according to the website filmmakermagazine.com
film trailers should follow a three-act structure; Act one will introduce the films' characters and environment meaning that we gain an understanding of the protagonist and their surroundings, so we gain an insight in to their character's personality and the type of life they live
Act two should have an element of complication or distruption to the protagonist's life which outlines the plot and something that the protagonist has to overcome. Act three intensifies the conflict and emphasise tension/excitement/humour
Tvetan Todorov
A Franco-Bulgarian philosopher claimed all stories had a basic structure based on an equilibrium, meaning a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced. He came up with the term 'narratology' which means to look at units of meaning in a text.
So a traditional/Hollywood narrative would go as followed;
-Equilibrium (sense of order/calm)
-A disruption of this equilibrium by an
event-A realisation that a disruption has happened
-An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
-A restoration of the equilibrium which may be a new or changed one.
The narrative is created through attempts to restore the euquilibrium, most films end with an equilibrium if they are following the traditional hollywood film structure, although the ending equilibrium will not be the same as the previous equilibrium because the chain of events in the film have distrupted the original equilibrium.
Rolan Barthes
A French critic who identified '5 codes of narrative'
A French critic who identified '5 codes of narrative'
Hermeneutic/Enigma code-a
mystery within a text where clues are given but there is no clear
answer which Poses questions or enigmas which provide narrative suspense
which makes the audience want to know more Unravelling of these codes
and thinking about these questions posed by events provide viewing
pleasure. So it is important for the narratives of films to be able to
follow an engaging storyline that the audience can follow so they are
asking themselves questions about the enigmatic mystery, the film
essentially should frustrate the audience because they want to know what
is going to happen.
Proairetic/action code-this element should add suspense to the text, it should involve the important areas of action.
Semantic code-The areas that provide different or separate meanings, there should be an extra layer of meaning. This is a useful element to have in film trailers because it suggests that there is a hidden meaning to something within the text, which makes the audience want to know more.
Symbolic code-This is about the symbolism within the film, use of stereotypes and different types of characters or groups of people contrasting with each other can create drama and tension or provide the foundations for the storyline of a film.
Referential code-This element refers to anything within the film that refers to anything external to the film itself such as scientific and historical knowledge.
Proairetic/action code-this element should add suspense to the text, it should involve the important areas of action.
Semantic code-The areas that provide different or separate meanings, there should be an extra layer of meaning. This is a useful element to have in film trailers because it suggests that there is a hidden meaning to something within the text, which makes the audience want to know more.
Symbolic code-This is about the symbolism within the film, use of stereotypes and different types of characters or groups of people contrasting with each other can create drama and tension or provide the foundations for the storyline of a film.
Referential code-This element refers to anything within the film that refers to anything external to the film itself such as scientific and historical knowledge.
Claude Levi-Strauss
Argued meaning in narratives based on binary opposites, he was less interested in the arrangement (syntagmatic) of the narrative than the deeper meaning (paradigmatic) of themes.
Binary oppositions-opposite values that reveal the structure of media texts, they are based upon tension and conflict between two contrasting types of characters.
Definitions of narrative
Narrative: The story - what happens or what is depicted, this refers to actions, events and characters.
Narration: How the story is told, how the information is presented to viewers, for example visual style and point of view the story is told from.
Restricted narration – when we see an event through the viewpoint of only one person. This can add surprise as we only discover events alongside them
Omniscient narration – when we see events from multiple viewpoints. This can add suspense as we are privy to information other characters are not
Key learning points
So it is clear from doing this research in to the narrative structure of films and film trailers that there are multiple generic elements that many films follow in their representation of their storyline, there should be a number of elements that film trailers must include to enable them to be able to incorporate an engaging storyline; the theorists that I have looked at have provided the elements that should be included in a film such as the aspects that create an effective narrative such as conflict, equilibriums/disequilibriums/new equilibriums, establishing mysteries and questions and create tension and drama through binary opposites.
Argued meaning in narratives based on binary opposites, he was less interested in the arrangement (syntagmatic) of the narrative than the deeper meaning (paradigmatic) of themes.
Binary oppositions-opposite values that reveal the structure of media texts, they are based upon tension and conflict between two contrasting types of characters.
Definitions of narrative
Narrative: The story - what happens or what is depicted, this refers to actions, events and characters.
Narration: How the story is told, how the information is presented to viewers, for example visual style and point of view the story is told from.
Restricted narration – when we see an event through the viewpoint of only one person. This can add surprise as we only discover events alongside them
Omniscient narration – when we see events from multiple viewpoints. This can add suspense as we are privy to information other characters are not
Key learning points
So it is clear from doing this research in to the narrative structure of films and film trailers that there are multiple generic elements that many films follow in their representation of their storyline, there should be a number of elements that film trailers must include to enable them to be able to incorporate an engaging storyline; the theorists that I have looked at have provided the elements that should be included in a film such as the aspects that create an effective narrative such as conflict, equilibriums/disequilibriums/new equilibriums, establishing mysteries and questions and create tension and drama through binary opposites.
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