TODOROV Theory

Charlie Derham
Dec 15, 2018
2 min read

Stages of the film – with his theory

A state of equilibrium (as it should be)
A disruption of that order by an event. (disequilibrium)
A recognition that the disorder has occurred (acknowledgement)
An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption. (solving)
A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium.

Example film “The Martian”

Routine day to day carrying out research on mars (learning characters)
There is an incoming storm they must all evacuate, and one man is believed to be left behind (believed by the crew to be dead), media going wild saying one man has died.
Crew think (Matt Damon) is dead but he survived, there is all the press that he is alive but left behind and how will he get home.
NASA start working on a mission to get him home and after gaining communication with the Mark, they work on ideas how they could bring him home. many failed attempts later they come up with a plan, but Matt Damon must travel across mars to a new rocket.
Mark, makes it to the new rocket in his modified rover, takes off in the rocket and docks into the ship with his crew in. This will then take him and the crew back to earth and everything is ok.

The Martian, is a film that perfectly fits with the TODOROV theory, but most importantly the film was successful. But why?

The theory works as this type of film does not require 100% attention to watch and it is not too complicated. There is a clear timeline of events which make the film easy to understand, this means that the film can be watched by a wide range of people.

However, producers have played around with the theory to create tv series that end with something happening and start with the resolution, this creates a hook on the viewers so that they continue watching the series as they want to know what happens next.

An example of this would be Breaking Bad, as at the end of every episode there is a bombshell.

I believe the Theory is a good baseline to investigate before creating a tv show/film, if the film you want to make is a simple story of unfolding events one by one.