Harry's Homework

Tsetvan Todorov - Bulgarian Structuralist from 1960s

- He focused more on the structure or process of the story rather than the characters. He had the idea that most stories follow a main pattern. Of beginning, middle and end

- He was a structuralist which is a theorist that looks for order and patterns in communication
- Todorov's theory was that most films follow a 5 Act Structure:
  1. A state of equilibrium
  2. A disruption of the ordered state by an event
  3. A recognition that disruption has taken place
  4. An attempt to repair the damage to the of the disruption
  5. A return to some kind of equilibrium


A film that follow these steps perfectly is Skyscraper.

1. Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) is preparing for a job offer, as security for the new tallest building in the world and he and his family are living there for a few weeks and his friend Ben (Pablo Schreiber) helped him get the job offer. (The equilibrium)
2.  Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) gets the job and is given a tablet that controls the buildings security system and, his wife and kids see suspicious men on the floor they're staying on and it turns out they were starting a fire and Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) has been attacked by a man trying to steal his bag (for the tablet) and attacked by his friend Ben (Pablo Schreiber) for the tablet yet again. (The disruption) 
3. (2 points of recognition) After he beats his friend in a fight and his friend is dying Ben (Pablo Schreiber) tells Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) that his family is in danger. And, the floor that his family is stuck on is on fire and they can't get out.
4. Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) then finds a way into the building to save his family and the owner of the building has leverage on the terrorists that have attacked the terrorists get one of his kids and tell him he needs to get the leverage from the owner. When Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) meets the Zhao Long Zi (Ng Chin Han) 
5. The equilibrium is restored when the police got Xia (Hannah Quinlivan) the mastermind, his wife and the other hostages out of the building, and the Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) kills the leader of the terrorist and gets his daughter back and the family goes home.

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