Sleepy Hollow

Narrative

All media texts tell us some kind of story and term. Narrative is the way this

process of telling stories occurs. Narrative has two parts to it: Structure and Elements.

Structure refers to how narrative are constructed or put together.

Story: A sequence of events, known correctly as the plot.

Narrative: The way those events are put together to be presented as an audience.

Todorov’s narrative theoryThe Equilibrium

Ichabod Crane (Jonny Depp) is sent to sleepy hollow to investigate the murders of town folk.

A disruption in the equilibrium

Only to find out that the killer is not of flesh and blood, as instead is a headless horse men.

A recognition that there has been a disruption

Crane begins investigation and has an encounter with the headless horse men. Whilst also seeing him kill his next victim.

An attempt to repair the disruption

Crane stumbles across the horse men's grave and finds that his skull is missing. He uncovers the plot of revenge in which the horse men is being controlled by the step mother.

A reinstatement of the equilibrium

Crane fights and chases Lady Van Tassel and returns the skull to the horse men who then goes back to hell with his enslaver.

Elements move the film along

Crane is dispatched to Sleepy Hollow.

The killer is not of flesh and blood; a headless horse men.

Encounters the headless horse men.

Crane develops an attachment to the Van Tassel’s daughter.

Discovers the horse men’s grave.

Horse men’s skull is missing.

Horse men is being controlled by Lady Van Tassel.

Elements • Elements are inherent to the process of every film:• Images: All filmmaking uses a light capture/recording device. • Time: First there is the actual length or duration of the film, for example, a run time of

90 minutes. The other type of time is called diagetic time, or time that is the result of story or narrative.

• Motion: Motion pictures, whether video or film, give the illusion of motion by the movement of many still frames through a projector.

• Sound: Sound is not essential to a motion picture however sound is so common in film that it is included as an essential element.

• Light: When we record we do not record objects, peoples, buildings, or anything at all- we record light. Image is what the mind does to to the light once it is recorded and played back.

• Sequence: After filming is complete, the editing process begins. The editor and the director together will decide the length and order of the shots and piece them together to make a sequence.

• Composition: Composition is the use of the visual elements and principles to create a frame that is aesthetically interesting, attention holding, and consistent with overall continuity.