Group Narrative-Miss Georgiou

I will be discussing three different ideas based on the thriller genre. The three ideas are from my group members, we have shared our individual narrative and in the blog as we have analysed the advantages and disadvantages of each narrative

-What is the purpose of a narrative?
A narrative is a storyline which is the one of the first things directors need to be clear of before filming.
The purpose of a narrative is to give the film a guideline - a film cannot be based on nothing, the story would not make sense.

-How did you and your group discuss your individual ideas?
In our groups we told each other our narrative and shared our opinions. We talked about what improvements the ideas could use and how they could achieve these given goals.

1) Group Member
In her narrative teen girls have been reported missing.  A past female victim comes home one night from a party, however she has been drinking and is tipsy, but she is aware of her surroundings - whilst she walks, on the way she is unknowingly followed by a mass killer. She then eventually arrives home, whilst she enters her house she clumsily leaves her door open which becomes an easy access for the killer. The killer however doesn't kill her but he stalks her inside her own house. For months she carries on her normal life, he lives in her house in hiding.

The summary shows a sense of mystery, and contains events which the audience can relate to. E.g. Getting drunk.  The idea is different and unique which is good because it would become more memorable.
However it becomes questionable of how the two girls are related to the plot and whether the two girls will come back in to the narrative as hero/helpers.

2)Group Member 2
A group of girls go to the cinema to see a film which the victim then falls asleep, the film finishes and everyone leaves the cinema, abandoning the victim, she leaves the screening and enters the lobby to find the cinema is shut down and abandoned. She hears a cinema reel rolling she goes to analyse it where she finds a masked man, she runs away shutting the door....

The events do link and explain how the victim got to be alone and how she finds the villain, however I do not understand why her friends would abandon her, I personally feel that more detail should be added explaining the situation. The masked villain is a good idea as it is conventional to include mystery,which keeps me curious to how and why the villain is there and what sort of relationship he has with the cinema or perhaps the victim, and what will happen to the victim.


3) Group Member 3
My idea was a very ill patient is in a hospital on a life support machine after being run over accidentally. When in the hospital a doctor walks in with a mask on he scares the patient who takes off all the medical equipment and runs out, the masked villain chases her out and into a forest where she dies from not being on the life support machine the antagonist then takes her back to the hospital and experiments on her. 

The idea is good because it's different as it shows her struggle to live and survive, it represents the victims growing and becoming stronger and that she gains enough confidence to run way, I believe that these actions ad events will allow the audience to build a relationship with the victim/patient. Th story becomes abnormal when the mask doctor appears which is a good idea as it again creates a sense of mystery. The audience can relate to events such as going to the hospital, which becomes more frightening. The story becomes twisted and will be disturbing to younger viewers meaning that if there was to be an age certificate given to the film it would most likely be rated an 18. This will reduce the wide range of audience. I feel that the plot should have more description explaining why the doctor has become twisted, perhaps a reason or a past event happening to him causing him to become mental.


The group narrative:
A women drives back home from work, she drives in to a car park and parks her car, whilst she locks her car and attempts to leave, her car alarm suddenly goes of and she turns around, there stands a mysterious masked man.  She turns around and speeds out of the car park and in to a forest, whilst running for her life not wanting to take a chance to talk, she sees a child's teddy bear all ripped and teared with one eye missing and stuffing spilled out. Then she hears a child's cry echoing throughout the forest and she trips over a branch and there stands the masked man behind her.

Different Theories
Vladmir Propp is a Russian critic and he believed that the characters made up the narrative. He believed that a narrative must include:
-The Hero- the princesses saviour                          
 -The false hero - a false hero who takes takes false claims.
-The villain- the villain interferes the hero's quest.                          
- The disputer- sends the hero to his mission
-The helper - the helper, assists the hero                      
-The princess- the main objective to the villain and the hero's award.
-The donor- Provides useful equipment, like weapons;swords.
 These were the main characters that he had found in narratives. And according to his theory, the hero and the villain had a struggle, the hero then defeats the villain and the villain has been over come. The problem is then solved.

Tzevetan Todorov created a theory that simplifies the ideas of a narrative theory, whilst also allowing a more complex interpretation. Trodorov thought that his theory applied to almost everything, whether it be a film, a book or plays. He proposed that the narrative must contain these 5 stages:
1)A state of equilibrium; all that should be.
2)A disruption by an event
3)A recognition that the disorder has developed
4)An attempt to fix the disorder
5)A return or restore of the equilibrium

Aristotle is a Greek philosopher who though that all narratives contained a beginning, a middle and an end.
An exposition- A scene which introduces the character
Development- the situation develops, and more characters are introduced
Complication- the situation is troublesome, creating complications in the characters lives
Climax- An event happens whether it being a fight scene or a near death experience.
Resolution- A solution is made, returning the characters lives back to normal.


The group narrative seems to be following Todorov's theory, because the victim is having a normal day, driving in her car, which shows a state of equilibrium, she then suddenly sees a shadow; a disruption to her everyday event.
She realises eventually something is not right so runs as an attempt to escape, which can be interpreted as an attempt to fix the disorder.