Tzvetan Todorov theory

Tzvetan Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov suggested that all narratives follow a five part structure. The structure from the begging contains:

Equilibrium – A state of order.

Disequilibrium or Disruption of that order.

Recognition – which the disorder has occurred.

An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption.

Resolution the emergence of a new Equilibrium.

In our opening sequence we have only used the Equilibrium and Disequilibrium, this is because we are only creating a two minute opening and want to build up a cliff hanger/suspense for the audience to be attracted to so they want to watch the rest of the film.

This simple formula can be applied to virtually all narratives. It's a more formal way of thinking about the beginning , middle and end of a film and takes into account the Aristotle's theory that all drama is conflict.  Todorov came up with his theory after making study of Russian folk tales.