Childrens Film Narrative Theory Analysis

P3-72 2011


Vladimir Propp

Hero                                                  Helper                                               Villain

We can see in this opening that some of the character roles have already been revealed. The opening focuses on Bronwen who is sitting on the grass at the beginning of the film throughout it all, she is filling the hero role which goes against Propp's theory because he argued that narratives are led by males.
We also see the villain role, Dominic plays the villain who the camera zooms in on at the end of the clip, it's clear that he's a villain and as he is male, this goes with the theory that narratives are led by males as the villain is one of the main characters that lead the narrative. Lastly, we see that Adam is the bully who bullies Bronwen by the benches and then who looks distressed when she walks away sad, this hints at the possibility that Adam will eventually become the helper character that goes along with her.
In this short clip we do not get to see all the character roles but you can guess that there won't be a princess or father role as the romance in the film would be between Bronwen and Adam, there isn't a father involved and neither are a prize to the other.
We can see beginnings of a journey, we see something happening to spark the hero's journey - dominic, the villain appears from the shadows. I can guess that the story will follow the rest of the steps if it was feature length.

Levi Strauss
We can see clear binary opposites during the beginnings of the films, for example, male and female opposites - The are contrasts between the sexes straight away, Adam and his male friends are bullying Bronwen. We can also see binary opposites of popular and unpopular students Brownwen is clearly unpopular. There is also good and evil contrasts, good bronwen and evil Dominic.

Male and Female Contrast/ popular and unpopular

Good and Evil Contrast (Dominic by the tree in the background)

Tzvetan Todorov
We can clearly see the beginning structure of the film, it's introducing the characters and starting the film, you can expect to see the other parts of the films. We also see how our childrens film matches the theory because we want the underdog to win, Bronwen is unpopular and she is also the hero that will save the day.
There is also a state of equilibrium that we can see in the clip, we can see that the original equilibrium is that Adam bullies Bronwen and thats just the way it goes, the disturbance is them going on a journey and the new equilibrium is them living their normal lives as friends.

State of equilibrium when Adam is bullying with his friends