Group narrative and narrative theory- Miss Georgiou

GROUP NARRATIVE

The purpose of a narrative is a story that is constructed in different media formats such as text, pictures, writing, speech. To create a group narrative we all shared our individual ideas for a narrative post. We discussed the advantages and aspects that we liked from each one. We decided that we wanted a new idea that hadn't been done before. This included a unique narrative and characters.We need to use conventional thriller techniques but we didn't want a typical story line for example, a house in the middle of the woods as that has been made many times before. After this, we put all the ideas together to create an idea that we liked and that was original.

Group member one, Lily:
Can be read here
Narrative idea: A burns victim who was bullied as a child. He spends years of his life plotting revenge, and years later he kills his victims in ways that effected him for example, burning them. The opening sequence would contain images from his childhood such as toys and the theme of clowns.
The idea is original as the character is unique, however, films such as this one have been done before such as Saw and Orphan. Also, the film contains a masked killer, adding suspense into the opening, which is a positive point. Although some of the opening frames such as filming music boxes and toys would be easy to film, filming the theme of fire that runs through the narrative would be difficult to do, especially as the killer sets fire to houses. Fundamentally, finding a large number of people to act in the opening, playing characters such as the little boy and the killer's family would prove difficult.

Group member two, Amber:
Can be read here
Narrative idea: Amber's narrative is about a woman's husband leaves her. She becomes extremely angry and lashes out on her family and friends. She decided to kill him for all he has put her through. The opening sequence will contain the wife killing all the wedding guests and husband's family with the use of low key lighted flashbacks.
Overall, Amber's idea is original and interesting as the plot is unique and the characters are different and unique, also. However, the killer acts as a victim which may confuse the audience as apposed to engaging them. The idea is easy to create as the opening is conventionally set in alley ways and dark rooms however, the narrative may not be completely clear in the opening, further confusing the audience.

Group member three, Jazz:
Can be read here
Narrative idea: Jazz's idea contains a mad scientist who builds an obsession for insects and used them to kill different victims. The scientist has a negative mental state. The opening sequence will contain low key lighting, and different insects can be seen crawling over the dead bodies of the victims, however their faces will be hidden.
This idea is very unique, this includes the narrative and a unique killer however, the storyline is un-realistic therefore, the audience may not engage with the narrative. This idea also includes conventional elements such as blonde victims however, the opening sequence will be difficult to film in a short amount of time.

Within our group we decided that Amber's was the strongest idea however, we will change the narrative a little to fit more of the whole group's ideas. Our idea includes a couple that are about to be married but the man runs away on the wedding day and starts new life. The "bride" doesn't deal with this situation well and her mental state deterarates. She decides to blame all the guests and his family and sets out to murder them. Her identity is unknown to them as she wears a veil and wedding dress. This links back to my original idea which we incorporated. The audience and the bride herself are unaware if she is going to kill her "groom." Furthermore, adding elements of shock and suspense.
Overall, we came up with this final idea from incorporating all different points that the group had in their individual narrative. Also, we discussed are inspirations such Scream containing a masked killer, Orphan having an unsuspecting killer and unique plot and Prom Night as the event is meant to be a positive one, this creates a false sense of hope, leaving the audience feeling tense.

The opening contains the bride sat in her wedding dress and veil in a dark setting (either a dark basement/shrine to the wedding or the location where her "honeymoon" was going to be). This frame will include low key lighting, which is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates a eerie and tense atmosphere and portrays the bride's negative emotions. She is flicking through the wedding album (this is where we were going to include credits) and is crossing off all of the faces with a knife or sharp object (the audience is unaware why but mostly guesses that she has killed these people, further creating suspense) she has flash backs of killing each person she crosses off and flashback of her wedding to highlight her mental state. We will use hand held camera work to do this, to make the audience feel includes and the frames seem shaky and uneven. Through the opening, different sounds would be used for example church bells and the vicar saying wedding vows would be played to create an eerie atmosphere also, contrapuntal sound would be used as a song would play in the background, confusing the audience and shows the bride's deteriorating mental state.

NARRATIVE THEORY
In this post, I will be discussing the three different theories that are argued to create a positive narrative.

Vladimir Propp:
Propp analysed many different fairyctales and split them up into sections to identify different sequences. From completing the research, Propp identified that there are seven main characters that can appear within other media works.
1) A villain who stands against the hero.
2) The donor who prepares the hero.
3) The hero who reacts to the donor and marries the princess.
4) The princess who, because of the villain, is difficult to marry. In the end, the hero typically marries the princess and triumphs against evil.
5) The false hero who takes credit for the hero's successes.
6) The dispatcher who sends the hero off.
7) The helper helps the hero in their quest.

Erving Goffman:
Goffman suggests that there are four main characters within his theory that are used in many different narratives.
1) The protagonist who is the main and leading character within the narrative.
2) The deuteragonist is the second most important character within the sequence.
3) A bit player who is a character of less importance.
4 A fool who is the less serious and uses jokes and other humorous elements to communicate.

Tzvetan Todorov:
Todorov believed that within all narrative contained five stages:
1) A state of equilibrium which means 'all is well' and everything is as it should be.
2) A disruption that effects the first event.
3) A recognition of the disruption.
4) An attempt to repair the disruption.
5) A restoration/return of equilibrium.

The narrative theory that relates to our narrative the best is Erving Goffman's theory. This is because the narrative contains a protagonist which is the killer/bride, who appears throughout. A deuteragonist is also included, who is the main victim/groom who is the main target. The bit player (players in this case) are the grooms friends, and the fool is the bridesmaid who soon gets close to the main victim/groom and they become a couple. This theory fits to our narrative the most as Todorov's theory is popularly used however, would not fit our narrative as there is not a restoration as the end or an attempt to repair the disruption. Following from this, our narrative does not fit Propp's theory as that certain theory is used within fairy tales.