Narrative and Film Industry

What is narrative?
Narrative is about how the story is told to the audience.

Syd Field's Three- Act Structure:
Field suggested most stories have three acts which he broke into the following structure 

Act one- (25%) The Set-Up
-Turning Point 1
Act two- (50%) The development
-Turning Point 2
Act three- (25%) The Resolution

Todorov's Theory of disequilibrium:
Similar to Field's idea, he also defined there three acts but as:

Equilibrium- Disequilibrium- Re-equilibrium

Propp's Spheres of Action:
Propp identified the characters roles which he called the spheres of action. Propp studied fairy tales and spotted these recurring roles in many of the stories. Hollywood and other film producers also use the fairy-tale structure for their films.

Propp's spheres of action: 
Hero- the protagonist who is sent on a quest and saves the day
Villain- the antagonist whose mission it is to disrupt the hero's quest
Princess- must be saved by the hero or is the hero's reward
Helper- the hero's sidekick who helps them throughput the mission
Donor- gives the hero something crucial without which they could not complete the mission
Dispatcher- sends the hero on their quest
Anti-Hero- may appear to be on the side of the villain's of hero's side

Levi Strauss' Binary Opposites
Strauss expresses that narrative are concerned with binary opposites. E.g. good/evil, dark/light

Roland Barthes' Codes
Barthes identified a number of codes that are used in narratives to allow the audience to understand the plot development.

Action codes:  Things that happen dictates an action that will occur; for example, a character placing their hand on a gun signifies that they will likely shoot.

Enigma codes: Things that are seen that raise questions for the audience, for example an important letter falling of a character's pocket: who will pick it up? what did the letter say? What now?