Character Theory

Theories 

Hey everyone!! It’s almost the time where I should start recording (this weekend), but before, I wanted to blog about the media theories. The media theories add value to the final project, as well as a deeper meaning. 

Today, I’m going to be talking about the character theory, and how can I incorporate it into my project.

                                                       Character Theory

This theory was created by Vladimir Propp, and it basically means how characters can be classified into certain roles. Propp argues that there are 7 types of characters:

    1. Hero - usually the protagonist.

    2. Villain - Antagonist, will work against protagonist and his roles.

    3. Dispatcher - The character who sends the hero on their journey

    4. Helper - Character who help and aids the protagonist

    5. Donor - Character who provides the protagonist with something that helps them succeed, or achieve their goals.

    6. Princess - Motivation for protagonist, or reward.

    7. False Hero - This is a character who initially was not set up as a villain, but who worked to prevent the protagonist from achieving their goal.

I could incorporate this theory into my project by showing the hero tied up to the chair, and showing flashbacks of him “suffering”, having issues, or overcoming obstacles. This will create a sort of empathy to the audience, and to show that he has to achieve something I will use the villain. I will make many of the shots of the villain from low angles, to make him look bigger, and more important. To show that he’s a villain, I will use some of the mise-and-scene, dressing him of dark colors, representing darkness and evilness, and he’s going to say something that’s going to sound very abrupt, and will make the villain look really bad, this sentence will also show what the protagonist is trying to achieve. The sentence could be something like “I know you have it”, or “I know you did it”.

The rest of the characters (probably not all) are going to be shown throughout the opening, but their role it’s probably not be as notorious as those from the hero and villain. 

Well well… I’ll keep you guys updated in terms of the portfolio project, and see you on the next one!!

I got the information about the character theory from a document that my teacher, Ms. Stoklosa gave me and my classmates. Here’s a picture of it.