Vladimir Propp
Propp - analysed the basic components of Russian fairy tales in ‘The Morphology of the Folk Tale’. He claimed there were only 8 broad character types in all the stories he analysed. These are:
the villain;
the donor (gives the hero some magical object);
the (magical) helper who helps the hero in the quest;
the princess (person the hero marries OR a dream or desire which is sought after in the same way);
her father;
the dispatcher (who sends the hero off);
the hero/victim;
the false hero or usurper.
How can these characters been seen, broadly, in the genre of your film? Sometimes one character can play more than one role.
There are differences in the interpretation of Propp's heroic tales in different genres.
The villain is a major character in the horror genre as this genre is based around them – Dracula?
The donor can be a key character in any genre - in the latest Batman, who’s Batman without his Batmobile (or his butler Alfred) or Bond doesn’t get far without Q’s gadgets in some of the earlier Bond films.
The helper in the horror genre is often killed off separately which contributes to a general sense of fear on behalf of the audience whereas in the Western the hero often needs some help in their mission – who is the Lone Ranger without Tonto? Or in the comic book movie, where’s Batman without Robin…
The princess is often in horror seen not as a person but a reward. If characters are threatened by evil in the film then the reward is to stay alive. However in the action/adventure genre the princess is often a central character who needs rescuing (damsel in distress)?
The father of the princess is rarely seen in the horror genre yet often a major part of the Western.
The dispatcher tends in crime/gangster films to be a higher authority figures (a police captain) but in film noir is often a criminal boss sending the hero after the princess (femme fatale).
The hero/victim - all horror films rely on at least one of these sometimes the hero can also be interpreted as the victim (they encounter disturbing events during the storyline).
The false hero or usurper – very common in film noir as the genre tends to not be straightforward and false heroes often appear in narratives with twists.
Tzvetan Todorov suggested there were five stages to a narrative:
Equilibrium
A disruption of this equilibrium by an event
A realisation that a disruption has happened
An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
A restoration of the equilibrium which may be a new or changed one
This is a very basic film theory and can be applied to almost any movie.
It does not, however, cover all complex events.
