short pieces which abruptly affect the audience – whether it is outrageous, brutal or fear evoking. Therefore narrative structure in trailers may not be applied in the same way – my video, for example, does not include stage 5 as I would not want to give the end of the plot away to the audience. The video ends on a cliff hanger to persuade the audience to watch my whole film.Therefore, equilibrium is not restored, and my trailer challenged Todorov’s theory.