Vladimir Propp (Applied to AS Level opening sequence)

APPLYING PROPP

My AS film was a hybrid of a horror, thriller and post - apocalyptic. The plot of my film is that the world has fallen into a state of decay and it appears that our protagonist is the only human alive on earth. Our protagonist has a background of mystery and awakens in a prison jumpsuit having lost all knowledge of his former self and what has become of the world. Throughout the film the protagonist tries to find answers whilst trying to survive in the treacherous, disease ravaged, dystopian nightmare of which he has awoken to.

The film was told in a linear fashion with the opening sequence being used to set the mood/tone of the movie by inducing a sense of fear and vulnerability to the main character in order to create a larger character arc showing the audience how far the protagonist/ hero has progressed throughout the movie.

Propp suggests narrative is driven by eight characters such as the hero, the villain, the prize/princess etc.  In my film the hero is Mike and he is clearly shown as this by means of screen time and POV shots. This allows the audience to sympathise with him and fear for his safety. He is also shown to be athletic which is often a trait of heroes as he is shown sprinting away from the sinister being through the use of a long shot.

Similarly my opening sequence also introduces the villain which is done by means of soundtrack using a gradual increase in the volume of the music slowly increasing the tension and subliminally telling the audience who the villain is.  The villain was also established through the use of jump scares and fast paced editing when the protagonist was in danger as the unknown sinister creature pursued him.

 After analysing many of Russia’s folk tales Propp identified common themes and 31 common elements which form the structure of stories.  My film opening introduces the plot and as such it meets Propp’s delivery code.  It does this as the villain seeks and receives the information of the whereabouts of the hero and attempts to track down the protagonist.