Todorov's Narrative Stages:
Equilibrium- The setting is established, key characters are introduced and a storyline is set up.
Disruption- Oppositional characters appear and the story takes a turn.
Recognition of Disruption- The lives of characters and events are interwoven. Tension builds through out these particular scenes, which often take up a large part if the film.
Attempt to Repair- The highest point of tension which once resolved there is change in dynamic.
Reinstatement of Equilibrium- Matters are resolved, problems are solved and questions are answered.
The difficulty with telling the story in short films is introducing a character, their personality and their place in society within the space of a few minutes, as well as introducing other characters and relationships between them. Also because of the limited time the point of disruption is often immediate, which when script writing can cause some script-writers to waffle fictitious events from unrecorded and unscripted events.
However, the benefit of limited time is that it enables the script-writer to get to the core of the character cutting out unnecessary babble which feature films often include. It also benefits the audience because it allows them to a grasp straight away who the character is and their position in the story.
Not only is the story usually told by using Todorov's theory, but through mise-en-scene. The positioning of characters and their facial expressions expresses hidden emotions and can give an insight to following actions. Attitudes can also be transcribed through clothing; for example if a young male is dressed in baggy, informal attire then they are unlikely to have an uptight, snobby personality compared to middle aged woman wearing a tailored skirt suit.
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