Vladimir Propp was a Russian literature, he developed a 'character theory' for studying media texts and productions, he argues there are 7 main types of character (after his research on 100 tales), these characters had a 'narrative function'; a structure for the text that had the ability to be applied to many narratives.
The Hero – a character that seeks something
The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero’s quest
The Donor – who provides an object with magical properties
The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message
The Helper – who aids the hero
The Princess – acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s plots
Her Father – who acts to reward the hero for his effort
I tried to apply these concepts to my music video narrative, obviously unable to recreate all 7, but I can clearly see in my music video 'the hero' and 'the princess' characters who are the focus of my video. After researching this is class I can connect the things I have learnt and apply it to my coursework production.
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| Female on the left 'the princess', male on right 'the hero' |
This is a good start Niel. Where would the other characters fit in? Can you identify them all or does the lack reflect your music video narrative being deliberately incomplete; or perhaps indicate a limitation in your narrative or in the theory?
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