Proppian character types in film trailers

Learning Objective: To consider Proppian Characters in film Trailers

Key words: Propp, Villain, Dispatcher, Hero, Donor, Helper, Prize, Father (often of the Princess/Prize).

Vladimir Propp Studied many stories and identified seven typical character types that appear.
Below are some of these types found in film trailers.

The Villain 
This is the character who struggles against the hero. Typically, with some sort of scarring. The villain will usually wear dark and mysterious colours, and not very attractive. This is to juxtapose between the hero and the villain; to highlight their differences. The villain in the picture is of “The Joker” who provides an evil presence in the movie: “The Dark Knight”

• The Dispatcher

 The character who invites the hero to eliminate the evil. The “dispatcher” in the picture is of the character “Nick Fury” in “Avengers Assemble”. He collects the hero(s) in order to send them off to fight the evil presence.

• The Helper

The character who helps the hero fight against evil. The Helper in the picture is “Robin” in “Batman and Robin”, he helps the hero by providing a physical presence in order to destroy the villain.

• The Princess

The character who needs to be rescued from the evil villain. The Princess in the picture is of “Gwen Stacey” in “The Amazing Spiderman”. She is taken by the villain and must be rescued by the hero.

• The Donor 

The character who offers some sort of help to the hero by providing an object(s) that will help the hero in his/her quest. The “donor” in the picture is of the character “Lucius Fox” in “Batman Begins”. He helps the hero (Batman) by providing him with weapons and armoury.

• The Hero

The most common character type The character who eliminates the villain and weds the princess. The example I have used is of “Spiderman” in which he eventually defeats the evil and weds the princess (Mary-Jane Watson)

Task1: Identify Proppian characters within the animated feature film Shrek. Write how you can tell the character types through appearance and behaviour. Also consider technical codes of sound, editing, lighting and framing.