Vladimir Propp And Tzvetan Todorov

Vladimir Propp was a soviet formalist scholar who analyzed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales, that can be recognized in many today's film and TV. Born in 1895 in St. Petersburg Propp published the Morphology Of The Folklore. The Morphology Of The Folklore didn't come over to the west till the fifties and was recognized massively by the media world. His character types are used in media education and can be applied to almost every story in films and TV. Propp managed to break up these fairy tales into sections, identifying key aspects in them, for example a hero or villain is a key character. Most stories have them. Characters are not the only thing recognized by Propp; functions in the story's can be found, for example a rescue (Person kidnapped and needs saving), Departure (Hero leaves where he's from to go off on a adventure) and victory (The villain is defeated.).

Tzvetan Todorov is a Franco-Bulgarian philosopher who suggested that all narratives follow a structure. This structure is made of 5 parts.

1. Equilibrium- everything starts normal with nothing wrong with the situation. 
2. Disruption- However, something happens to this equilibrium disrupting the balance.
3. Recognition- This disruption has been noticed and taken effect to the everything. 
4. Repair- the problem is fixed, and done in the most highlighted way.
5. New Equilibrium- the problem is fixed but the situation compared to before has changed. 

A Prime Example of Tzvetan Todorov structure is Jaws.

1. Equilibrium- normal small island town that makes money through the holiday season.
2. Disruption- A Shark eats someone.
3. Recognition- the problems recognized as the beaches need to be closed, losing tourist, losing money. 
4. Repair- Three men go out to kill the shark.
5. New Equilibrium- shark killed with the island having the shark's terror gone but sill in the back of their mind.