Narrative Structure.

There are two theories about the general structure and content of films, devised by these men;

Vladimir Propp -

was a Russian and Soviet formalist scholar who analyzed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irreducible narrative elements.

Propp's theory which was developed in 1938, suggests that the narrative structure of a film is as follows;

1. Preparation
2. Complication
3. Transferance
4. Struggle
5. Return
6. Recognition

He also has a typical character list which is as follows;

• the villain, who struggles with the hero
• the donor, who prepares and/or provides hero with magical agent
• the helper, who assists, rescues, solves and/or transfigures the hero
• the Princess, a sought-for person (and/or her father), who exists as a goal and often recognizes and marries hero and/or punishes villain
• the dispatcher, who sends the hero off
• the hero, who departs on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to the donor and weds at end
• the false hero (or antihero or usurper), who claims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like a real hero (ie by trying to marry the princess)

Tzvetan Todorov -

is a Franco-Bulgarian philosopher. He has lived in France since 1963 writing books and essays about literary theory, thought history and culture theory.

Todorovs theory, which was developed in 1954, suggests that the narrative structure of a film is as follows;

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption
3. Recognition of disruption
4. Attempt to repair disruption
5. A return or restoration of new equlibrium.