It's just a Theory... A Media Theory

    Theories, everybody has them. Whether it is part of a scientific investigation, a conspiracy theory or, in this case, a MEDIA THEORY. For the purposes of this blog I will not not be delving into my personal theories (drop a comment if you want more on that), but what I will be talking about is a potential media theory that could apply to my film opening. 

Todorov's Narrative Theory of Equilibrium

    Todorov's Theory of Equilibrium says that every narrative story has distinct parts. The two main parts that I will be discussing are equilibrium, disequilibrium. There is another part called new-equilibrium that has to do with resolution, but that won't really be super necessary in an opening sequence. 

Equilibrium

    Equilibrium is the part of the narrative story where the characters are being introduced and the story is being set up. During this portion of a story, characters are being built up to become how people and the audience gets a grasp on the setting and what is going on. 

    

    One of my favorite examples of this is in Legally Blonde (2001 dir. Robert Luketic). In the opening scene of this film, the audience gets a lovely look at how the sisters of the Delta Nu sorority live their life. 

    For those unaware of the plot of this important piece of cinema, this follows a college girl named Elle Woods who, after her jerk boyfriend breaks up with her, decides to go to Harvard and become a lawyer to get her boyfriend back. 

    In this scene, we get a perfect introduction for our main protagonist, Elle Woods, but also the entire life that she and her sorority sisters live. This is a great example of the equilibrium facet of Todorov's Theory. By showing how Elle and her friends live their life in this girly, pink world, it works to contrast what happens later in the movie and how the harvard environment is completely different than what she is used to. 

    Towards the beginning of the film intro, before we start introducing the conflict, I would like to do some establishing of character in setting as this film does. Since my film has to do with a time loop, I probably would not use the equilibrium of the start to contrast a later setting in the film, but more so to establish the motifs for the rest of the film. This would either take form of mise-en-scene elements or diegetic sound. I want it to sort of create a baseline for the rest of the film. 

Disequilibrium

    Disequilibrium is the next step within the plot. This is where stuff starts going wrong, but all of it is before the climax. This is including the first "disruption" that is what upsets our main protagonist's life or situation. Obviously this is what sets up the main conflict of the film, but can be used as more and more rising action until the climax of the plot. 

    A fun example of this is in the film Panic Room (2002 dir. David Fincher). This film follows a mother and daughter who move into a new New York City apartment but, after a few weeks,  have that apartment broken in by two criminals who are interested in the money that is in their panic room.

    This film is actually a good representation of both equilibrium and disequilibrium but I will mostly just talk about the one.

    In the scene below, we get a look at the disequilibrium that brings the mother and daughter's quite life into a daring escape from two criminals. 

    In this scene, we see when the mother realizes that their home is being broken into. The filmmakers do a great job of making this problem seem urgent and portraying how the mother and daughter are in serious danger. This is the main conflict, and the rest of the problems that occur until the climax are all building up the the tension until that big moment. In this film specifically, there are so many little side problems that keep the audience at the edge of their seat, making it all so purposeful. 

    When the disequilibrium occurs within my film opening, I am very attached to the feeling of it being something gets built upon throughout the film, but also feels urgent at the start, similarly to this movie. Just by the nature of the portfolio project, I am limited to two minutes; therefore, I have to keep in mind these time constraints when trying to build the balance between equilibrium and disequilibrium.   

    After looking at these examples and learning about the theory itself, I think this is extremely important to include within my project. With the theory, it gives the plot a solid structure with different segments signaling progress within the story. Without it, I fear that the plot could go all over the place. 

And now for the movie quote of the day...

"Good morning, oh and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!" - Truman, The Truman Show (1998)

Sources: 

Media Studies. (2024, March 1). Todorov’s narrative theory of equilibrium and disruption. https://media-studies.com/todorov/