Film Theories

We used film theories to illustrate what makes up our films and to ensure that we have covered all areas in film and what they should include.


Claude Levi-Strauss: Binary Opposites


Levi-Strauss used binary opposites to look at narrative structure. Theser are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts, e.g. Good and Evil, Good is the oppostite of Evil. In our case we had to ensure that we have enough opposites to make the film appealing to its audience. The following binary opposites exist in our film:


Good - Evil
Known - Unknown*
Humans - Creatures
Normal - Strange*
Life - Death
Light - Dark
Quiet - Loud
Tech - Power
Guns - Claws/Teeth


*These are used in particular for our opening sequence, the idea of abnormalities and unknown events build up tension and engage the audience.


Vladimir Propp: 8 Character roles


Propp looked at 100s Folk tales and identidfied 8 character roles which consisted of: Villain,Hero,Donor,Helper,Princess,Father,Dispatcher,False Hero. We had to ensure that these roles were covered in order to maintain a successful film.


Villain: Radiation/Creatures
Hero: Army Sergeant
Donor: Weapons Expert
Helper: Sergeant's assistant
Princess: Female who meets Sergeant during recovery
Father: Captain who promotes Sergeant
Dispatcher: General
False Hero: Soldier in opening sequence


Tzvetan Todorov: Equlibrium


Todorov suggested that stories begin with an equilibrium where any potentially opposing forces are in balance. This is disrupted by some event, setting in chain a series of events. Problems are solved so that order can be restored to the world of the fiction.
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