Narrative

American Sniper 

We can clearly identify the protagonist of this film being Bradley Cooper, the male character. This is made explicit by the use of the initial close up and the fact that he is the only one we are able to identify with, within this trailer, as he is the only character that we see close up. Regarding Propp's stock characters, we can assume that the protagonist is the 'hero' of the film, trying to save the country (the princess) and of course the war being the villain in this situation. From this short trailer we are able to understand the narrative of the film due to the mise-en-scene; army clothing and weaponry, revealing a war scene. This film could potentially follow Todorov's theory as the equilibrium would have been when the protagonist was with his wife/girlfriend and was happy within his family life as he just had a child. This would then be disrupted by him being called to fight in a war, causing the disequilibrium and then of course a new equilibrium would result from this, be it positive or negative. The binary opposition would be harmony versus imbalance. Furthermore, there is a very tense enigma code created by the end of this trailer, 'will he shoot the boy?'  The trailer is left on an unbelievably tense cliff hanger. Also, we want to know whether he will get back to his family or not. 

Dexter 

We can identify that the protagonist of this TV show is Dexter, mainly because the title of the show is Dexter but more importantly because of the use of the non-diegetic sound of the voice over, which immediately highlights the importance of this character seeing as the audience are able to follow his train of thought along with him. Barthes enigma code is actually within the clip as Dexter asks the questions that the audience are thinking but we still want to know how the body was severed and how the person was killed. We also want to know whether or not the police will find the killer and who the killer could be. Dexter subverts Propp's stock characters substantially as he could be considered as both a villain and a hero simultaneously. We can infer that he wants to find the killer but then again we can tell that he is a deluded, psychopathic character as he asks himself why he didn't think of that, implying that he has murdered people before, revealing his 'villainous side.' Masuka is the donor, however he provides information that does not help Dexter but still makes him wonder, which is also an action code as we now assume that Dexter will try to hunt down this killer. Within this clip only,  Todorov's theory can be applied as the equilibrium would be Dexter doing his job and coming to a crime scene; then the disequilibrium would be Masuka telling him there is no blood, which disrupts his job and then of course the fact that the person has been murdered. 

The Great British Bake-Off

Propp's stock characters cannot necessarily be applied directly in this situation, however the thing that seems to be creating the complication for the contestants is their dough, therefore we may say that the villain is the dough and it's proving time. The helper for this woman, who is the central figure of the clip, is the microwave as she believes it can help her with her baking. The literal dispatchers would be Paul and Mary, who have set this initial task. Furthermore, the audience would be asking and wondering whether or not the microwave will prove her dough quicker than the rest and will it actually work? These enigma codes create an element of mystery and tension for the viewers as we want to know whether or not she is successful. This clip confirms Todorov's theory; the equilibrium would be before everyone starts their bakes, then the disequilibrium would be when they have to prove their dough and they would have to wait an hour and a half, which causes a great disruption with their baking processes. The new equilibrium for the female character would be that her microwave worked and she was able to cut her proving time by half, resolving her issue. A binary opposition has also been created, contestants versus dough.