The Traditional Representation of Women

The Cabin in the Woods Questions

Narrative Theory in Relation to Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) and The Crazies (Eisner, 2010)

What is meant by the term Classic Hollywood Narrative?

The CHN is based on Todorov's ideas - it's when an equilibrium is set up which is then disrupted, which then causes a disequilibrium and is then resolved into a new equilibrium by the end of the film/story. It designates both narrative and visual style of film making - which developed in American cinemas between 1917 and 1960.

Which theorist did we look at for this theory?

Tzvetan Todorov.

How useful do you think looking at CHN is for understanding media texts?

I think when watching a film for the first time without thinking about the Classic Hollywood Narrative would just seem like a normal film and you would only understand some of it. Whereas taking the CHN into consideration it gives you a much more better understanding of the film and the whole story. 

Do Halloween and The Crazies follow the CHN  & why?

Halloween and The Crazies do not follow the CHN. When the film 'The Crazies' starts it doesn't follow the Classic Hollywood Narrative because it starts with the fire and then 2 days earlier - after that the film then starts to follow the CHN when it's all back to 'normal'. In Halloween the film starts off as a POV through Michael Myers eyes about to kill his sister which isn't normal so I think it doesn't follow the CHN. The film then skips 15 years ahead and starts to follow the Classic Hollywood Narrative all the way through until the end.

What are Propps different Character types and why did he decide on the list?

Vladimir Propp examined 100s of examples of folk tales to see if they shared any structures. When looking at 100s of folks talked he identified 8 different character roles and 31 narrative functions. Props Character types:

• The Villain - the baddie
• The Hero - our main protagonist and victor
• The Donor - who provides an object with some magic property
• The Helper - who aids the hero
• The Princess - a reward for the hero and object of the villain's schemes
• Her Father - who rewards the hero
• The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on his way
• The False Hero - the double agent who hinders the hero rather than helping him

Which characters are evident in Halloween and The Crazies?

The Crazies characters:

• The Villian - virus/military/FBI agent
  
• The Helper - Judy/Russel
• The Hero - David/Judy
• The False Hero - Russel
• Princess - David/Judy

Halloween characters:

• The Villian - Michael
• The hero - Laurie
• The Helpers - Dr Sam Loomis/Sheriff

What are Binary Opposites?

Claude Levi-Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions. Binary opposites are sets of opposite values which refer to the structure of the media texts. For example one set of binary oppositions would be good/evil or another would be normal/strange. 

Which theorist looked at binary oppositions?

Claude Levi-Strauss

How useful do you think binary oppositions are for understanding the media texts?

When watching film and you pick out some of the sets it definitely gives the audience and myself a better understanding of the film and a deeper meaning of the background story and the film as a whole. 

List 5 examples of binary opposites in Halloween

1. Hero/villain
2. Past/Present
3. Day/Night
4. Safety/Danger
5. Virginal/Sexual

Find and Quote Bordwell & Thompson and what it means

'a chain in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space'. this means that things can still happen during the films even if it isn't the scene we were watching, something else would be going on as well as what or who you are watching. It can all happen in the same time and space causing other things to happen during the films.

List 2 events in the film that cause another events to happen 

1. When Judy gets pregnant which then causes her to have a high temperature, which then makes the military people to think she has caught the air born virus.
2. When the plane crashed with the bomb causing the whole town to have contaminated water.

List 2 events in the film that we know happened but didn't see

1. When everyone in the 'safe zone' took down the wired fencing and later on we see Russel when he was meant to be in there with David.
2. In Halloween we know that Michael was took to a mental institute but we never see him arrive. 

The Crazies Questions