NARRATIVE THEORY APPLIED ORIGIN

The short film that we created for our AS level Media Studies coursework is called Origin. 

The film opens with scenery shots and an eerie shot of a hand in the water. The genre, drama/horror, is established immediately. As we meet Meabh, the genre is further established. The setting is an important piece of information to show that a film is a drama. Usually they are set in real life, relatable locations, such as Bloody Bridge in Newcastle, Co. Down. For the Northern Irish viewers this is relatable and a sense of inclusion is formed already. At the heart of a drama is conflict. This is only an opening for a film so we aren't aware of what exactly the conflict is but we can see that Meabh has been subject to mistreatment by someone/some people by the dark bruising on her arms and face. Dramas are usually interlaced with other genres too, in this case a historical horror. 

Time is something that we tried to portray throughout with the use of interchanging positions of shots. By the time Meabh goes to move, she is drier than she was and this is something that we tried to use to show the passing of time. Had we continued with the film instead of making an opening, we would have incorporated flash backs to give context however in this opening sequence we decided not to. With a 360 degree shot, completely encircling Meabh at one point, we tried to show the passing of time along with the anguish that she feels as she herself has flashbacks which we are only aware of because of the noises we overlayed. 

Barthe's idea of media texts being string that can be unravelled in different ways is applicable to this piece as well. This is an open text, it can be interpreted in many different ways. As the producer, I wanted the idea to be that Meabh had been drowned and was waking up many years later and her confusion to show this. We researched witch trials from the 1700's in Ireland and wanted this to be suggested throughout. However, someone else could potentially watch it and not take it to be that Meabh was awakening after 300 years. They could see her as a lost child, or an escaped prisoner. It is in this way that the text is open. 

Todorov's theory of equilibrium is applicable to this piece. In the beginning we are shown a calm day in Newcastle, with various shots of the water and scenery surrounding. The equilibrium is disrupted and changed to disequilibrium when Meabh bursts out of the water.  This disequilibrium is extended until the very end with the slow shot of the house. The assumption there is that Meabh is familiar with her surroundings but is confused. 

Another theory that is applicable is Claude Levi Strauss's idea of binary opposites. In this short, the obvious binary opposites are past and present. Meabh is suddenly awake in the present but she is completely absorbed in the past. She's confused and is trying to tell past from present.

The fabula of the film is Meabh's terror and anguish when trying to understand where she is and how she got there but the syuzhet is Meabh running to the location and the flashbacks incorporated. 

Freytag's Pyramid is applicable to this film. The exposition, which sets the scene, is the scenery shots, showing the location. The inciting incident, which puts everything else into motion, is Meabh emerging from the water. Next is the rising action, where Meabh is crawling across the rocks, trying to get her bearings. The climax is the next part of Freytag's pyramid. This is when Meabh reaches her house. The 360 degree shot is the most climactic and shows Meabh's utter confusion. The falling action is when Meabh is getting flashbacks, she is remembering things. Lastly, the denouement is the last shot of the house. It's difficult to apply the pyramid to the opening of a film because the end is not really the end. 

In short, narrative is the most important part of film. It helps us to understand what is going on. This open text has many thoeries that are applicable to it including Strauss's binary opposite theory, Todorov's equilibrium theory and Barthe's theory. 

NARRATIVE THEORY APPLIED

THIS TABLE by Zach Wechter 

This short film details a 'semi woke hipster' describing his anxious friend's existential crisis and the universe's exceptional response to it. 

Just as in all media texts, the film makers have adhered to different rules to make the film easy for us to understand without concentrating too much. These include genre, character, time and form. This is a comedy and the conventions that were adhered to in the making of this were:

• Setting - as in most comedies this is set in a bright, social situation. 
• Camera work - The shots are natural looking and the characters are shown in an equal way. 
• Sound - the  diegetic sound such as dialogue is very important in this, to help the audience understand what is happening. 
• Lighting - just as with setting, the lighting is bright and encourages a bright atmosphere.

Time is a convention too. Narratives don't take place in real time, they telescope out and can be shown in various ways. 

• flashbacks
• dream sequences
• repetition
• different characters' POV
• flash forwards
• real time interludes
• pre-figuring of events that have not yet taken place.

In this short, time is shown to be passing with flashbacks (showing Jack's experiences) and shots of different characters points of view.

Primarily, the story is told from Zach's point of view.

However, to show time passing and different events taking place,
some of the shots are from Jack's point of view.

The shots from the point of view of Jack are told by Zach but described from his POV. 

One way to look at media texts is to see the text as a tangled ball of string that needs untangled to separate the string. Because string can be untangled in many ways, there are lots of ways to look at media texts and come at it from different angles. Texts are either open or closed - they're either easy to unravel from many different angles or else only available to unravel from one angle. This text is closed in my opinion. There is really only one way to look at it, and that is Jack's odd way of dealing with his anxiety and the bad luck that came with it, eventually resulting in peace of mind for him.

Something I noticed about this short is the relevance of Claus Levi Strauss's theory of binary opposites. Beside each other are Zach and Jack, one very relaxed and the other clearly very anxious. Their contrasting characters are interesting and even their appearances are very different.
The film maker has made use of the binary opposite theory with the contrast of dark and light in the scenes of Zach telling his friend about Jack, and Jack visiting his grandmother. The visit ends with her death and immediately the viewer is led to believe that something bad is going to happen with very subtle uses of narrative. For example, the lighting is darker, the characters are wearing darked colours, the temperature is suggested to be lower than it was in the previous shot due to the roaring fire and heavy knitted clothing.

Todorov's theory of equilibrium is one that is prominent in this short film. The film opens with a relaxed scene outside a coffee shop and a conversation between two friends, however disequilibrium is established throughout with Zach detailing Jack's misfortune. Eventually there is a new equilibrium established when Jack's problems are solved and he announces his peace of mind.

Also applicable to the way in which events unfold in this film is Freytag's Pyramid. First, is the exposition which sets the scene. The character, Jack, Zach and Zach's friend, are introduced. The location, the coffee shop, is set. The description and background is set. Zach explains that he is about to tell Jack's experiences. Second, the inciting incident. This incident puts everything into motion. In this case, it's Jack approaching Zach. This is the beginning of Zach's story.

Jack approaching Zach in inciting incident

Next, is the rising action. In this case it is when Jack goes to visit his grandmother which results in the next part of Fregtag's pyramid - the climax. Jack's grandmother dies at this part, Jack shoots his own arm, and then gets killed by a lumberjack.
Next is the falling action, which indicates that the film is nearly over. In this, the falling action is Zach describing how he is dealing with the loss of Jack. Finally, the denouement. This is the end and all questions are answered.

The terms Fabula and syuzhet are applicable to this short as well. The fabula, referring to the chronological order in which events took place, is Jack's struggles with his anxiety and how he deals with them. The syuzhet, however, is how the story is told thought and this is by flashbacks to different parts of Jack's story.

In short, the short film, just as with any other film, has many features in which different narrative theories are applicable. These include Todorov's theory, Freytag's Pyramid and Strauss's binary opposite theory.  These theories are integral to the narrative of the film, to create an easy to follow story.