Narrative theory within 'The Crazies' and 'Halloween'
The term Classic Hollywood Narrative is a theory by Todorov which suggests that every story has 3 stages, an initial equilibrium where all is well, a stage of disequilibrium where something goes wrong, and a new equilibrium at the end where the thing that caused the disequilibrium is resolved.
The idea of a Classic Hollywood Narrative is useful when looking at media texts as it can be applied to most films, and it gives us an idea on what to expect. You can tell that if a film or story doesn't begin with an equilibrium, it is common for it to go on not following the CHN. Although this is also a bad point, as many people dislike horror films as they are predictable, So when a film follows the CHN it could minimize its audience. Halloween doesn't follow the CHN for several reasons. To start, the beginning scene is a flash back involving the antagonist, Michael, murdering his sister. So the initial equilibrium that would've been expected, is disrupted. Although after this, there is a stage of equilibrium, for the characters, not the audience. Thanks to the use of unrestricted narration, Laurie and the other eventual victims do not know that Michael has escaped, or that they are his target. The scenes later on where Laurie, and her friends, are fighting for their lives, and some eventually killed, could be the disequilibrium in the middle. This does fit with the conventions of the CHN that we would expect. At the end of the film, Dr Loomis shoots Michael six times, and he then falls from a balcony. This gives us a false equilibrium, as we think he is dead, but when they look over the balcony, his body is gone, meaning that he could attack again, disrupting the equilibrium that would be expected if Halloween had followed the Classic Hollywood Narrative.'The Crazies' is similar to 'Halloween' in the fact it doesn't follow a Classic Hollywood Narrative as you would expect. All is well in the beginning (the equilibrium), but the disequilibrium soon becomes
Propp's 8 character types are:
He came up with this list of character types (as well as 31 narrative functions) that can be applied to all kinds of narrative, by examining 100s of examples of folk tales to see if they shared any structures. He then published a book on this called 'Morphology Of The Folk Tale' in 1928.I think the various character types are useful, specifically when looking at horror films, as you know the conventions for each character. For example you can easily identify the hero, so you know it is very likely that they will survive the end of the film, unlike some of the others. Although this can be useful as so there is some nasty surprises, similarly to CHN, some people do not like horror films because they are predictable, and the character types can add to this issue. The most obvious character type evident in Halloween is the hero, portrayed by Laurie. She has the most screen time than any other character throughout the film, and the story is focused around her. Correctly we can assume that she survives the film, without seeing the ending, as she is the hero and main protagonist. The Villain is also obvious in Halloween, being Michael Myers, the psychopath who escaped from his mental hospital and chooses Laurie as his victim. It is most obvious that he is the villain purely due tot he fact he is the only character in the story that could be seen as doing evil things. Tommy and Lindsay could be seen as the helpers of the film, as at the end they are the people that run out of the house to get help while Laurie is being attacked, alerting Dr Loomis of Michaels presence. Dr Loomis could also be seen as a helper, as he is the person who helps Laurie survive, as he shoots Michael 5 times in the chest and once in the head (although this didn't kill him, it did save Laurie from being murdered there and then).
Although they are never seen in the film, Tommy's parents could take on the donor role. The first time Michael enters the Doyle household, Laurie saves herself with a knitting needle, presumably property of Tommy's mother, therefore a crucial item was given to Laurie by her.
- The Villain - the antagonist or baddie
- The Hero - the main protagonist and victor
- The Donor - who provides the hero with some magical object
- The Helper - who aids the hero
- The Princess - The heroes reward
- Her father - who rewards the hero
- The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on his way
- The False Hero - the double agent who hinders the hero
He came up with this list of character types (as well as 31 narrative functions) that can be applied to all kinds of narrative, by examining 100s of examples of folk tales to see if they shared any structures. He then published a book on this called 'Morphology Of The Folk Tale' in 1928.I think the various character types are useful, specifically when looking at horror films, as you know the conventions for each character. For example you can easily identify the hero, so you know it is very likely that they will survive the end of the film, unlike some of the others. Although this can be useful as so there is some nasty surprises, similarly to CHN, some people do not like horror films because they are predictable, and the character types can add to this issue. The most obvious character type evident in Halloween is the hero, portrayed by Laurie. She has the most screen time than any other character throughout the film, and the story is focused around her. Correctly we can assume that she survives the film, without seeing the ending, as she is the hero and main protagonist. The Villain is also obvious in Halloween, being Michael Myers, the psychopath who escaped from his mental hospital and chooses Laurie as his victim. It is most obvious that he is the villain purely due tot he fact he is the only character in the story that could be seen as doing evil things. Tommy and Lindsay could be seen as the helpers of the film, as at the end they are the people that run out of the house to get help while Laurie is being attacked, alerting Dr Loomis of Michaels presence. Dr Loomis could also be seen as a helper, as he is the person who helps Laurie survive, as he shoots Michael 5 times in the chest and once in the head (although this didn't kill him, it did save Laurie from being murdered there and then).
Although they are never seen in the film, Tommy's parents could take on the donor role. The first time Michael enters the Doyle household, Laurie saves herself with a knitting needle, presumably property of Tommy's mother, therefore a crucial item was given to Laurie by her.
Laurie's friends, Linda and Annie, could take on the role of the false hero. Although they seem to be on Laurie's side (which they are), they hinder her by putting their own needs (and wanting to have sex with their boyfriends) before Lauries. Meaning that Laurie ended up babysitting Lindsay as well as Tommy. This extra child in the equation could've hindered Laurie as she had more responsibility.
'The Crazies' also has some very apparent forms of these character roles in David and Judy. It is obvious that David represents 'the hero' but in some aspects so does Judy. They both have lots of screen time and survive the film. The duo often switch roles between the hero and the helper, depending on the scene of the film, often helping each other escape the crazies. Judy could also be recognised as portraying the roles of both the princess, and her father. The reward for David, the main hero, is the safety for his wife and unborn child, but the fact that Judy is carrying said child, means that she is also giving David the reward. As well as David and Judy alternating the helper role, Russell can also be included in this character type. Throughout the film he is helping the couple attempt to flee Ogden Marsh, and he eventually helps them with the biggest sacrifice he could (He uses himself as a distraction for the military as so the couple can sneak past, leading to his death). The villains are most obviously, those infected with Trixie, as they are outright trying to kill David and Judy. The military/Government could also take on the villain role, as they are trying to wipe out the city (including the couple) in an attempt to stop the disease spreading, with no regard to human life or those that were not infected.
The term 'binary oppositions' is meant by sets of opposite values which reveal the structure in media texts. This part of narrative structure was looked at by Levi Strauss (Not to be mistaken for the Levi Strauss, founder of Levi Jeans). For example, GOOD and EVIL is a set of binary oppositions. We understand the concept of GOOD being the binary opposite of EVIL, and in film, when one is used, the other is highlighter further. For example, in Halloween, Laurie is shown to be very pure, studious and good. This dramatic difference between the goodness of Laurie and the Evil within Michael makes it all the more shocking.
Some other binary oppositions that could be applied to Halloween are 'Known and Unknown' (The audience and Dr Loomis know that Michael is on the loose, but Laurie does not). Normal and Strange can also be applied in Halloween. Laurie, Annie and Lynda (and the boyfriends Bob and Paul) are shown to be 'Normal' teenagers, which shows just how abnormal and strange Michael is in comparison (If running around murdering people wasn't strange enough). Past and Present can also be used for this film, as the beginning scene is a flashback of Halloween night 15 years ago, the night that Michael murdered his sister, Judith. This is relevant as the date of Halloween (31st of October) is what triggers Michael to escape and go on a murdering spree in the year that the film was set. Finally, the set of binary oppositions; Earth and Space could be applied here. Although everyone starts out as human beings, there are hints throughout the film that Michael is perhaps somewhat supernatural. Things like how he was stabbed with a knitting needle, and a knife, and then shot 6 times and still survived. No normal human could survive that.
'The Crazies' shares a lot of the same binary oppositions as 'Halloween', which is not surprising as they are both films of the same genre. Good and Evil is represented by David and Laurie (the good) and the crazies, and the government as the evil. The moment for debate here is who represents the evil, as the people infected with the disease are not knowingly doing bad things, its the Trixie making them do it, whereas the military knows fully well what they are doing and that they could be destroying human life of those who are uninfected, so they are more consciously evil than the crazies. Another set of binary oppositions that could be applied here is Human and non human, similarly to 'Halloween'. There are the people who are uninfected such as David, Judy and Becca, and those who are infected, where the infection makes them do things and act in a non human way, this idea could also be used to apply the oppositions of 'normal and abnormal' to 'The Crazies'.
I think that looking at binary oppositions is somewhat helpful when looking at media texts, but may also put some people off. As previously talked about, it is not uncommon for people to not like horror films due to how predictable they are, so if they start watching a film and there is an obvious portrayal of good (E.g. Laurie) they will be able to tell that there is someone who represents evil in the film too. Also many horror films have similar sets of binary oppositions to Halloween that can be applied to them.
Bordwell and Thompson defined narrative as 'a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space' in their book 'Film Art: An Introduction', meaning that narrative uses technical techniques to manipulate our awareness of time and space e.g. flashbacks, replays of action, slow motion and jumping between places and times. When we are watching a film we try to connect the events together to make sense of the story. This means that we automatically assume things that we haven't explicitly seen. For example, if we are shown a picture of a baby, and then a picture of a 10 year old boy in a similar setting, we assume that this is the same person in both scenes. We do this in the real world too, for example, if we feel sick we will look for a solution in what we earlier ate.
This idea helps us when looking at media, especially film, as it allows us to understand why films are edited and cut in certain ways, leaving bits out. This is also helpful for when we make our own pieces of media as we understand that we don't have to give the audience every explicit detail, as they will figure it out themselves.
'The Crazies' also has some very apparent forms of these character roles in David and Judy. It is obvious that David represents 'the hero' but in some aspects so does Judy. They both have lots of screen time and survive the film. The duo often switch roles between the hero and the helper, depending on the scene of the film, often helping each other escape the crazies. Judy could also be recognised as portraying the roles of both the princess, and her father. The reward for David, the main hero, is the safety for his wife and unborn child, but the fact that Judy is carrying said child, means that she is also giving David the reward. As well as David and Judy alternating the helper role, Russell can also be included in this character type. Throughout the film he is helping the couple attempt to flee Ogden Marsh, and he eventually helps them with the biggest sacrifice he could (He uses himself as a distraction for the military as so the couple can sneak past, leading to his death). The villains are most obviously, those infected with Trixie, as they are outright trying to kill David and Judy. The military/Government could also take on the villain role, as they are trying to wipe out the city (including the couple) in an attempt to stop the disease spreading, with no regard to human life or those that were not infected.
Some other binary oppositions that could be applied to Halloween are 'Known and Unknown' (The audience and Dr Loomis know that Michael is on the loose, but Laurie does not). Normal and Strange can also be applied in Halloween. Laurie, Annie and Lynda (and the boyfriends Bob and Paul) are shown to be 'Normal' teenagers, which shows just how abnormal and strange Michael is in comparison (If running around murdering people wasn't strange enough). Past and Present can also be used for this film, as the beginning scene is a flashback of Halloween night 15 years ago, the night that Michael murdered his sister, Judith. This is relevant as the date of Halloween (31st of October) is what triggers Michael to escape and go on a murdering spree in the year that the film was set. Finally, the set of binary oppositions; Earth and Space could be applied here. Although everyone starts out as human beings, there are hints throughout the film that Michael is perhaps somewhat supernatural. Things like how he was stabbed with a knitting needle, and a knife, and then shot 6 times and still survived. No normal human could survive that.
'The Crazies' shares a lot of the same binary oppositions as 'Halloween', which is not surprising as they are both films of the same genre. Good and Evil is represented by David and Laurie (the good) and the crazies, and the government as the evil. The moment for debate here is who represents the evil, as the people infected with the disease are not knowingly doing bad things, its the Trixie making them do it, whereas the military knows fully well what they are doing and that they could be destroying human life of those who are uninfected, so they are more consciously evil than the crazies. Another set of binary oppositions that could be applied here is Human and non human, similarly to 'Halloween'. There are the people who are uninfected such as David, Judy and Becca, and those who are infected, where the infection makes them do things and act in a non human way, this idea could also be used to apply the oppositions of 'normal and abnormal' to 'The Crazies'.I think that looking at binary oppositions is somewhat helpful when looking at media texts, but may also put some people off. As previously talked about, it is not uncommon for people to not like horror films due to how predictable they are, so if they start watching a film and there is an obvious portrayal of good (E.g. Laurie) they will be able to tell that there is someone who represents evil in the film too. Also many horror films have similar sets of binary oppositions to Halloween that can be applied to them.
Bordwell and Thompson defined narrative as 'a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space' in their book 'Film Art: An Introduction', meaning that narrative uses technical techniques to manipulate our awareness of time and space e.g. flashbacks, replays of action, slow motion and jumping between places and times. When we are watching a film we try to connect the events together to make sense of the story. This means that we automatically assume things that we haven't explicitly seen. For example, if we are shown a picture of a baby, and then a picture of a 10 year old boy in a similar setting, we assume that this is the same person in both scenes. We do this in the real world too, for example, if we feel sick we will look for a solution in what we earlier ate.
The first event in Halloween that caused another even to happen was Michael and Judith's parents going out on halloween night, leaving Judith in charge of her little brother. If there was some sort of formal parental supervision, Michael may not have killed his sister that night. The lack of supervision gave him the prime opportunity to get his hands dirty.
Secondly, another event that causes a later event is Michael breaking into the hardware store, which the sheriff puts down to a kids prank. Without this, the killer would not have had the tools to do the killings and therefore would've struggled.
One obvious event in the film that we know happened but we don't see is Michael growing up in the mental asylum. We know this from the fact he escapes from there 15 years later, and also from Dr Loomis talking about the years he spent tending to Michael in the hospital as his psychiatrist. Another event similar to this is the parents of Tommy and Lindsay going out for the night, leaving their children with a babysitter. We know this happened as Laurie and Annie are babysitting the two children. Although it is not known where the parents had gone, or when they were planning to come back.
Some events like these in the crazies include Judy becoming pregnant, we don't see this happen but it has a big impact on the story. Without this, Judy would not have been separated from those in quarantine, and David wouldn't have left to find her, therefore it caused them both to avoid the culling of those in quarantine by the military. Russell also manages to escape quarantine when the red truck crashes into the barrier. Although we do see this through Judy's hospital room window, it's not until later when he is explaining how he escaped to David, that we realise that Russell was in the crowd that got away.
Secondly, another event that causes a later event is Michael breaking into the hardware store, which the sheriff puts down to a kids prank. Without this, the killer would not have had the tools to do the killings and therefore would've struggled.
Some events like these in the crazies include Judy becoming pregnant, we don't see this happen but it has a big impact on the story. Without this, Judy would not have been separated from those in quarantine, and David wouldn't have left to find her, therefore it caused them both to avoid the culling of those in quarantine by the military. Russell also manages to escape quarantine when the red truck crashes into the barrier. Although we do see this through Judy's hospital room window, it's not until later when he is explaining how he escaped to David, that we realise that Russell was in the crowd that got away.
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