Our film does conform to the classic narrative pattern, but the difference is that our opening begins with an initial disruption to spark the storyline for the rest of the film.
FILM OVERVIEW ACCORDING TO TODOROV'S THEORY:• Equilibrium: Before Matt is captured/Father does not know Matt is captured.
• Disruption: Matt is captured/taken hostage.
• Resolution: Father finds and saves Matt.
In terms of the narrative structure of our opening sequence, our sequence is shot in real time with no flashbacks or flash forwards.
Both our main characters can be placed into Propp's theory very easily as they are both very conventional characters from the action-thriller genre:
Matthew Lockwood - Hero
The 'Bad Guy' - Villain
As many film opening sequences do, we have included many enigma codes in our sequence such as not giving any details about either of the two characters.
'Finding Nemo' (2003) is a father-son underwater adventure featuring Nemo, a boy clownfish, stolen from his coral reef home. His timid father Marlin must then travel to Sydney and search Sydney Harbour to find Nemo. Along the way he meets Dory, who has a very bad short-term memory but nevertheless is essential to helping him find Nemo as she can read.
Characters: - Hero: Marlin - Villian: The Humans (the little girl) - Helper: Dory - The Victim (Captive): Nemo
Propp's 31 Functions in 'Finding Nemo': - [No. 1] Nemo leaves the reef. - [No. 8] Nemo gets captured and taken by the humans. - [No. 11] Marlin leaves the reef to begin his search for Nemo. - [No. 14] Marlin meets Dory who helps and helps him get to where he needs to go. - [No. 15] They arrive in Sydney where Nemo is in his fish tank. - [No. 25] Nemo has the difficult task of swimming out through the pipe. - [No. 30] Humans are punished as they lose all their fish.
Propp's Theory Evaluation: Propp identifies the key charcters in most narratives, and whilst this is mainly correct, Propp's 31 Functions are not all include in films with only a few to be found. In my opinion this makes Propp's theory a very loose one and maybe just more of a suggestion as I believe that narratives vary too much to all be categorised into a structured "formula". Being so general in the study of narratives also means that important features of storys are overlooked such as setting and context; two features vital to the narrative of any story. Overall, I don't think that Propp's theory is wrong, but rather that it misses out, by generalising, on the essential differences between narratives and their composition that make storys individual and unique.
The opening of THE ISLAND begins with a huge establishing shot taken from the sky, moving through the clouds presenting the sea and a coastline giving us an immediate sense of location. We are then shown clips of Scarlett Johansson's hair blowing in the wind broken up by further shots of the fantastic environment and surroundings. A sense of place is then established when we see an arial shot of the boat which the two main characters are on. There is then a sequence of shots of Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson smiling at each other and extending their arms suggesting to the audience that they are the protaganists in this story an have a very close relationship.
The audience is then shocked by the dramatic change of mood when Ewan Mcgregor's arm is seized and he is pulled overboard by three other lifeforms. These other people are clearly not good characters, but under the control of the main antaganist who flashes in and out with the dialougue "You are Special...the Island awaits you...". The prescence of an evil villain is emphasised by the blue colour filter and darker lighting on the bad characters, and the montage that follows gives the viewer a sense of disorientation as if they are being drowned like the two main characters with whom they are associating themselves.
There is then a sublime arial shot of Ewan McGregor's bed filmed in reverse as water drains from the room and leaves him on his own to wake up. This shot is my favourite shot from the opening of this film and it shows clearly the main character emerging from his dream, and the one we've just seen.
When he awakes there are numerous establishing shots from plenty of angles of his room and the surroundings. The colour scheme of all white suggests an extrodinarily clean environment and the technology seen all around the room suggests that this film is set some time in the future. We also learn of our characters code name from this scene, as the computerised voice greets him when he wakes up.
We get an introduction to Ewan McGregor's character when he begins to argue with the computerised voice which tells him that his diet has to be restricted. His tedius manner and insistant talking into the camera (in his room) show the audience that he is frustrated about the way in which he is living. This whole scene also shows the audience how the way he lives is actually being controlled by someone else, and that he is not happy with it. There is a potential narrative direction when the shot of all the security cameras appear, as the audience understand who the bad guys are - the guys watching them.
The sequence that follows when Ewan McGregor leaves his room give the audience a sense of the scale of this location. You are shown thousands of people all wearing uniform clothes and all moving in the same direction. Suggesting that all these these people are being controlled and detained. We the characters get in the lift, the shot spectacularly zooms out to show the industrial-looking complex where all these people are.
A more purposeful narrative is establish for the uniformed people in the scene in the lift, when you find out that they are all trying to win 'the lottery' and move to the island. Here we also learn about other characters and how long they've been in this place. The fact that the two guards appear outside the lift shows how carefully monitored all these people are and how the uniformed people themselves are very obidient to the guards.
The narrative is very much hinted at in these first few minutes as the uniformed people trying to escape from this place and indeed this narrative turns out to be correct [SPOILER WARNING!] as these people turn out to be clones used as health insurance for wealthy people in the future. Our main character (Ewan McGregor) discovers the world outside this controlled area and with Scarlett Johansson, they escape, loads of crazy 'Michael Bay-style' action happens, they find out the truth, and return to free the clones. Brilliant film!
