NARRATIVE THEORIESSamuel Penn

TodorovHe predicts that narratives follows a structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium and once again returning to a new equilibrium. Presented in a graph it would look like this:

A trailer that this could link to is Spectre as the equilibrium of a new film is established and then parts of the narrative are shown to have action and fights in them, implying a new disequilibrium as there is a need to fight.

ProppPropp created a theory in which he proposed 31 narrative features and 7 broad character types.1.The villain (struggles against the hero) 2.The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object) 3.The helper (helps the hero in the quest) 4.The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative) 5.The false hero (perceived as good character in beginning but emerges as evil) 6.The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off) 7.The hero [AKA victim/seeker/paladin/winner, reacts to the donor, weds the princess]

A trailer that this theory could link to is the avengers assemble trailer in which they have multiple of these character types but not in the conventional sense. The main characters enable each other to be multiple roles such as the hero, the helper and the donor.

StraussProposed that the constant creation of conflict drives narrative and narrative can only end on a resolution of conflict. This includes the use of binary opposites, stating that if one character exists their exact opposite will exist, creating conflict for the story to progress.

An example of this in a film trailer is that of star wars VII. In which is the main protagonist, an unnamed Jedi and the antagonist, an unnamed Sith who embody good and evil respectively.

BarthesEnigma code within stories refers to the fact that in some films clues are given as to what will happen later in the production without actually giving anything away that is crucial to the main story line. This makes the viewer more engaged and interested in the media text.An example of what film this could apply to is any trailer as no trailer is designed or purposefully made so that key plot points and information is not given to the audience before it should be revealed.