Todorov's Theory

Todorov’s narrative theory states that most story’s or plot lines follow the same pattern or path. Todorov says that there are 5 steps in this pattern.  He produced this in 1969 and he believed that this could be applied to any film as all films followed the same narrative pattern.

Here are the 5 steps:

1-      Equilibrium - The story at first starts happy and calm and everything is as it should be, and the majority of the characters are content. 

2-      A disruption – The second part of the story will have a problem or something that will disrupt the happiness

3-      Realisation – This is where everyone in the film digesis realises there is a problem and it becomes chaos.

4-      Restored Order – This part of the plot is when the characters attempt to repair the damage and restore the problem

5-      Equilibrium Again – The final part of the plot where the problem is resolved and normality can resume again.

Todorov's theory can only be partially applied to any form of trailer, as the last two stages stereotypically wouldn't be included in a trailer as it would mean there would be no reason for the viewer to then watch the full film once it had been released. However, the first 2 (sometimes 3) steps will be included so that some plot is revealed but not too much detail is given away. 

Narrative Theories - Enigma Codes

We can apply Roland Barthe's Enigma Codes theory to our film trailer.

Enigma codes are mysteries/unanswered questions within a media texts which keep audiences engaged.  This can be applied to our Film Trailer as it contains a lot of unanswered questions, such as:  Why has Faye gone missing?  Has someone taken Faye?  Why have the suspects been chosen?  How are the suspects involved?  All of these questions intrigue the audience and this makes them interested in the film so that they can want to watch the film when it is released. 

Production Ident