Propp and Todorov's Theory

Every film, story or narrative always has a beginning, middle and end. They always involve conflicts, problems, good guys and bad guys. This is what makes every film, story and narrative so interesting or else nothing would happen and it would be like watching someone else's average life.

Propp and Todorov are both people who came up with their own theory or idea about how films, narratives and stories are made up. They both broke them down to find the basic foundations of how they are structured. Propp was a russian soviet formalist scholar who published a book called "Morphology of the Folk Tale" (1928) and Todorov is Franco-Bulgarian Philosopher who came up with his theory in 1960; they both came up with their own theories:

Vladimir Propp (1895 - 1970)

Propp's theory involves:
Preparation
Complication
Transference
Struggle
Return
Recognition

Tzvetan Todorov (Born 1939)

Todorov's theory involves:
Equilibrium
Disruption
Recognition of Equilibrium
Attempt to repair disruption
A return of new equilibrium

Propp not only had a theory though, he also had character types to add onto it. Character types are certain characters that always appear in films, stories and narratives. Propp decided that there were these character types:
Hero - normally the main character
Villain - the character the hero is trying to stop
Prize - what the hero gains at the end
Mentor - the character who helps the hero all the way through
Helper - the character that aids the hero
Blocker - the character that delays the hero from getting what they want
Dispatcher - the character that sends the hero on his journey

To conclude, both their theories and Propp's character types can be applied to almost any film, story, narrative, literature, theatre, television series, video games, etc. By following their theories it allows you create suspense and to plan a story's plot easily because you have some guideline.