Levi Strauss Narrative and Film Trailers

Strauss was born in 1908 in Belgium. He was mostly known as a ethnologist, he was specified in the development of the theory of structuralism and structural anthropology.  He grew up in France and studied philosophy in Paris. Levi Strauss believed that all people think of the world around them as binary opposites such as life and death, good and bad, up and down.

He applied that theory to narratives structuring the story around the conflict in Binary Opposites such as:

Good Vs Evil

Beautful Vs Ugly 

Hero Vs Villain

Humane Vs Inhumane

Mechanical Vs Organic

Civilization Vs Barbarity

Society Vs Separation (person)

Innocent Vs Corrupt

Where can we find binary opposites in media today?

Trailer: Walking Dead Season 1 Trailer (2012)

This type of trailer is a great example of story telling through obvious Binary Opposites which are Dead Vs Alive. The plot mainly revolves around the disease that turns people into flesh eating mindless beats and the survivals who try to keep away from the disease (as it's contagious through flesh and teeth). In the trailer, it clearly shows that the characters are at a huge disadvantage because it shows the 'zombie' creatures in large quantities. There are less survivors than the the diseased. However, this base of binary opposites provide additional questions such as obtaining resources and the relationships between the surviving people. The story seems to be revolved around a cop who is against the dead by trying to find his family and keep everyone alive. The trailer has a dark mood because it mostly features bad emotions such as fear, sadness and anger. The disadvantage in numbers suggests that it is extremely unlikely that the dead will vanish and the ending of the series will be a happy one, not to mention the people that are alive are extremely likely to convert into the 'dead' once they actually die because everyone is already infected through water, air and food. These strong problems makes the trailer more thrilling to the audience by clinging onto the last hope there is because the protagonist says "We'll survive by staying together" (0:21-0:23) .Additionally, the trailer is fast paced giving an adrenaline rush to the viewers. Even though, it starts off with a narrator, the character in the trailer clearly states that "Things are different, there's us and the dead" (0:15 - 0:19) contributing to the idea of binary opposites (Dead Vs Alive)

Unfortunately, there is also a negative aspect of using the Brinary Opposites because it can get too predictable, therefore good character development and plot twists need to be quite good. The walking dead manages to keep the story interesting to the audience by killing important characters and finding unexpected answers to the main problem. However, there are some Binary Opposites that seem quite 'overdone' such as superhero and marvel films as they strictly follow the opposites of Good vs Evil and Villain vs Hero. The Hero, in this case, always wins and the Villain never gives up, these types of stories are extremely predictable. 

How could I apply Binary Opposites in my trailer?

I don't think Binary Opposites are suited for my type of trailer because it will be heavily based on the protagonist fighting against herself. She cannot be opposite to herself therefore, this narrative theory cannot be applied to my trailer.