Analysis of a short film with the application of narrative theories
An example of a short film that I will attempt to apply narrative theories to, is No-one Is Safe From Son Of Sam. https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2017/08/28/no-one-safe-son-sam/This short film from Short Of The Week tells the story of one of America's most notorious serial killers known as Son of Sam (also known as The 44 Caliber Killer). David Berkowitz turned New York into his own personal hunting ground, murdering six women between 1976 to 1977. There was no apparent motive behind these murders which made the crimes all the more chilling. During this time he sent letters to the police and newsagents stating 'I am the Son of Sam. I love to hunt, prowling the streets looking for fair game.' Berkowitz claimed that his neighbour's dog that was possessed by a demon 'told him to murder six people'. The short film is portrayed in a documentary/ television news style.
Some narrative theories that apply to this dramatic short film include the five stages of conventional narrative methods theorised by Todorov. These five stages are the state of the equilibrium, the disruption of the equilibrium, the recognition of the disruption, an attempt to repair the disruption and the reinstatement of the equilibrium. These stages can certainly be applied to No one Is Safe From The Son of Sam, despite the fact that it is non-fiction. Firstly the state of equilibrium is one of calmness. Although New York City has one of the highest crime rates in the United States, the city at the time was in a balance in terms of crime and murder. In other words the number of deaths by murder was not soaring exceedingly high in 1976, until the Son of Sam began his killing spree and the crime rate was not consuming the city. This was a major disruption of the city`s peace and sent the city into complete panic as a result of the media promotion and state manhunt for Berkowitz. Although there was no clear motive behind Berkowitz`s actions, a number of his victims shared striking visual similarities ( females with long, dark hair). It seemed that the Son of Sam was targeting women with a particular appearance which disrupted the equilibrium even more. The recognition of the disruption came from the police investigation. Both the police and the public were unaware that there was a serial killer hunting young women in New York. It wasn't until around four months after the first killing of an 18 year old woman on 20 July 1976 that police identified the weapon which was used in multiple murders. The attempt to repair the disruption ties in with the recognition of the disruption as a state-wide manhunt was started by police and the public were given enough information to be able to identify and help police with their investigation Son of Sam was identified as David Berkowitz in 1977 and was apprehended on August 10 1977, thus putting an end to his killing spree and reinstating the equilibrium
The work of Claude-Levi Strauss and his theory of Binary Opposition can be applied to No One is Safe From Son Of Sam. The narrative is driven by a conflict and the narrative ends in a resolution of this conflict. The conflict of this narrative is the individual vs. society in which David Berkowitz is being hunted by the city for his actions. Arguably, there is a conflict of good vs. evil also however then we have to begin to question what is evil? Can humans be evil? And of course the question of nature vs. nurture would have to be explored also which would cloud the original conflict. One of Roland Barthes narrative codes ( the hermeneutic code - enigma code) can be applied to this short film. The hermeneutic code refers to things that makes the audience ask questions and the answers to these questions are revealed slowly throughout the short film. This is applicable to No one Is Safe From Son of Sam as the identity of the Son of Sam is not revealed to the audience initially. This creates mystery surrounding his identity and serves to dehumanise him, portraying him as a monster making it even more thrilling and terrifying. This also makes the story more relatable for the modern audience as they are placed in the shoes of the citizens of New York City at the time. Time comprehension is another area of narrative theory that can be applied to this short film. Very few screen stories take place in real time and No one Is Safe From Son of Sam is one of those films. It would be incorrect to say that flashbacks are included in the film as the entire film is set in 1977. However the nature of flashbacks usually give the audience a clear representation of a previous time period which is what this film achieves. The old style, blurred television static and graphics mirrors that of a 1977 news channel very well which shows the successful time comprehension and manipulation.
There are a number of narrative theories that do not apply to No one is Safe From Son of Sam, one of which includes the work of Vladimir Propp, who argued that characters in stories all have a narrative function. While this theory applies to many folk tales, fairy tales and fictional narratives, it is difficult to relate this to a documentary style short film. The narrative functions identified by Propp include the hero, the villain (who struggles against the hero), the donor/enabler (prepares the hero) the helper, the princess (often sought for during the narrative) the false hero (perceived as a good character who then later emerges as evil) and the dispatcher (character who sends the hero off on their quest) Arguably, the only one of these narrative functions that could be applied to No one is Safe From the Son of Sam would be the villain. However, every villain needs a hero to defeat them and restore the balance of the narrative which means these narrative functions cannot be applied to this documentary style short.
In relation to the analysing of a narrative, terminal code is an important element of
this analysing process. Terminal code refers to anything technical in terms of sound, camera angle and editing meaning it can be applied to all shorts as every short will include these things. In terms of sound in No-one is Safe From Son of Sam, there is a variety of narrative voices
of news reporters, investigators, police officers and modern investigators. The shots cut from old style news channel reports updating the public with information as it happens, to analysers in the modern day explaining how these events terrified
the residents of New York at the time. The effective use of clips of news channels, old news articles and interviews with the victims creates the illusion that the audience is watching these events unfold as they happen. Essentially time is being manipulated here, taking the audience back to 1976 and putting us in the shoes of the panic-stricken citizens.
Another important area of narrative analysis is the verbal code of the narrative, in other words the language and how it tells the story. Most of the language in this short is factual and informative, which fits with the documentary style genre of the short. However, there are key words that are repeated over and over for emphasis for example 'fear' 'panic' 'victim'. These words balance out the factual information and gives the audience an insight into the emotion of the citizens of New York City.
Clues within the narrative also should be looked at when analysing the narrative. In this documentary style short which follows a murder spree and the mystery around the events, this is certainly applicable. In this case, the clues in question surround Son of Sam's identity, motive and means of how he commits these shocking crimes without being apprehended. The first clue we are given is the murder weapon which police identified as a 44 caliber gun that had been used in a number of murders across New York City, thus the coining of the name The 44 Caliber Killer. This is the first clue we are given in the case and it is the recognition that a serial killer was at large. As the documentary continues we gain more information regarding Son of Sam's targets. We are told his victims share striking similarities in terms of appearance: it seems as though he is targeting young women with dark brown, long and wavy hair. This showed the killer had a preference in relation to his victims of choice and he clearly enjoyed watching as the panic of the public grew. He later began writing letters to the media and the police, which was filled with religious content. The attention and publicity he was getting was entertaining to him and he decided to take advantage of this by beginning to call himself Son of Sam. This instilled more fear in the hearts of the people of New York because now there was a name for this monster. Arnold Diaz, a well known TV veteran in the short film describes how 'he's everywhere it seems' and the exposure the media were giving him was certainly adding to his presence.
In conclusion, there are a number of relative narrative theories that apply to this particular documentary style short film. The balance of old style news articles and news reports with interviews with modern analysts keeps the documentary interesting to the modern audience. Its duration of 8 short minutes go past so quickly as so much relevant information is packed in so effectively.
In relation to the analysing of a narrative, terminal code is an important element of
this analysing process. Terminal code refers to anything technical in terms of sound, camera angle and editing meaning it can be applied to all shorts as every short will include these things. In terms of sound in No-one is Safe From Son of Sam, there is a variety of narrative voices 
of news reporters, investigators, police officers and modern investigators. The shots cut from old style news channel reports updating the public with information as it happens, to analysers in the modern day explaining how these events terrified the residents of New York at the time. The effective use of clips of news channels, old news articles and interviews with the victims creates the illusion that the audience is watching these events unfold as they happen. Essentially time is being manipulated here, taking the audience back to 1976 and putting us in the shoes of the panic-stricken citizens.
Another important area of narrative analysis is the verbal code of the narrative, in other words the language and how it tells the story. Most of the language in this short is factual and informative, which fits with the documentary style genre of the short. However, there are key words that are repeated over and over for emphasis for example 'fear' 'panic' 'victim'. These words balance out the factual information and gives the audience an insight into the emotion of the citizens of New York City.
Clues within the narrative also should be looked at when analysing the narrative. In this documentary style short which follows a murder spree and the mystery around the events, this is certainly applicable. In this case, the clues in question surround Son of Sam's identity, motive and means of how he commits these shocking crimes without being apprehended. The first clue we are given is the murder weapon which police identified as a 44 caliber gun that had been used in a number of murders across New York City, thus the coining of the name The 44 Caliber Killer. This is the first clue we are given in the case and it is the recognition that a serial killer was at large. As the documentary continues we gain more information regarding Son of Sam's targets. We are told his victims share striking similarities in terms of appearance: it seems as though he is targeting young women with dark brown, long and wavy hair. This showed the killer had a preference in relation to his victims of choice and he clearly enjoyed watching as the panic of the public grew. He later began writing letters to the media and the police, which was filled with religious content. The attention and publicity he was getting was entertaining to him and he decided to take advantage of this by beginning to call himself Son of Sam. This instilled more fear in the hearts of the people of New York because now there was a name for this monster. Arnold Diaz, a well known TV veteran in the short film describes how 'he's everywhere it seems' and the exposure the media were giving him was certainly adding to his presence.
In conclusion, there are a number of relative narrative theories that apply to this particular documentary style short film. The balance of old style news articles and news reports with interviews with modern analysts keeps the documentary interesting to the modern audience. Its duration of 8 short minutes go past so quickly as so much relevant information is packed in so effectively.
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