How Halloween (1978) relates to narrative theories

Todorov’s theory:

This theory is one of the simplest narrative theories, often reffered to as the 'Classic Hollywood Narrative'. He believed that the majority of stories follow the same structure. He said that they began with an equilibrium which could be referred to as ‘the normal’. Following this there will be some form of disruption. This could be anything ranging from a death to someone losing their job. This disruption will then be resolved, creating a ‘new equilibrium’. The story would usually end with the new equilibrium. Todorov’s theory is not displayed within the horror film Halloween. The film is begun with a disequilibrium which is the son of a family brutally murdering his sister, which is by far not the norm. During the film there is a disruption of Mike Myers escaping from the mental hospital where he had been kept. However the film again conflicts Todorov’s theory as it doesn't end with a new normal. This is because at the end of the film multiple people have been murdered the killer is shown to disappear and is still on the loose.

Vladimir Propp

The theory developed by Vladimir Propp focuses mainly on character types and roles. He spent years looking at hundreds of different folk tales and from doing this developed 8 different character roles. These roles are:

• The villain
• The hero
• The donor
• The helper
• The princess
• Her father
• The dispatcher
• The false hero

From these 8 character types I could identify 3. 

- Mike Myers would certainly be the villain as he is the one who commits all of the murders.  

- Dr Loomis would have been the helper, as he was not the main focus of the film but helps the hero.

- Laurie was the hero as she was the main focus of the film and is shown to be aware of the villain from the start.

Claude Levi-Strauss

Rather than looking at the characters or story structure Claude Levi-Strauss based his theory on binary oppositions. These binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts. These binary oppositions include:

1. Earth/Space
2. Good/Evil
3. Humans/Aliens
4. Normal/Strange
5. Known/Unknown

The identifiable binary oppositions in Halloween are:

Good/Evil: The evil was Mike Myers committing all of the evil murders and the good came from the doctor and Laurie trying stop Mike Myers.

Known/Unknown: Mike Myers was seen to be wearing a mask right up until the end of the film. Because of this the audience have fear which comes just from not knowing. In my opinion Mike Myers is less scary at the end when you can see his actual face and he is just another person.

Bordwell and Thompson

This narrative theory is defined as 'A chain of events in a cause-effect realationship, occuring in time and space'. According to bordwell and thompsons narrative it will start with a situation, then many 'causes and effects' will occur until a new situation arises and that is where the narrative ends.

The Crazies (Eisner, 2010)

1. Does The Crazies follow the Classic Hollywood Structure? Why?

- No, it doesn't follow the classic structure for many reasons. The film does not begin with an equilibrium. The opening scene shows the town we learn to be Ogden Marsh in melt down with fires blazing. This is quite obviously not the normal. After this, 2 days prior is shown and we soon learn that not is all right. The Crazies the outbreak and more and more killings are made until the town is completely disrupted.


2. How many of Propp's character types can be identified in the film?
From the film there were the following identifiable character types:

• The villian in The Crazies would be the government. They are the one who have created and inflicted the virus on to the town. We are shown if it were not for the virus, the town would be a normal peaceful setting. The police station has only one Sheriff and Deputy and just one holding cell, which hints to the audience not much trouble would usually occur there.
• The hero is a shared role between both Judy and David. Neither of them take control and they both work together throughout the whole film. David does however save Judy when she's been taken as a suspected 'crazy'. Judy also saves David when he is in trouble and for this reason I believe they partly share the role of the helper. They are reliant on each other and one will not go on with out the other. For this reason you could also say they act as the role of the father and the princess together alternating roles between them.
• Russel is another character who could be given more than one character type. At times in the film he comes across as being the helper and the donor when he gives Judy and David weaponry and saves their lives on more than one occasion. However that is not the case throughout the entire film as in parts he does threaten David and Judy and at times even holds them at gunpoint. This is seen by the audience when it is likely that Russel has been infected by the virus and is becoming a crazy. Russel's final scene towards the end of the film shows him being the helper as he allows the government army to take his own life in order to create a distraction so that Judy and David can get away safely.
• The dispatcher in this film would be the mayor of the town and he has the opportunity to stop the virus from spreading further by cutting the water supply off, but he refuses to do so.

3. List 4 examples of binary oppositions in the film and explain them briefly.

• Good / Bad - David and Judy are the good as they are just trying to stay alive and uninfected by the virus. They don't want to inflict any harm on to others but are sometimes given no choice, this harm is only ever to people who have already been changed by the virus and are no longer their human selves anyway. The bad is the government because they created the virus and although accidentally, allowed it to affect and destroy the population of the town. The government were originally making the virus to harm a different population so there was never anything but evil in their plans anyway. Some people may refer to the Crazies as being the bad but I would disagree with this, and that leads into my next set of binary oppositions.
• Innocent / Guilty - I would definitely say the government are the guilty ones for the reasons above (them starting the virus). The innocent would be the people of the town, even the ones which have become the race of the crazies. The technically didn't do anything wrong, they just drank the water provided by their town. They were unaware of the consequences.  
• Past / Present - There are multiple time when it is implied that the town of Ogden Marsh used to be a pleasant and peaceful place to live. For example we find out that the town drunk had stopped drinking and the lack of police enforcement shows it can't have that many issues with crime. The present in the film however shows the town being destroyed by not only the crazies, but more so by the governments reinforcements.
• Safe/Unsafe

4. Identify the three 'duration's' and give an estimate of the time each duration covers.

• Screen Duration - 92 mins : This is the entire length of the film.
• Plot Duration - 3 days : How long the screen duration is set over. The film is only 92 minutes long however the audience is aware that it actually occurs over 3 days.
• Story Duration - Many months : The story duration's tells us how long the acts which impact what happens in the film have been happening for. In the case of this film it's mainly the virus being created.

5.  Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film 'starts'.

• We know that Judy is a few months pregnant so she must have became pregnant before the film started. The impact of her being pregnant is that when her temperature is taken the alarm goes off to say she has the virus, when it's just a high temperature from the pregnancy. David has to go back to rescue her and this causes another event to happen.
• The plane crash is another event which happens before the film 'starts'. This is the main cause of the events in the film because this is how the virus gets in to the water and how the virus spreads.

6. List two events from the 92 minute film that happen in a different time and space to the other one we are shown.

• The Deputy Sheriff Russell is shown in the majority of the screen time however when he's not on screen we as the audience know he is most likely still doing something which will impact later screen time. For example when Judy and David and being attacked by two of the crazies the where about of Russell is unknown however we shortly see him rescue them both by killing the attacking crazies.