Todorov Halloween Todorov's theory can be related to Halloween in some sense because there is a clear equilibrium in the beginning

and the obvious disruption, however the new equilibrium isn't necessarily better than the first equilibrium. There are also 2 equilibriums in a way, because of the change in time and families, so we see the Myers equilibrium and the Strode household equilibrium. Equilibrium- Michael Myer's home. Normality of setting. Normality of Halloween night. Disruption- Michael stabs his sister. The quick disruption of the equilibrium helps to make the horror film scarier in a short space of time because the audience is expecting more of an establishment of normality, however they are shocked and put out of their comfort zone. Equilibrium- of Laurie Strode's life. Disruption- Michael Myers follows Laurie and threatens her life and kills her friends, causing the... Disequilibrium- Laurie has to try to protect herself and the kids she is looking after that night. She is terrorized by Michael Myers. New equilibrium- Laurie is saved by Dr Loomis. The new equilibrium isn't a better one: Michael is not dead so is still somewhere out there, so he is capable of killing again. Laurie's friends are also dead. The stages of the narrative aren't necessarily as clear as Todorov's because of the time gap between the beginning of the film from 1963 to 1978 and the need to have a new equilibrium established. The ending of the film is not a classic new equilibrium where things are supposed to be better than the beginning. The Crazies Todorov's theory isn't applied to 'The Crazies' because it starts with chaos and the disequilibrium where the town is on fire. We then skip back 2 days showing that most of the film has already happened and we find out how the town came to this state of disequilibrium. The film doesn't use parallel editing in the beginning so it is difficult to establish an equilibrium right at the start of the running time. Most of the film is then disequilibrium where the villagers become diseased and 'crazy' wanting to kill others and we follow David and Judy who try to escape 'the crazies'. The new-equilibrium doesnt exist because although David and Judy have escaped death in their previous town Ogden Marsh, they are alone and then we see an aerial shot of them which suggests that the government have been watching them and plan to destroy the town they are approaching. This is not a new equilibrium because things arent positive; its actually a new disequilibrium because the audience is aware of the events to come.

Propp Halloween Propp's theory doesn't fit exactly to horror films so it's difficult to apply it to Halloween. The villain-Michael Myers The hero- Laurie/ Dr Loomis The donor- ? The helper- Dr Loomis The princess- Laurie Her father- ? The dispatcher-? The false hero- ? Some of the character types are missing because there are different characters in more modern films. For example, Laurie's friend Annie wouldn't fit into any of these character types. The character role of a princess is also extremely dated and wouldn't be a common character you would see in a modern film, especially a horror film. The Crazies Most of Propps character types can be applied to The Crazies though not necessarily in a conventional way e.g. the qualities of the father role include rewarding the hero (David) who is rewarded by Judy with a baby; however, she is obviously not his father. The villain-The US army, for crashing the plane containing the virus and releasing it into the town. The hero- David the sheriff is the hero because he saves his wife along with many other people and he escapes death. The donor/The helper- Russell the deputy is the donor in The Crazies because he helps Judy and David escape through the town without being seen by sacrificing his own life. He also saves Davids life 3 times throughout the film. The princess- Judy is the princess because she is saved by David and she is pregnant so she needs to be protected. Her father- Not necessarily a father, but Judy will reward David (the hero) with a child. The dispatcher- Rory is the first townsperson to be infected and therefore begins the chain of events. The false hero- The Mayor is the false hero because he should be thinking of the town's wellbeing; however, he refuses to turn off the water supply which is infecting the townspeople. This causes David and his deputy to take matters into their own hands.

Claude Levi- Strauss Halloween The use of binary opposites is obvious in Halloween and most horror films. This is why perhaps 'The false hero' character doesn't fit into Halloween because a character is either good or bad etc. Good/ Evil- Laurie is clearly a good character whilst she is being chased and attacked by the evil Michael Myers. Virgin/ Sexually active- Laurie is the innocent virginal girl, which contrasts with Annie and her other friends' attitudes who are sexually active. Sane/ Insane- Laurie and Dr Loomis are the sane characters, who are trying to stop Michael Myers, the insane character. Past-/ Present- The audience sees Myer's past and then is introduced to and follows Laurie's story which is the present. Innocent/ Corrupted- Laurie is innocent because she is not sexually active and is a respectable female; however, Myers is corrupted as he is insane and murders people, as well as Annie who is corrupted by being sexually active. Innocent as a youth/ Not innocent as a youth- We see Myer's childhood as being corrupted as well as seeing Tommy's childhood who is a lot more innocent and well behaved. The Crazies In The Crazies there are clear divides between the sane and insane, but it is not always easy to differentiate between good and bad. We could view the insane as bad because they're killing the insane; however, it's not their fault that they're infected, the government are the ones to blame for crashing the plane carrying the virus. Sane/Insane- The sane people try to escape the insane people who are trying to kill them. Day/Night- Typically in horror films day is seen as a safe period of time because visibility is increased; however, this is a flaw in 'The Crazies' because night time offers safety for the characters to sneak around the town without being seen by the infected people. Military/Civilian- The military are seen as evil because they control and destroy people's lives whereas the civilians are seen as weak and less in control. Normality/Abnormality- The normality of the town is disrupted by the abnormality of the virus and the infected people. Fear/Courage- Those who are fearful panic and flee meaning that they are found and killed by the military, whilst those with courage stick together and help each other so that they can survive.

Bordwell and Thompson 'A chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space.' Halloween The fact that Myers kills his sister causes him to be put into a mental institution over the 15 years which are not shown in the film. We know this because of us seeing the murder and his parents' shock to the 'present day' where he escapes from the institution/ Doctor's car. Laurie is watching 'The thing' whilst across the road her friends are being murdered. The parallel editing shows that both are happening at the same time. The Crazies Judy is taken away because of her fever and at the same time David escapes to his Sherif's office so that he can find a way to save Judy. Also whilst this is happening, an infected person breaks into the ward and starts to kill people who are with Judy. Despite not seeing the chain of events leading up to Judy's pregnancy we know that she is pregnant because we see her go to the bedroom in her house which is decorated for her baby when it is born. After the audience sees the town on fire at the start of the film we are taken to 2 days before this event and then the film catches up with this beginning clip and we view the film in chronological order. We assume later on in the film that Russel is infected, despite not having seen it on screen, because he begins to show behaviour of the infected people: being violent and wanting to be in possession of weapons.