Narrative Theory

Narrative theory refers to narrative structure and the way our perception is affected according to a narrative. Our film, in length, would follow some of these theories, as described below.
The first is with Levi Strauss' Binary Opposition. This suggests narrative tension based on opposition or conflict; in our film, this will be between the government and the criminals. This also represents the struggle between good and evil. The government are presented as the "good" people and the criminals as the "bad", however we are playing with the idea of a twist that would reverse these roles.

Levi Strauss

Binary Opposition; Good vs Evil

The next theory we are looking at is Barthes' Enigma Code. This suggests that the narrative will establish enigmas or mysteries as it goes on, and solving these mysteries becomes the narratives function. As the narrative goes on, we encounter several potential meanings, and the basis of the narrative itself is almost a mystery. Our film is intended to be "open", so the audience can interpret it in different ways (with the good vs evil) and keep guessing about the mysteries throughout.

Roland Barthes

The last narrative theory that we have taken some influence from is that of Vladimir Propp. It suggests that each narrative has a hero, villain, donor, helper, victim, dispatcher and false hero. Within our narrative, we certainly have a hero, villain, victim and false hero, and some of the other characters could come into play later in plot development.

Vladimir Propp