Post 3- The Three-Act Structure, Vladimir Propp and Genre

The Three-Act Structure
The 3 act structure is a principle linked to storytelling. It can be found in plays; Shakespeare was a great user of it, poetry, novels; the works of Conan Doyle show this structure, comic books, short stories, video games and film; films of Hitchcock used this also. Even though the concept of the structure is simple, it has a lot of power over how these works of art are perceived and is a very powerful weapon in the hands of a writer. The three acts are labelled as:

Act 1: Setup 
In the first act of any film, novel, play, comic etc, all of the major characters, the main setting, and the conflict which will move the story forward and the genre are introduced. It's in the first few pages of the script that the writer is able to define the reasoning and logic of the story, therefore giving them the freedom to let anything happen.

It is also essential that Act 1 contains a strong hook that will encourage the viewers/readers to carry on reading/watching. This would be in the form of an exciting event that takes place or even unanswered questions which the viewers/readers want to find out. Act 1 ends with the first plot point.

With regards to this short film Act 1 is introducing the getaway driver and that a robbery is taking place even though the spectators never get to see it. We then get introduced to the fly. 

Act 2: Confrontation 
This act is the longest of the three and will take up half of the film. This act is also the hardest to complete, as the writer has established the main storyline, but then has to decide on other plot points to keep the film interesting, whilst making sense, whilst making the story progress. As well as this, many films have subplots, usually, a relationship blooming in films such as action/adventure, however, a subplot is an effective way of filling up the blank spaces that the script/novel is missing as it gives the viewers another story to focus on to keep them engaged.

In the second act, the stakes escalate, and very often the protagonist is 'on the fence' about what to do when this is the case something must happen by the midpoint of the story to make their goal clear. An important aspect of this act is the moment when a crisis arises and all hope is lost, this then leads into the third and final act where the resolution is found.

In this short film, the fly will not leave the getaway driver, leading him to get frustrated and shows this by trying multiple methods to get rid of it. At the end of this act, we see that the driver has resolved to grab the gun which follows through to the third act. 

Act 3: Resolution
The last act is the final confrontation of the film, then followed by the denouement. This is usually the shortest of the acts as soon after the second act the hero and the villain come face to face, which eventually flows into the conclusion. This act is also when the writer will include any delayed revelations and will reveal the conclusion of the subplot/s.

In this short film the resolution does not actually end up being a resolution to the fly, and actually makes matters worse as he has bought attention to himself and his companions by shooting the gun multiple times. The fly and the driver almost represent the idea of the hero and the villain, the fly being the hero as it was distracting the driver, therefore, preventing them to be able to get away with the robbery. 

Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp analysed a whole series of Russian folk tales in the 1920s and decided that the same events kept being repeated in each of the stories, creating a consistent framework. His seminal book, 'Morphology of the Folk Tale', was first published in 1928 and has had a huge influence on literary theorists and practitioners ever since.

Propp extended the Russian Formalist study of language to his analysis of folk tales. He broke down the tales into the smallest possible units, which he called narratemes, or narrative functions, necessary for the narrative to exist. Each narrateme is an event that drives the narrative forward, possibly taking it in a different direction. Not all of these functions appear in every story, but they always appear in this order. 

Propp's Narrative Functions

These 31 functions are as follows:

1. A member of a family leaves home (the hero is introduced as a unique person within the tribe, whose needs may not be met by remaining)
2. An interdiction (a command NOT to do something e.g.'don't go there', 'go to this place'), is addressed to the hero; 
3. The hero ignores the interdiction 
4. The villain appears and (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc, or intended victim encounters the villain); 
5. The villain gains information about the victim;
6. The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win the confidence of victim); 
7. The victim is fooled by the villain, unwittingly helps the enemy; 
8. Villain causes harm/injury to family/tribe member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc, commits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of the family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc); 
9. Misfortune or lack is made known, (the hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc/ alternative is that victimised hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment); 
10. Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action; 
11. The hero leaves home; 
12. The hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc, preparing the way for his/her receiving a magical agent or helper (donor); 
13. Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses the adversary's powers against them); 
14. Hero acquires the use of a magical agent (it's directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, is eaten/drunk, or offered by other characters); 
15. The hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search; 
16. Hero and villain join in direct combat; 
17. The hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives a ring or scarf); 
18. Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
19. Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed); 
20. Hero returns;
21. The hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero); 
22. The hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life); 
23. Hero unrecognised arrives home or in another country; 
24. False hero presents unfounded claims;
25. Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, the test of strength/endurance, other tasks); 
26. The task is resolved; 
27. The hero is recognised (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her); 
28. False hero or villain is exposed;
29. The hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc); 
30. The villain is punished;
31. Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted). 

Although the plot is driven by the actions and choices of the hero (the protagonist), these narrative functions are spread between the main characters. Propp also defined these character categories:

• the villain, who struggles with the hero (formally known as the antagonist)
• the donor, 
• the helper, 
• the Princess, a sought-for person (and/or her father), who exists as a goal and often recognizes and marries hero and/or punishes the villain 
• the dispatcher, 
• the hero, who departs on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to the donor and weds 
• the false hero (or antihero or usurper), who claims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like a real hero (ie by trying to marry the princess)

Genre
A genre is a style that something has been created into. For example in films and novels, the most popular and well-known genres would be, Romance(comedy), horror, action and adventure and sci-fi, and these films have to have certain conventions to fit into that genre. For example, for something to be part of the Romantic genre, it would show a relationship between two people blooming and makes the readers want them to be together. A romantic novel might also include features of 'the other', meaning that there might be someone else involved with one of the characters, as well as a problem that is preventing the two protagonists to be together, and very often the idea of 'the other' is the cause of this problem.

There are also subgenres, this is when two genres may overlap to become its own, for example, it is very common for most films to include a romantic relationship between two of its characters. Some examples of sub genres are:

• 'Chick-flicks' - mostly include formulated romantic comedies (with mis-matched lovers or female relationships),  melodramatic tearjerkers and gal-pal films, movies about family crises and emotional catharsis, sometimes with foul-mouthed and empowered females, and female bonding situations involving families, mothers, daughters, children, women, and women's issues. These films are often told from the female P-O-V, and star a female protagonist or heroine

• Detective and mystery- Detective-mystery films are usually considered a sub-type or sub-genre of crime/gangster films (or film noir), or suspense or thriller films that focus on the unsolved crime (usually the murder or disappearance of one or more of the characters, or a theft), and on the central character - the hard-boiled detective-hero, as he/she meets various adventures and challenges in the cold and methodical pursuit of the criminal or the solution to the crime.

• Fantasy- Fantasy films, usually considered a sub-genre, are most likely to overlap with the film genres of science fiction and horror, although they are distinct. Fantasies take the audience to dark netherworld places (or another dimension) with mythical creatures, where events are unlikely to occur in real life - they transcend the bounds of human possibility and physical laws. They sometimes take the form of fairy tales that often have elements of magic, myth, wonder, folklore and the extraordinary. Fantasy films can assume epicproportions (multi-episodic), usually when based on ancient Greek writings or more contemporary works. Heroic fantasies follow a hero-character who overcomes various obstacles on a quest. Sword-and sorcery fantasies are another sub-type. One of the major categories of fantasy-action films are the super-hero movies, based quite often on an original comic-strip or comic book character. They may appeal to both children and adults, depending upon the particular film.