Propp's narrative functions

Vladdimir Propp was a Russian critic active in the 1920's who came up with a theory based on his observation. Propp stated that narratives did not have to include all the functions he noted, but they should be in the order listed. His functions were:

1. Preparation
2. Complication
3. Transference
4. struggle
5. Return
6. Recognition

As we are only doing a film opening if we were to follow Propp's narrative functions we would only need to include aspects from the "Preparation" category. 

Preparation:

• A member of family leaves home
• A prohibition or rule is imposed on the hero
• This prohibition or rule is broken
• The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance
• The villain learns something about his victim
• The villain tries to deceive the victim to get possession of him or his belongings
• The victim unknowingly helps the villain by being deceived or influenced by the villain 

When we are planning our opening we should take these things into consideration, and if we decide to oppose them we should come up with a valid reason why we did this.