narrative theory corrections

The product that I will be analyzing is a trailer made by last years students – Terror House. I believe the theme of the trailer is the loss of innocence, due to the transformation of the young girl. The trailer shows the change and its effects as well as what she looks like before as a way of comparison to show that it is a supernatural. The trailer shows Todorovs theory when applied to a horror trailer. It shows that the film would have a linear structure but only uses the area of disequilibrium in an out of order montage this is due to the fact that equilibrium and resolution are not shown in horror movie trailers or they show the ending.in their trailer the montage is spliced with one scene of the antagonist along with a rising not to create tension before a jump cut – to a jump scare. The disruption is shown to be the possession of a teenage girl. Todorovs theory is relevant as when we can see the linear structure we can then break it for the trailer using only pieces from disequilibrium to sell the film. Binary opposition is used in this trailer but complicates it as the binary opposition is in one person but from two entities due to the fact that the girl has been possessed . The main binary opposition however is good vs evil this is essential to the story as if there is no opposition then there is no conflict which we need to create to intrigue the audience and sell the product. This trailer has shown the difference effectively as the threat is clear. This is done by the props and costume being a contrast to one and each other I.e . non-possessed girl wearing her own clothes, but when she is possessed she is shown wearing a hospital smock. This is relevant to the narrative of the trailer as if there is no conflict then there can be no trailer which relies on it for its sequencing The trailer only uses two enigma codes – how was she possessed and what lead to it? , the trailer relies on using this in its format so that when watching the film, you get the audience interested. It also leaves these questions as if they had included it in the trailer would be a short story of the entire film (i.e. the trailer ‘don’t hang up’) this means that Barthes therefore still has relevance. You can also link this to Domailles 8 narrative theory as ‘Orpheus’ this is because the girl loses her free will as well as her body, therefore losing something personal to her. This is not relevant to the trailer as the possession is the main focal point instead of the girls dilemma. The only characters that can be applied to propps archetypes are the victim and the villain. The villain is shown to have whited out eyes and a hospital style smoke with an open slit back. the are also shown in the hallway scene and the end jump-scare that shows the they are the antagonist of villain. The victim however is show to be wearing everyday clothes and is referred to verbally by name to which she responds to. I believe that this trailer is not following the architypes so that it is less of a fairy tale / story. However even though most horrors are shown as morality tales for teenagers this trailer gives no reason for punishment or a cause of the possession and therefore cannot be connected to prop. The reason this trailer works is as the archetypes are not needed to push the plot forward or the disequilibrium. The trailer is however still not realistic as the point of horror is made from fiction and mo0t realism but the audience watches since they show conflict.