Claude Levi-Strauss - Binary Oppositions

Claude Levi-Strauss was a French anthropologist. He examined how stories unconsciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture. He stated that there are usually expressed in the form of binary oppositions. These opposites may clash in the film making the action more exciting. This theory can be applied to all movies and at least a few binary oppositions can be found, the most obvious example is the opposition of the hero and the villain.

Umberto Eco applied this theory to a group of Bond novels and uncovered a number of oppositions in them including:

Bond <-> M

Bond <-> Villain

Villain <-> Woman

Woman <-> Bond

Duty <-> Sacrifice

Love <-> Death

Luxury <-> Discomfort

Chance <-> Planning

and many more...

Binary oppositions are a key feature in many narratives and films and we should work to include these in our trailer in order to make the action as exciting as possible.