Media studies

Pixx Productions
Mehak Hussain

Narrative Structure
Equilibrium: Blair is home alone and is focused on making preparations for
the evening she had planned with her boyfriend. She lights candles to create
a more romantic atmosphere and text her boyfriend to say she cant wait to
see him.
Disequilibrium: as Blair goes to switch the TV on to put on a movie, a young
girl with hair covering her face appeared behind Blair. Later Blair begins to
hear whispers coming from outside the living room. She follows the noises
and again the young girl is shown standing behind Blair but this time she was
standing a little closer than before. As she walks toward the basement, the
door (of the basement) slides open a little, Curious Blair walks into the
basement where she is locked and discovers she is not alone down there.
Todorovs theory suggests that there are different stages that are spread
throughout a movie. It focuses on the flow of a narrative for a full movie; how it
starts and leads up to the end. However our opening sequence would only
consist of the first two stages that make up Todorovs Narrative Theory;
equilibrium and disequilibrium. The other three would not be included as this
is only the opening sequence, therefore revealing too much of the story in the
first two minutes of a movie would wreck the purpose of an opening
sequence.
Looking at Roland Barthes Codes Theory which looks at five different codes
that would apply to any movie narrative. The code that would apply to our
narrative would be the Enigma Code. This code illustrates how a narrative
builds up tension for the audience but then leaves them wondering what might
happen next. This would closely relate to our narrative as tension is clearly
built up when the antagonist is shown standing behind the protagonist without
her knowledge in two different cases through our opening sequence narrative.
Then finally at the very end the protagonist and antagonist come face-to-face
with one another and the audience is left to think or guess what might happen
next, like a cliff-hanger.