Narrative Development

 

For the initial planning of the narrative structure task, we as a group were asked to try and develop a narrative and synopsis from the premise of five teenagers who were embarking on a road trip where four of them eventually dissapear or die and only a single female protagonist survives in the end. To start, we firstly considered the typical conventions of a horror movie such as an isloated unknown location, a villain style character and warning signs in the build-up to thedisequalibrium. We also considered the conventions of a typical road movie which included a family style vehicle, a physical or emotional journey for the characters and also a small group of people. We changed our overall narrative idea several times so that it would make sense and follow the typical narrative strutures and theories. We eventually chose to stick with a road trip to a remote beach town to celebrate university results where the killings would happen as a result of one over controlling character becoming jealous of another and in turn seeks revenge for what happened. 

Whilst developing our narrative idea, we considered some media theories inclusing Nick Lacey's Scheem of Genre. This tells of films following generic conventions in order to be recognised as a particualr genre, in this case horror. Lacey's scheme is broken into five key parts:

• Characters - Specfic types of characters that are reperesented based upon the genre. We tried to create a number of different character styles so that it would appeal to the audience more so as well to create a more interesting narrative based upon the characters actions and appearance.

• Setting - This links to the time and setting in order to create a mood for the film which relates to the audiences expectations. We considered a number of typical road movie and horror locations such as forests and abandoned houses however we chose something which is rarely used with a  remote beach town which provides a somehwat sinister setting that can create some interestign scenarios.

• Narrative/Theme - There a number of narrative structures that could be used from Propp to Todorov. We decided as  agroup to use Todorov's 3 part structure as our inspration from when the students all arrive at the beach side town and its following the equalibrium, to when the killing begins and theres disequalibrium and finally when the villain is killed herself by the final surviviour to restore a new equalibrium.

• Visual/Audio Style - This thinks about the particular shotting styles and editing techniques associated with the genre. We want to create an emotionally driver narrative and this involved alot of close ups to try show characters reaction to the situations and the killings. Editing will also be quite slow and tense in order to create that dramatic effect that keeps audiences entertained and tense all at the same time with regards of whats going to happen next.

• Iconography - These are typical objects and sounds associated with a genre and how they're used to create effects. For this, as our "killing weapon" we decided to try and use the beach location to our advantage and try use typical beach objects such as seaweed, sand and shells into real life killing objects. This creates a somwhat unique style of narrative and contionues the theme. In terms of sound, we want to keep it as natural as possible with the sea style sounds and the typical screams and "killing noises".

Next, we then moved onto creating small brief profiles for the characters involved within the narrative. We took our inital ideas from Nick Lacey's Scheme of Genre plan and tried to develop our characters further. We took into consideration Levi-Strauss's Binary Oppositionsin order to create a range of chracters. This involves the narrative being constrcuted using conflicting sides. In our idea we used a clever dark character against a stupid light character. We also tred to create a binary opposite with the use of the tough guy and his relationship with his Smartass girlfriend and also between him and the Damsel with how much help they require.

• Smartass - Female character who acts like she knows it all and is in a strange and awkward relationship with the Tough Guy character. Dark style character in terms of dress sense, acts abbruptly to other characters. Eventually turns out to be the killer through jealousy.

• Tough Guy - Male character who is the other half to the Smartass character. Acts as the protector of the group who is also in some way stupid and is unaware of the situation. Jock style character who dresses in a sporty way. Becomes the first one to be killed by his psychotic girlfriend.

• Damsel - Female character who becomes the ones cried for help and is in danger most of the film and only survives for so long. Acts as a needy character throughout the film and is constantly helped by the others. Dressed as a typical girl and is the second last one to be killed.

• The Stupid Girl - Attention seeking  unaware female character who acts as the "blonde" chracter within the film. The main reason the killing begins as she flirts with the Tough Guy which creates jealousy from the Smartass. Dressed as a male pleasing character.

• Believer - The female survivour of the film who was well aware of what was going on from the start and always had suspicions. The character everone else got on with and eventually has to kill the Smartass in order to survive herself. The appropriately dressed approachable character of the narrative.

We then moved onto constructing a narrative around the characters. The story of the 5 students begins with the students being shown travelling along a long coastal road during the middle of the day within a VW Camper Van style vehicle. We are then introduced to the characters from within the camper van and all are clearly shown to be different in terms of their representation of their character profiles. Each chracter is shown close up to give their emotion with them all being happy and jolly besides the Smartass girlfriend of the Tough Guy. Next, the students eventually roll into the small remote coastal town where they arrive at the shack right at the end of the beach they'll be using hopfully risk free for the next few days. The threat begins to develop when The Stupid Girl chracter begins to flirt with Tough Guy which creates jealously and tension between all 3 of the characters and eventually results in the Smartass breaking apart from the group without a trace, which begins a search for her. Soon enough each character in a sequence beginning with the Tough Guy start to be killed off using the objects found around the beach. Eventually it's the Believer remaining with the Smartass,the suspected killer still remaining. The Believer is able to out smart the Smartass killer which enbales her to survive as the final girl and live to tell the tale.

Upon completing the structure of our narrative, we were tasked with creating an Anti-Narrative structure so that the story would become more complicated and non-linear in terms of its structure and didn't follow Todorovs typical narrative style. Before starting, we thought about what existing films have these sorts of narratives, these include Titanic, Four Lions and The Notebook. Our new reformed narrative begins with the Believer walking around the dark shack in search for something before she is soon spooked and confronted by the killing Smartass which cuts to black and the audience is left wondering who those chracters were. Next, a flashback is shown of these five student chracters are shown turning up at the shack to begin their break and celebration. This then returns back to the confrontation between the final two characters and the Beleiver on the run from the Smartass. This continues through a series of flashbacks showing what happened to the other chracters before finally the Believer is able to kill the Smartass and leave the coastal town. .
The opening for this new narrative structure follows the shark bite technique of having an instant piece of action in order to grab the audiences attention so that they don't immediatly become bored and it will keep the audiences attention throughout the rest of the film with themraising questions to solve the enigma.

In order to develop our our understanding of chracter representation, we were asked to list what symbolic codes  could be used in order to show one teenage girl is interested in the occult of devil worship. The codes would typically include black and red style clothing, a fascination with strange and peculiar things, a subtle thing such as a star necklace or a tattoo thats perhaps related to the devil in some way. Other subtle things could include music taste, hair style or way the treat others.