Grid of 9- The Human Centipede

grid of 9

Tsvetan Todorov's theory of equilibrium

Todorov was a bulgarian philosopher who specialized in literary theory. He came up with the theory of equilibrium, which has become one of the most influential theories in the media industry today. This theory was a basic structure for all narratives. He said that all films started with a state of equilibrium, a calm period. Then, agents of disruption cause disequilibrium, where the calm state is broken and there is a period of unsettlement and and disquiet. This is finally followed by another state of equilibrium. However, this state may not be the same as the first. Events in the plot may cause the characters to find themselves in a new state of equilibrium very different from the first. An example of this would be "The Orphan". It begins with a state of equilibrium where the main family are introduced, the disequilibrium then begins when they bring a new child, Esther into their home. This child is posessed and causes all types of chaos and horrific events for the family, the only way to rid their family of this is to kill her as the family soon realise. The equilibrium is then restored at the end where Esther eventually dies and the family can continue their life as normal. A film that does not support Todorov's theory would be "Paranormal activity". It does not begin with equilibrium, as the lives of the main characters (Katie and Micah) are disrupted by Katie's belief that she is being haunted by a demon that follows her wherever she goes. The main body of the film shows their struggle to get rid of this demon, as several paranormal events happen to the couple. At the end, equilibrium is not restored as Katie becomes posessed by the demon and kills her partner Micah. In some ways our own movie supports this theory, however we have decided to break conventions and put a unique twist on it. The story doesn't begin with equilibrium, as the start of the movie shows that the incident that happens in the chemistry lab. However, there is a period of equilibrium between the acident and the main body of the film. This is where our protagonist has been living away from home for several years and has been in a stable relationship for some time. The disequilibrium comes when she returns to her home town and the manifestations of guilt begin. The new state of equilibrium is brought about when she eventually faces her past and is able to continue her life with her husband.

Levi strauss- Binary opposition theory.

Strauss was a french anthropologist who lived in the early 1900's. He believed that the way we understand certain words depends not so much on any meaning they themselves directly contain, but much more by our understanding of the difference between the word and its 'opposite' or, as he called it 'binary opposites'. For example, our understanding of the word "villain" depends on the difference between that word and the opposing word "hero". Within the media field, binary oppositions are used very frequently in films, especially in the horror genre. Many horror films include sets of binary oppositions in their plots. Particularly good and evil, sane and insane, rational and irrational and human and supernatural. Our own movie utilises this highly influential theory. It includes several binary oppositions in terms of character, such as introvert and extrovert (protagonist and boy who dies) and sane and insane (protagonist and her friends). These oppositions are very conventional of horror films, therefore will familiarize our audience with the genre.

Mood board

This is a mood board of some of the horror films of today that i consider most influential for this project.

Storyboard details

Media

Summary of film

We are making a psychological horror in which the protagonist is haunted by the manifestations of a guilty conscience from her past, this film takes a relative amount of thinking but the storyline is ultimatley easy to follow.
Our USP (Unique selling point): Because the character of the young introvert boy is tripped over by another boy in his class, the audience are led to believe that he would be the one being haunted. However, it is in fact the girl who spilt the beaker of acid. This will suprise the audience as she is in fact not guilty in any way as what she did was an accident. Also, our story does not really conform to Todorov's equilibrium theory. At the end when the protagonist and her friend share an embrace, the audience believe that equilibrium is restored. However, the ghost then appears once again, this also makes room for a sequel.

Movie Plotline- Film trailor

Movie Plotline

Introduction

The coursework option my group decided to choose was a film trailer. We chose to do this for a number of reasons, for example;

- It provides the opportunity for each member of the group to have a fair role in the production of our final product, as there are plenty of tasks that have to be carried out.

- It gives us the opportunity to show creativity and to rise to the challenge of developing a final product not only conforming to typical conventions of genre but also creating a USP (unique selling point). We will also be creating two ansillary texts to support our trailer, a film poster and a magazine front cover advertising our film.

From this task we hope to;

- Understand media conventions of genre through thorough analysis of film trailers of the horror genre

- Use working in a group to the best of our advantage 

-  Be able to produce a good final original yet conventional final product