Todorov's Theory of Narrative...

After learning aboutTzvetzan Todorov's argument, that all basic narratives work through a series of five stages, we looked at our teaser trailer and looked to see if we could match up the five parts of the Bulgarians theory to our film, 'Presumed Dead'. The 5 stages are...

• A State of Equilibrium


• A Disruption of the state of equilibrium through an action


• A recognition of the disruption


• An attempt to repair the disruption


• A return to a new equilibrium

As we oursevles are not entirely sure on how our film will end, we looked to see if the 5 stages were represented in our teaser trailer. We believe that in our teaser trailer we identify the first 4 of the stages. The original state of equilibrium is seen in the first flashback, where the couple are unpacking. The second and third stages are introduced at the same time, as the disruption of the equilibrium originally takes place with the sound of something smashing upstairs, swiftly follwed by the recognition of the disruption, as the couple both hear, and look in the direction that the smashing noise came from. The recognition is preperly shown by the woman whispering 'He's here...', leaving to no doubt that she is aware that there is a man in the house, and that the 'equilibrium' has been disrupted. The first shot where stage 2 is confirmed is the shot of the villain on top of the man, attempting to choke him. Stage 2 then continues through the fast montage of shots. The attempt to repair the disruption is seen in the shot where the man takes down the villain from behind, but that is the only obvious shot of the couple attempting to take on the villain. The fifth and final stage is left unanswered, as the trailer doesn't show any shots which confirm a return to an equilibrium. Although the last shot of the man clenching his fist does leave the door open for the equilibrium to be restored, as up until that point the shots of the two bodies on the floor suggests that the villain has won and that they are dead.