Tzvetan
Todorov:
Todorov
implies that the story begins with an equilibrium where opposing forces are all
in balance. This state is the interrupted by a ‘disturbance’ which puts the
balance out of sync which then leads to it needing to be restored. In Halloween
at the begging there is a short period of equilibrium until someone is killer
disturbing the balance. The equilibrium is restored later in the film as the
killer Michael Myers is put into jail restoring order. This is then again
interrupted as he escapes from jail, where more people are killed, although it
is then shown that he is now dead. Now equilibrium seems to of been restored
only to find out he’s gone and roaming the streets to kill once again.
Ultimately the film does not abide by Todorov’s theory as balance is not
restored in the end.
Claude
Levi-Strauss:
Levi-Strauss
looked at binary opositis in media texts, sets of opposite values in which
reveal the plot, structure of the text. Here are some of the binary opposites in
Halloween:
Good/Evil
Light/Dark
Male/Female
Sanity/Insanity
Face/Mask
Speech/Silence
Bordwell
& Thompson:
This theory
is all about how 'a chain of events in a cause and effect relationship,
occurring in time and space'. This stating that a narrative begins with a
situation in which leads to other situations occurring via ‘cause and effect’.
This would definitely apply to Halloween as the killing in the begging of the
Film triggers off Michael Myers killing spree. Therefore this theory fits in
well with this film and makes logical sense.
Vladimir
Propp:
Propp
looked into 100s of Folk stories and came up with the theory that there are 8
character roles and 31 narrative functions in a film.
The hero:
Laurie, main female protagonist
The villain:
Michael Myers
The donor:
Michael Myers appears to be the only character with some immortal powers.
The
princess: N/A
The father:
N/A
The false
hero: There isn’t a false hero as Michael Myers works alone.
The dispatcher:
In a weird way insanity sends him on a killing spree.
All in all
the theory doesn’t totally fit in with narrative or charters in Halloween
