Tzvetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure where they begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored.

This is a generalised narrative structure, entirely applicable to my short-film, I shall bear it in mind as I begin brainstorming and writing. I intend on centring my film around three men, who find themselves plagued by an issue. Perhaps this will take the form of a stolen object/dead body. 

My plan is to establish the characters; introduce the issue; present a solution.

Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp was a Soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irreducible narrative elements. Over his time, he also developed a list of characters that would be a common occurrence within folk tales this list includes:

1. The villain — an evil character that creates struggles for the hero.
2. The dispatcher — any character who illustrates the need for the hero's quest and sends the hero off. This often overlaps with the princess's father.
3. The helper — a typically magical entity that comes to help the hero in their quest.
4. The princess or prize, and often her father — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her as a consequence of some evil or injustice, perhaps the work of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, which constitutes the villain's defeat.
5. The donor — a character that prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object, sometimes after testing them.
6. The hero — the character who reacts to the dispatcher and donor characters, thwarts the villain, resolves any lacking or wronghoods and weds the princess.
7. The false hero — a Miles Gloriosus figure who takes credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess.

- Wikipedia 

Propp also goes into an extensive list of narrative developments, which mainly centre around 'a hero' and his struggle to complete his quest. Personally, I don't think I can directly apply his work to my short film - as I don't plan on making a tale, nor do I plan on making a long winded tale. I want to create a simple piece (narrative  speaking) which retains an interesting subject matter with equally impressive technical capability.  

Operator - Caroline Bartleet

Personally, I found this film to be one of the most intriguing and engaging short films that I have seen so far. On the surface, this is a aesthetically simplistic film, due to its minimal application of micro-elements - specifically in terms of cinematography and editing. Nevertheless, the film does put an incredible focus through the utilisation of sound. The film paints visual imagery within the mind of the audience through the application of audience. Moreover, it aids  in accumulating a bubbling tension, which nurtured and cultivated until the very end of the film.

The film follows a police phone operator receiving a call from Gemma - a scared women battling a fire within her home. The film picks up tension as the call progresses, the fire grows and the stakes are raised (the child is trapped upstairs). There are stark contrasting moments within this film. There are moments were there are erratic violent screams and shouts, juxtaposed by the presence of periodic silence.

There was a heavy use of close up shots within the film, which was an interesting visual representation of how claustrophobic Gemma must be as she struggles against her burning house for the sake of the child.

The juxtaposition between Gemma and the operator was also engaging. The operator was calm, professional and sympathetic, whilst the mother was frightened and frantic. The Operator represented the strong natural woman instincts, whereas Gemma is representing the power that women possess within - only brought out when their child is in danger.

I believe this film will encourage me to create imagery through the application of sound. I may achieve this by presenting minimal information on the screen, but have a dynamic sound design that can set setting tone and mood/