Vladimir Propp

“Characters have a narrative function, they provide a structure for the text”

Vladimir Propp was born on April 17, 1895 in St. Petersburg to a German family. He attended St. Petersburg University majoring in Russian and German philology. When he graduated he taught Russian and German at a secondary school and then became a college teacher of German.

His theory is useful because it avoids treating characters as if they are individuals and reminds us that they’re merely constructs. Some characters are involved just to progress the narrative.

Who is Vladimir Propp ?

Seven Proppian characters:

The Hero – a character that seeks something

The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero’s quest

The Donor – who provides an object with magical properties

The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message

The False Hero – who disrupts the hero’s success by making false claims

The Helper – who aids the hero

The Princess – acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s plots

Her Father – who acts to reward the hero for his effort

The characters which appear most in film trailers no matter what genre are the ‘heroes’ and the ‘villains’. This is due to the fact that it makes the film involve some form of competition which makes the film more interesting for the viewer to watch. It also follows tradition from books and fairy-tales. There is usually a damsel in distress of some sort, but it isn’t a necessary component.

Prom Night (2008)

We see clearly the Proppian character types in the trailer ‘Prom Night’. The main Proppian type is the Villain who is the murderer in the film. There are also a set of victims who would make up the Damsel In Distress roles, these victims are particularly female, which are stereotyped as being vulnerable. This is different towards other genres as there isn’t a clear hero or knight in shining armour seen in the film, instead the villain is seen as powerful and unstoppable who is causing such vicious attacks and murders.

Trailer.

In genres such as comedy films, Proppian characters still occur but not all of the same ones appear. In the trailer for the hangover, there are three protagonists and the villain who is Mr Cheung. The villain has kidnapped the protagonist’s friend Doug. Doug in this case would be the ‘Damsel in Distress’ which is strange because in most cases the damsel in distress in usually a female as they are seen as being vulnerable and weak, so are therefore targeted more than male characters. Also Doug's wife would be the sender in this case as they are getting married so he is sent on a stag party.

Trailer.

The Hangover (2009)