Hangover Narrative Breakdown

1. Hangover Narrative Breakdown By Josh May

2. Summary of the movie The movie " The Hangover" is about three friends supporting there friend Doug which is getting married in a week. The friends decide to go on a road trip to Vegas for a bachelors party.  Little do they know that night of endless drinking ends up going terribly wrong. The problems don’t really start to occur until the morning after. The characters wake up to find themselves surrounded by evidence of a night of mischief. Coming to their senses, they soon come to realize that their best friend, Doug Billings a.k.a the groom, has gone missing. With only one day until the wedding, they have precious little time to find him. Only problem is, no one can remember exactly what happened.  The three friends end up slowly remembering what happened and they find Doug and arrive at the wedding just in time. The story ends with the four friends recovering their camera from the backset of Doug’s car and looking at all of the pictures that were taking that night. 

3. Actantal Model

4. The senders of the film would be the characters Alan, Stu and Phil. They are the implied senders within this film they have a important part with pushing the narrative of the film forward. The object of the whole film and the goal is to find their friend Doug and get him to his wedding in time. He receiver would be “me” the viewer as well as the audience watching the movie. The helpers in the film that appear throughout the film and help Stu, Alan and Phil remember what happened the night before and give the three friends clues to where their friend Doug might be. The opponents within these model slow or prevent the subject from getting to the set goal and the opponent that slows the three friends down is chow the villain the film. The subject and what the film is centered around is Doug and to find him and get him to his wedding in time. Actantal Model Breakdown

5. This first part always contains these elements, the main character, location and mood, genre, the premise, the incident and transition to act two. In this first act the three friends decide to take their friend Doug to Vegas for a bachelors party. The main characters are established Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug. The mood and the location are set once they arrive in Vegas. The genre is obliviously a comedy due to the joke throughout the beginning of the movie. The premise of the movie is uncovered the minute they arrive at Vegas along with the "incident" which is what kicks off the story. The transition is when the three friends wake up in the morning and can not find their friend Doug thus leading to act two where they set off to find them. (Act One) Beginning

6. The middle part of a movie is all about conflict and confrontation. Everything that could go wrong does. It is with this conflict that gives birth to the mid point of the movie. Which is the introduction of a character which sharpens the focus of the main character to accomplish his goals. In this act the three friend began their journey to find their friend Doug. They run into minor characters along the way that either aid them either with their search or end up getting them in trouble. A new character is introduced in this act and he goes by the name of Mr. chow, he ends up sending the three friends on a wild goose chase to win back the casino money that they stole for them in return he will give Doug back, which Chow has Doug for hostage. The transition occurs when they win the money with Alan's gambling talent and return the money to Mr. Chow in the dessert, only then realizing that chow kidnap the wrong Doug which leads to act three. (Act Two) Middle

7. In act three which is the final act, this is where the climax of the story can be found. The constant rise created by act two is finally overcame obstacles and resolve the problem thus taking and bringing the story to a end. After the misunderstanding and mix up with chow, the three friends head to a payphone and call Doug's soon to be wife and tell her that they lost Doug. The climax is when Stu finally remembers where Doug was. They head back to their hotel and go on the roof thus the climax starts. They finally find Doug passed out on the roof and they began to pack up and get Doug to his wedding before its to late. Doug ends up making it to the wedding with minutes to spare and gets married that evening. Alan ends up finding his camera underneath the seat and the three guys promise to look at the pictures once and then delete them. The movie end with seeing the four friend facial expressions as they look at the pictures. (Act Three) End

8. This story is a detective based story told with a storyteller frame. The desire line is to find out what happened to Doug, the groom (Truby’s Writers Studio). The storyteller frame uses a narrative technique where by an introductory main story is composed. This purpose is to set the foundation for a fictiousnarrative and organize a set of shorter stories, thus turning the narrative into a story within a story creating depth and a stronger plot(Answers.com). The Hangover does not use the traditional six step narrative structure, but I will attempt to break the film down using the six step narrative structure, but some of these rules are not all present in this film. Six Step Narrative Structure

9. The four friends leave home to go to Vegas for Doug's bachelors party. Alan spikes the four friends drinks with roofies so that they can have a better time. Not knowing that they would lose Doug in the morning when they awake, due to the roofies which cause memory loss. When the three friends awake they realize that their friend Doug is nowhere to be found. 4. Alan start to realize that he has caused more trouble then he planned to and does not tell the three friends what he did to the drinks. Preparation

10. The actually villain appears later in the story when the friends accidently switch bags at the casino and take Mr. Chow’s casino earnings of $ 80,000 dollars. Mr. Chow holds Doug hostage until the three friends win his money back. The three friends go back to the casino to win Chow’s money back. 3. The three friends plan to use Alan’s skills of counting cards at the Blackjack table to win Chow’s money back and save Doug. Complication

11. Transference can not really be found within this story. The three friends do however get tested during their quest to find there friends Doug. They run into different people along the way that aid them in their search for Doug and help them to remember what happened the night before. They are sent are smaller quests by the people that they meet like Mike Tyson which sends the friends on a quest to return his tiger that the three friends stole back to his mansion and the villain Mr. chow sends them on a quest to return his casino earnings that the three friends stole from him back. Transference

12. The is not really a struggle found within the film either. The only struggle is when the three friends are in the process of winning Mr. Chow’s casino earnings back. Once they win the money back they meet Chow in the Las Vegas dessert and trade the money for Doug. Chow tricks the friends and gives them the wrong Doug and takes the money a leaves. The friends are left in the dessert with the wrong Doug (Black Doug) and they are stuck trying to figure out where Doug might be. Struggle

13. Stu finally realizes where they put Doug as a prank that night and the friends rush back to the hotel and go up to the roof where they find their friend Doug pass out and delirious. They then have to leave the Las Vegas and it is a race against time to get to Doug's wedding in time. Return

14. The four friends end up making it to Doug's wedding in time and Stu is recognized for being the person that remembers where Doug was and he ends up saving the day. Doug ends up getting married that evening and as the four friends talk about the how the crazy night in Vegas and how it unfolded, Alan finds there camera stuck in-between the car seat and the friends decide to look at the pictures a.k.a the evidence of what exactly happened the night before. Recognition

15. This is a great movie and it is a perfect example of a detective based story and has a great storytellers frame to it, which gives this film depth and a good plot. Although it does not follow the traditional narrative completely. Some bits and pieces of the six step narrative can be found throughout the film. This film is about uncovering what happened the night before and owning up to your mistakes that you may have made when you were drunk. It is also in a weird way a growing experience for the character Stu because through all of the events that happened and what the three friends went through to find Doug, he has learned to be a stronger person and stick up for what he believes in. Final Thoughts

16. www.truby.com/top_Movie1_.php www.answers.com/topic/frame-story www.hotflick.net/movies/2009_The_Hangover.html References