Tzvetan Todorov: Structural Critic

Bulgarian
Not a film critic
Structural critic
Equilbrium (Status quo) -- Disruption -- Recognition -- Reparation -- Re-equilibrium

Spiderman (2002)

Equilibrium - Peter Parker is normal kid who lives with uncle and aunt.

Disruption - He gets bitten by a radioactive spider whilst on a school trip.

Recognition - Peter wakes up the next day to find he has the powers of a spider.

Re-equilibrium - Peter lives with his powers for a few weeks.

Disruption - Uncle gets killed by car burglar

Recognition - Peter finds dying uncle and stays with him until he dies

Reparation - Peter finds car burglar and accidentally forces him out of a window.

Re-equilibrium - Peter now lives with his aunt and has graduated from college.

Disruption - Green Goblin (main antagonist) comes into the picture and attacks people at parade.

Recognition - Peter notices a threat is coming before everyone else and changes into his costume

Reparation - Spiderman defeats Green Goblin and saves Mary-Jane from falling.

Re-equilibrium - Mary-Jane are safe and their doing their respective jobs.

Roland Barthes - Semiotician

Enigma Code - Mystery. Clues dropped but aren't answered.
E.g. Mine Games, we don't know why the woman is locked is a cell and we want to find out why.

Action Code - Adds suspense and combat to the narrative.
E.g. The Avengers, Loki fights Captain America.

Referential Code - People of the same culture understands something of a text because its significant and relatable to their experiences.
E.g. James Bond, shots of parliament and Central London .

Semantic Code - An extra layer of meaning on top of the literal meaning. 
E.g.  

Symbolic Code - Contrast, character development, creates greater meaning. 
E.g. City of God, the protagonist is in between the gang and the police.

Claude Levi Strauss - Binary Opposites

Good vs Bad

Protagonist vs Antagonist

Civilised vs Savage

Young vs Old

Man vs Nature

Good Looking vs Ugly

Man vs Woman

Democracy vs Dictatorship

E.g. Star Wars. The Rebels vs The Empire.

The Avengers vs Loki 

Marty McFly vs Biff Tannen 

Applying Narrative Theorist to The Hunger Games

The Hero - Katniss Everdeen

The Princess - Peta Mallark

Donor (& Helper) - Haymich 

The Villain - The Capitol 

E - In District life 

D - The draw 

R - Primrose Chosen

R - Katniss volunteers

R-E - Katniss fights

Enigma - Will she survive

Action - Bow and arrow draw, training scene

Referential - Corrupt government 

Savage vs Civilised

State vs People

Male vs Female 

Rich vs Poor