2. Structuralism There must be a
Ferdinand De Saussure; structure in every
text, which explains
Structuralism states that culture is to be understood as a why it is easier for
system of signs. From this semiology (system of signs) was experienced readers than
developed. Structuralism is the belief in paradigms. They for non-experienced
believe that everything has a set of rules that need to be readers to interpret a
followed. A paradigm is a group of conventions and in its text.
simplest form means example. Paradigms can range from
character to prop.
Examples of Paradigms:
Location – Dark and isolated so victim’s
screams cannot be heard.
Prop - Knife as its more of a personal killing
between the victim and the villain.
Non-diegetic sound – Eerie, unknown sound
enters when a suspicious character enters the scene.
3. Barthes’ Theory the reasons behind
Barthes stated that there are many different ways of interrupting texts, and
the interpretation are also different. From this he developed three theories:
The Enigma Code
The Enigma Code
Ball of Threads
From looking at film trailers which establish no
Pleasure of Text
new state of equilibrium, the audience start to
ask questions about different parts of the film
Pleasure of text that confuse or interest us the most, as these
In relation to the enigma code, from some film trailers parts create a sense of the unknown.
we already know what is most likely to happen before
we have even the seen the film. For example, if we see Ball of thread theory
an action film we know the hero will save the day and Each text is like a tangled ball of thread which
if we see a romance we know the couple will needs to be unravelled. Once unravelled, we
eventually find happiness, overcoming their obstacles. encounter a wide range of potential meanings.
So when watching horror trailers where there is no We can start by looking at narrative in one
new equilibrium we make our own predictions and way, from one viewpoint, one set of previous
seeing these play out creates the pleasure we get from experience and create one meaning for that text.
the text(film). However, there is another layer of You then continue by unravelling the text from
pleasure to be had when the unexpected happens. You a different angle to create an entirely different
only get a jouissance when you don’t expect it. perception.
4. Todorov’s Theory of Narrative
Equilibrium: However, majority of horror
A state of balance and harmony at the beginning of every trailers do not show a state of
story. new equilibrium as it would
ruin the whole story for the
Moment of Disequilibrium: audience as we would know
Something happens which shatters the equilibrium, what happens.
for example a suspicious character is introduced.
Disequilibrium:
The hero struggles to fix the wrongs that beset them and return to place of
equilibrium.
New Equilibrium:
Villain is defeated and peace is restored but at a cost. Something or someone
has always been lost and the new equilibrium is tainted by experience.
5. Claude-Levi Strauss
Binary Oppositions
Levi-Strauss devised that the constant creation of conflict and
opposition propels the narrative. A narrative can only end on a resolution
of conflict. Opposition can be:
Visual
Light/darkness
Movement/stillness
Conceptual
Love/hate
Control/panic
6. Propp’s Theory
Propp created a set of 8 characters, which are all typical within a
convention horror movie. The 8 types were:
The villain - struggles against the hero
The donor - prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object
The magical helper -helps the hero in the quest
The princess - person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative
The dispatcher -character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off
The hero or victim/seeker hero - reacts to the donor and weds the princess.
Her father
7. Carol Clover’s Theory
Carol Clover’s ‘Final Girl Theory’ states that within a
structuralist horror film there is always a final girl. A
typical final girl is seen as innocent, and virginal
which makes her seem vulnerable, and is therefore
shocking when shown as a final girl at the end of the
film. Girls who have been murdered in previous horror
films have always been shown as promiscuous and
pretty. From this, we can then infer from our prior
knowledge of horror films which characters are mostly
likely to die and which are mostly like to survive.
Examples of final girls:
Jamie Lee Curtis – Halloween (Top)
Sidney Prescott – Scream (Bottom)
8. Clover and Freud’s Theory
Application of psychoanalytical theory (Oedipal Complex)
Sadism = Post-Oedipal attention switching from the mother
to the father, or in horror terms identifying with the killer.
Masochism = Pre-Oedipal states that the mother is all
powerful. So as an audience we are masochistic because we
take pleasure in identifying with the female.
In relation to the final girl theory, Carol Clover indicated
that as an audience we are structurally ‘forced’ to identify
not with the killer, but with the surviving female. So
instead of identifying with the sadistic voyeur, Clover
suggests that our identification has switched to the victim
(a masochistic voyeur.)
9. Postmodernism
A postmodern film is a film which does the unexpected in a knowing way.
It is all about knowing the rules and breaking them.
Rules of Combination
Postmodern Films:
o Self-referential. They play with Geek Woods Killerclown Knife
generic conventions knowingly. Murderous
Deliberate subversion of Cheerleader
paradigms.
o Different from parody (poking
fun at something to elicit a Loss of the rule of combination is called ‘bricolage.’
humorous reaction.) This is a French term meaning jumble.
o Difference between a postmodern
film like ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and
a spoof.
