Vladimir Propp - Character Types

 Starter Activity -Begin by annotating this poster

This will stimulate a discussion revealing your prior knowledge.

Questions will include;

What genre is the film? 

What conventions are familiar?

Is this a 'hybrid' genre?

What do you know about the director and the films Jordan Peele has made?

Who is the target audience for this film?

What are the connotations of the title?

What intertextual references are there in the poster?

How has social media been used to promote the film?

This article from The Guardian may aid your understanding. 

• Vladimir Propp conducted research into Russian folk tales 

  
  

  
  

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• What is the purpose of a folk tale?​

  
  

  
  

• He concluded that folk tales are similar to

  
  

  
  

   parables

  
  

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• They are allegories

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• Can you name a folk (fairy) tale?​

  
  

• For example, 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf'​

  
  

• This tale is a warning to children. It teaches them not to lie. 

   

  In an agrarian or rural time these oral stories 

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  would aid community cohesion 

  
  

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• Educate young people

  
  

• Deliver a message to a social group or target

  
  

  
  

   audience

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Propp identified seven character types

  
  

  
  

  
  

  • The Hero ​

  • The Helper​

  • The Villain​

  • The False Hero​

  • The Donor​

  • The Dispatcher​

  • The Princess​

    
    

    
    

  • Your task  is to identify character types in film or television 

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

As we discuss each character type, try to identify some examples from television and film 

I would use examples that follow the theory. For example, 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Shreck'

When George Lucas made Star Wars he followed these narrative conventions. He wanted to make science-fiction films but needed money so he made a blockbuster which appealed to a wide audience. A space opera in a galaxy far, far away. It was successful because it followed identifiable patterns and fulfilled expectations. If you know the first ever Star Wars film then you can identify the character types.

Luke Skywalker

R2D2

Han Solo

Chewbacca

Princess Leia

Darth Vader

Obi Wan Kenobi

Now watch the opening scene from 'Stranger Things' episode one and identify any characters that fit a type.

• Is there a villain?​

• Is there a hero?​

• Is there a princess?​

• What is the inciting incident in the narrative? ​

• What signifiers of genre are there in this clip?

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  What character type does each of the above fulfil?

  
  

  Can you identify any other character types?

  
  

  Conclusions in a plenary may include;

  
  

  • Character types are fluid and evolving​

    
    

  • Modern television dramas and film play with these 

    
    

    
    

    conventional types and often subvert them​

    
    

    
    

  • Modern audiences like the familiar but want to be challenged

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  • Newspapers create villains and heroes to suit ideologies​

    
    

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    We will go on to look at intertextuality in 'Stranger Things' and how it appeals to a rage of audiences by drawing on knowledge of 1980's popular culture such and films.

    
    

    
    
    

    Watch this video and take notes about how it uses intertextual reference to other notable films of the 1980's.

    
    

    Explore some of these films. They will demonstrate how clever the creators of this television drama have been and the different layers of meaning (polysemy) It will also allow us to begin to understand the concept of post-modernism...

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