Narrative Structure

The hobbit: an unexpected journey

Todorov - Erebor, home of the dwarves is a peaceful calm place in the beginning, where the dwarves mine for gold until one day they find the arkin stone which eventually drives the dwarven king. To make things worse along comes Smaug, a fire drake from the north, which destroys the city of dale and takes over the kingdom of Erebor, causing the dwarves to flee. In turn they decide to try and take back what’s theirs but need a thief so turn to Bilbo Baggins.

Propp - The hero in this film is Bilbo Baggins because he is going out of his way to help the dwarves get back their home.  The villain is Smaug as he is the one who causes the problem. The donor of the film is Gandalf as he often helps Bilbo Baggins when he is in trouble, he also helps the dwarves on their journey. Golumn is the false hero as he says that he is going to help Bilbo out of the cave but is intending to kill him.

Strauss - In the beginning of the film the narrator talks about how happy and peaceful everyone was, this changes quickly when smaug starts destroying dale. People are now upset and distressed, these two emotions are binary opposites.

Star wars: a new hope

Todorov – Luke lives happily with his auntie and uncle and one day they buy two droids which need to deliver a message to obi wan-kenobi meaning Luke has to go out of his comfort zone. On his journey he runs into some trouble and returns home to find his auntie and uncle dead

Propp –The hero is Luke Skywalker as he is helping Leia get back to safety. The villain is Darth Vader as he is keeping Leia on the death star. The donor is Obi Wan Kenobi as he helps Luke with everything. The false hero is Anakin Skywalker as he initially is good until he turns to the dark side.

Levi strauss – Obi Wan Kenobi is good and is protecting Luke, Han solo and Leia while he is going against Darth Vader who is trying to stop them from leaving the death star, this results in Obi Wan’s Death. 

Harry Potter

Todorov- Harry lives a normal life with his parents in the muggle world, one day Voldemort comes and kills his parents and tries to kill him too. Throughout all 8 films there is always a villain trying to do something e.g. Steal the philosophers stone or try and take over Hogwarts, Harry is always the one to go against the villains and be the hero.

Propp- Harry is the hero as he always saves the day and stops the villain. Voldemort is the villain as he tries to kill people and takes over the wizarding world. Dumbledore is the wise guide as he teaches Harry and helps him overcome his difficulties. Ron and Hermione are the helpers as they help Harry to stop all of the villains.

Strauss- Harry is the hero throughout the 8 films and Voldemort is the villain throughout the 8 films. At the start of the film series the Harry Potter films are quite joyful and then gradually get darker. This is shown through the opening of the Warner bros logo.

From this task i have learnt that  most movie opening sequences  use Todorov, Propp and Strauss and the genre of the film doesn't affect the narrative structure. In our opening sequence we will need to use prop and Todorov, however the opening sequence wouldn't be long enough to Strauss.