Narrative Theory In Relation To Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) and The Crazies (Eisner, 2010)

Halloween

In Halloween Todorovs theory does not apply, in fact merely the opposite occurs. Todorovs theory suggests that opposite forces start out in the balance, which is then disputed by some events which lead to a chain of events; in the end the problem finally gets resolved; restoring balance. i.e. equilibrium - disequilibrium - equilibrium. However, this narrative is completely abolished at the beginning as Mike Myers kills his sister from the onset. The only equilibrium present is when he is in jail, however, the time scale within the film, suggests he's been in a mental asylum for 15 years, but, within the perspective of watching the film, he's escaped within minutes. From then on, terror is unleashed. Creating a chain of events that cause havoc. When we finally believe he is dead, he has miraculously disappeared, implying, he is still alive, therefore this film does not follow Todorovs structure of a classical Hollywood narrative, as the beginning and ending are both not in equilibrium.

Another theorist is Propp. He showed that there are 8 character roles that can be applied to all kinds of narrative, they include; villain, hero, donor, helper, princess, father, dispatcher, and the false hero. Within the film Halloween, the villain is Michael Myres, who plays the 'Boogeyman'; The hero is Laurie Strode who is the androgynous victim; There's no donor in this film (therefore showing not all 8 characters have to be present within the film, but just shows the main character types); The helper is Dr. Loomis, who tries to hunt down Michael, and helps to save Laurie; The princess could arguably be Laurie, as she's the typical 'virgin' that survives with innocence; The father of Laurie doesn't really play a part, other than being used as the Dispatcher, to try and help Dr.Lorris; Unfortunately there is no false hero in Halloween, which, in my opinion is a valuable character to a film.

Levi-Strauss suggested that horror films contain binary oppositions to reveal the structure of media texts for example good and evil, this is shown in Halloween as immediately we are shown that Micheal Myres is the villain, moreover, we are introduced with Laurie who shows she is the 'good' binary opposition, as she forgets her books, and wants to go back to get them from high school, this suggests she is the sensible and mature one, and henceforth why she is a clear example of the final girl theory. Also, time binary oppositions are seen from the beginning too, the opening scene is from the past where Michael kills his sister, and in the next scene the date is shown, telling us there is a time jump, which is used to notify the audience of critical information. Binary oppositions are used continuously throughout this film, even within music, to emphasize the genre of the film.
Bordwell and Thompsons theory definitely applies to the film Halloween as it tells us that the film starts with one situation, in this case, where Michael Myres kills his sister, showing his sheer evil. In side Jail, he meets Dr. Loomis, who tries to help the boy, however realises 'through his eyes' that he had no soul, just darkness. Therefore Dr.Loomis tried to keep him behind bars, hence why when he breaks free from Jail, a new set of changes occur causing disruption, leading to his abandoned house- co-incidentally where Laurie has to put the keys under the doormat- is spied on by Michael. This chain of events spreads to Lauries friends as they are then murdered by him, as he stalks Lauries death. Finally, a new situation arises in the end, as Michael Myres is shot dead (supposedly) and his body "disappears", creating a dramatic ending to the narrative, keeping the audience on their toes.

The Crazies

Does the Crazies follow the CHN? Why or why not?
The crazies doesn't follow the classical Hollywood narrative because it starts with a disequilibrium; Ogden Marsh is set on fire and shoes a state of ruin. It then goes to equilibrium as we are taken two days back to when the village is just like any other, with everyone happily doing their simple day to day routine. This is soon obliterated  and turns to disequilibrium when a man unknowingly affected by the virus tries to shoot the sheriff at a baseball game. From here on out things go down hill an chaos is unleashed among the village, as the out of control virus spreads. (Towards the end it slightly goes back to equilibrium but we see the satellite camera zoom out and suggest that the same process is going to start all over again). Therefore this in fact shows that it's the opposite of the classical Hollywood narrative.

How many of Propp's character types can be identified in the film?
The villain in The Crazies would be the government as they were the people that created the virus and responsible for the killing of innocent people.
The hero is David because he is the main protagonist and as high rank as a sheriff suggests, he must do everything he can to help and protect everyone (and potentially Russel too).
The donor could also be classed as David because he gives his time and self to helping everyone around him. Plus he 'donates' his car to helping the cause. (and maybe Russel too, as he kind of gives his life as well)

The helper could be both Russel and Jusy because Russel is David's sidekick not only as a sheriff but as their fight for survival progresses. Judy is also the helper as her occupation helps to give medical assistance.

The princess is Judy because she gets classed as contaminated even though it's just because she's pregnant. David then goes back to try and save her, proving she is the princess.

Russel acts as 'Her Father' and rewards David by giving his life as a distraction so David and Judy can escape.

The Dispatcher - Judy because she is the reason David escapes the government and comes to save her, and unknowingly his life.
The false hero is the government because they believe they're doing good by preventing the virus from spreading, yet not only were they the ones that created it in the first place but are killing innocent people anyway.

List five examples of binary oppositions in the film and explain them briefly.

Good/Evil: The innocent civilians and the main characters (David, Judy and Russel) are the 'goodies' as it's as if they're being hunted. Yet, the evil characters appear to be the infected (even though technically they aren't) and the government. The government are deemed as evil because they're causing the death of numerous innocent people.Innocent/Guilty: This comes into play like the previous binary opposition; although 'The Crazies' are presented as the guilty, they're actually just innocent civilians that have unfortunately caught the virus. On the other hand, the government are the actual guilty people as they created the virus.

Past/Present: You see the contrast between the two day period of when Ogden Marsh was peaceful and jolly. And then a couple of days later it turns to a derelict ghost town, which eventually gets a bomb dropped on it.

Normal/Strange: The citizens that aren't infected, like David and Judy, are classed as normal. Whereas, 'The Crazies' are seen as strange.

Freedom/Trapped: Everybody at the start is able to roam around at their own free will. However, with the outbreak of the virus the village get's locked down and the area is contained, so the people are trapped. Even when they passed through the channels of if you're not infected and believing you're going to freedom, they're actually killed anyway by the government, essentially trapped as well- false hope. Plus when the 'crazy' girl on the bike is riding through the village that appears to have changed to a ghost town; she seems to be riding around freely, yet she is completely trapped in her mind, going insane.

Identify the three 'durations' and give an estimate of the time each duration covers. 

Although the film is 92 minutes long we are viewing a time scale of a film in which contains 3 days. Within these 3 days we see 3 major events occur. We have the normal quaint village normal quaint village have a virus-outbreak, the village gets taken over by the government, and then the mass murder of innocent civilians. These 3 major events have been cleverly condensed down to just over an hour and a half, yet in reality, this would take weeks maybe even months to occur. The whole process of creating the virus is eliminated from the film too which would have taken years to create and transported to the point of crashing and getting into the villages water system.

Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film 'starts'.

The creation of the virus causes later events in the film by accidentally doing what it was created for, and therefore kills several innocent civilians.

The plane crash is the second event that changes later events, because if it hadn't had crashed then this whole out-break wouldn't have happened, and the virus wouldn't have spread.

List two events from the 92 minute film that happen in different time and space to the one we are shown. 

One of the events from the film that happened in a different time and space, was the flashback at the beginning of the film in Odegan Marsh, to the final day when it's consumed in fire. The flashback shows the chaos and destruction that has been caused as a result of the government created virus. We know this is a flash back by the white effect, and the cleverly arranged shots that are identical, yet one is completely destroyed and the other shot is completely in tact.

The second event that happens in a different time and space is at the beginning when David shoots the initial guy who is infected with the virus. the next scene to be shown is where his coffin is present in the morgue. We therefore assume that this is the guy who was previously shot even though it could be anyone who had previously passed away.