Vladimir Propp Narrative Theory and Film Trailers

Vladimir was born in 1896 in Sait Petersburg. He was a Soviet Folklorist and scholar who analyzed the plot components identifying narrative elements. By analysing different Russian folk tales, Propp believes that characters nave a narrative function; the type of character can revolve around the plot structuring and building it. Even though, he didn't spend too much time on every possible combination of character types because they are merely a function to distribute around the story. He identifies 7 different character types not including the Hero type.

1. The Villain
2. The Hero
3. The Donor
4. The Helper
5. The Princess
6. Her Father
7. The dispatcher
8. The False Hero

The Villain prevents the Hero from getting the reward or causes the disruption in the story. Villains are present in many movies in today's society. For example, Star Wars has Darth Vader and The Matrix has Agent Smith as a villain. They are antagonists to the protagonists, these characters are usually disliked by the audience because they usually actively oppose or are quite hostile towards the main characters. 

The Hero are mostly protagonists, they usually seek something and are motivated by lacking something. These characters are important as they usually are the main role in the film. I believe that its likely that the story will revolve around them from their point of view. 

The Donor acts as a support for the Hero by providing an object with a magical property in order to progress in the story. The Donor could also prepare the hero.

The Helper can act as a right hand of a hero by helping him/her/ on their journey. Helpers aren't necessary but they can act as an addition to the story. Helpers can help morally as well as physically and are quite loyal to the Hero.

The Princess acts as a reward to the Hero for his/her hardships. This character type varies a lot in the modern media but in the folk tales it is incredibly common to have this character in a scenario of being captured by the Villain.

The Father is a character that will offer the reward to the hero. This character type could either approve the relationship between the Hero and the Princess or offer objective rewards such as money.

The dispatcher is a role that sends the hero on his 'quest' to stop the villain and get the reward.

The False Hero usually claims to be the hero. For example, he can be seen acting like a real hero by trying to marry the princess. The False hero could fall into the Villain category but the difference is that the villain has to be defeated but a false hero has to be exposed. These type of characters aren't purposely evil, unlike villains.

These 7 or 8 types look limited but once we consider the fact one of these character types could fulfil more than one of these 'departments', and the role can employ more than one character. Everything becomes a lot more varied in the roles. By generating the roles, we can sum up the plot of any Russian folktale. These analysis lead to interesting results such as realising the similarities between classic films and movies (Cinderella and Snow White for example). However this system doesn't determine the style and the point of view of style and characters. It can completely ignore social and historical context, these things are specific to individual works. 

Where can we find Propps Theory in modern trailers?

I will be analysing a Disney Film 'Tangled' (2010). Disney films are great examples of Props Theory as a lot of them have similar types of characters. The Villain is introduced early in the story, she is called Mother Gothel. The Villain captures the Princess (protagonist in this case) because of her ability to keep the villain young. The main purpose of the film is for the protagonist to travel to the place where the floating lights come from by using the help of a thief. At first, the thief character appears to be a False Hero but is soon changes character to Hero as his personality is relieved more and things change in the story causing him to think differently. Additionally, another important character in this film is a horse called Maximus, he mostly matches the Helper type because he is present in her adventure and watches over her as a guard. After some circumstances and sacrifices (such as cutting off her magical hair) the characters return to the destination. Finally, the protagonist, helper and the hero are rewarded by the parents by having a celebration in the kingdom. Overall, this film suggests that the character types can also shift through the different sections in order to make the character development a lot more interesting.

This theory is great for developing characters and setting a base to different personality types in media. This method is quite organised and already provides a raw summary of the plot judging by the character types. However, my trailer and my story isn't similar to any folk tales and is a lot more serious. On the other hand, I am planning to 'shift' the personality of the protagonist from 'good' to 'evil' or having an internal force as an antagonist.