Vladimir Propp was a Russian academic who argued that fairy tales could be studied and compared by examining their most basic components. This consisted of 8 different spheres: Villain, Hero, Donor- who provides an object of some help, Helper- aids the hero, Princess - reward for the hero, Father and the False Hero.
Vladimir`s eight spheres can be a helpful aid when it comes to analyzing films and trailers. I applied his eight spheres to the trailer of the blockbuster "Speed"( 1998), the film follows a terrorist who sets a bomb on a bus, a Los Angele's police man is dragged in the situation when he becomes involved with the terrorist. The terrorist straight away takes the role of the "villain" which is made obvious in the first few seconds of the trailers. The most important role in the film and trailer is the Police man who takes the "Hero" role nearly from the start, even on the trailer this is certified many times. The role of the donor is not shown very clearly in the trailer but is made clear in the film, i would say that from watching just the trailer the "donor" is the bus driver as he gives the bus full of innocent people the skill of driving to help save their lives. The helper is clearly the women who helps the police take control in the bus, this being the actor Sandra Bullock, she also aids the policeman as she helps to take control of the situation, as the film develops and as does the trailer it becomes more clear that she is in fact "the princess" or "reward for the hero" as the two develop a relationship during the ordeal.
The father role or section out of the eight spheres would have to be the police chief as he acts the most like a father figure to the hero of the trailer, who is of course the main character. The last sphere is "false hero" now usually this would be applied to somebody who is a good guy and who the audience is usually lead to believe is the hero but are actually being put on the wrong track, as part of the plot. However in this film, trailer i would say that the bad guy is the false hero. In the few seconds that you see his character speaking in this trailer, it seems he speaks a lot about morals, which could therefore show how he see`s himself as a hero carrying a message when in fact he is just a "false hero".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRmhneo5A48 - Link to "Speed Trailer" .
Todorov is a Bulgarian philosopher now living in France, his theory for films and trailers goes like this:
1. The fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium.
2.It then suffers some disruption
3.A recognition that this disorder has occurred
4.An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
5. A return or restoration of a new equilibrium.
This series of events can be applied to many films and film trailers. Such as the trailer for "The Day after Tomorrow". The trailer begins with society at ease with everyday life, but shows slight sense of a disruption however not enough signs to make it into a full disruption of the equilibration, this is everything in society as it should be. The disequilibrium then comes into play by which all the natural disasters begin , and the world begins to suffer as a consequence. The recognition that this disorder has occurred is then portrayed, as clips of various scientists are shown trying to explain the happenings, however it seems that the ones higher up don't want to listen. An attempt to restore the damage of the disruption fits in with the previous stage as in the trailer the scientists try to warm officials that they need to evacuate, they don't listen but they change their mind and evacuate big cities when the situation takes a turn for the worst, this evacuation can be seen as the return to normality or attempt to return. The final clip in the trailer is the famous statue of liberty covered in ice, people are back packing below, therefore showing that this destroyed world is the new normality and therefore covers the final stage which is a restoration of a new equilibrium.
Day after tomorrow trailer link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQDSAiPiEDU
Jack Bakker
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