1

Lecture 3:Lecture 3:Narrative FormNarrative Form

Professor Aaron Baker

2

Previous LessonPrevious Lesson

• The Technology of Moving Pictures

• Film Production

• Film Distribution

• Film Exhibition

• Matewan (1987)

3

This LessonThis Lesson• Defining Narrative

• Framing the Fictional World and Organizing Events

• Narrative Structure

• Classical vs. Non-Classical Structure

• Rashômon (1950)

4

Defining NarrativeDefining Narrative

Lesson 3: Part I

Casablanca (1980)Directed by Michael Curtiz

5

What is Narrative Form?What is Narrative Form?

• Narrative form is the structure though which movies tell stories.

• When we speak of ‘going to the movies,’ we almost always mean that we are going to see a narrative film – a film that tells a story.

6

• Narratives appear throughout media and society – in novels, plays, comic books, television shows and even commercials.

• Even when we talk with friends and family we tell them about our lives using stories.

Narratives are EverywhereNarratives are Everywhere

7

ExpectationsExpectations• We approach narrative film

with definite expectations. We may have:

– Read the book or graphic novel

– Seen the original film to a sequel or remake

– Seen the trailer

– Followed advance information about the film

– Seen films in the same genre

8

Assumptions Assumptions • Spectators also come prepared to make sense of narrative films based on having consumed thousands of previous stories.

• We assume that there will be:

– Characters with goals or desires

– Obstacles and conflict

– Resolution and closure

Cause and EffectCause and Effect

• A narrative is a series of events occurring in space and time.

• Narratives do not unfold randomly, but rather are connected by the logic of cause and effect.

• Clip # 1 from Casablanca (1942)

9

Cause and Effect in Cause and Effect in CasablancaCasablanca

• Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) Shoots Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt)

• That event makes possible the successful escape of Ilsa and Lazlo

(Ingrid Bergman and Paul Heinreid)

10

CharacterCharacter• Narrative films generally focus on human

characters and their struggles.• Characters are typically responsible for

cause and effect in narrative.

Choices and GoalsChoices and Goals

• Characters create cause and effect through choices that lead to conflict and consequences.

• Characters possess traits, face conflicts, make choices and undergo changes that enable or hinder pursuit of a specific goal.

Jake LaMotta in Jake LaMotta in Raging BullRaging Bull

• Chooses to confront his wife about his fears of her infidelity.

• This confrontation, and his subsequent violence, changes their relationship and

blocks his goal of keeping her.

Goals and obstaclesGoals and obstacles• Goals might include locating treasure,

choosing a foster parent or looking for love.• Characters encounter obstacles in pursuing

these goals – the collision of goals and obstacles create conflict and thus drama.

Kinds of ObstaclesKinds of Obstacles

• Obstacles to character goals can come from within the character, from other characters, from non-humans (such as aliens or monsters), and from nature.

• Many narrative films involve characters overcoming obstacles on more than one level.

Character Character

• Flaw• Ghost• Want – External

Goal• Needs – Internal

Struggle• Subtext

17

• Typically a narrative begins with one situation.

• A series of changes occurs according to a pattern of cause and effect.

• Finally a new situation arises – through character choice and conflict – that restores equilibrium to the world of the story and brings about the end of the narrative.

• The new story equilibrium almost always results in character change.

How Narrative UnfoldsHow Narrative Unfolds

18

• Girlfight begins with the protagonist Diana

(Michelle Rodriguez) angry and in a dysfunctional family.

• She chooses to learn about boxing, her new confidence helps her handle conflict with her antagonist father and boyfriend.

• She changes, becomes more confident and less angry and achieves equilibrium

Pause the lecture and watch the clip #2 from Girlfight (1999)

Example from Example from GirlfightGirlfight

• Diana stops her abusive father with her new fighting skills.

• After she defeats her boyfriend, Adrian, in the ring, she tries to reassure him, but she now has the strength and confidence that she doesn’t need him if he can’t accept her.

19

““You Belong to Me”You Belong to Me”

20

Framing the Fictional World and Framing the Fictional World and Organizing EventsOrganizing Events

Lesson 3: Part II

Adaptation (2002)Directed by Spike Jonze

21

Diagetic vs. Nondiagetic ElementsDiagetic vs. Nondiagetic Elements• Diagetic elements are everything that

exists in the world that the film depicts – including everything implied offscreen: settings, sounds, characters, events.

• Nondiagetic elements are elements within the film, but not within the film’s world, such as credits, music or voice-over narration.

• Characters are unaware of these elements.

22

The Purpose of Nondiagetic The Purpose of Nondiagetic ElementsElements

“Filmmakers use non-diegetic elements for several reasons: they may draw attention to

aspects of the narrative from a position outside the story, they communicate with the audience directly, and they engage

viewers on an emotional level.”– Pramaggiore and Wallis,” Narrative Form”

23

ExamplesExamples• Examples of non-diegetic narrative

elements include:– The voice-over in The Shawshank Redemption– The opening “crawl” of text in Star Wars– The printed book pages that designate

‘chapters’ in The Royal Tenenbaums

24

Selecting and Organizing EventsSelecting and Organizing Events• Feature films have a running time or

screen time of between 90 and 180 minutes. But the stories they tell rarely take place in that amount of time.

• In order to tell a story that may cover months or years, the filmmakers must choose to present certain events and leave others out.

25

The Fabula and the SyuzhetThe Fabula and the Syuzhet• The writer transforms a complete

chronological story into an abbreviated, recognized version of events that plays out on the screen for the audience.

• Often the differences are referred to as story and plot.

• Pramaggiore and Wallis use the Russian Formalist terms fabula for story and syuzhet for plot.

26

The FabulaThe Fabula• The fabula is the chronological narrative, in

its entirety.• It include events that take place during the

span of time of the syuzhet that are implied but not overtly depicted.

• These include a character’s backstory.• Though we never see Charles Kane’s

teenage years in Citizen Kane, an idea of them is implied to the viewer; these offscreen events are part of the fabula.

27

The SyuzhetThe Syuzhet• The syuzhet entails more than simply

omitting events from the fabula – it also involves reordering events – some times using flashbacks and flashforwards.

• These are scenes from the past or future that interrupt the film’s present tense to rearrange the chronology of the fabula.

• Repositioning events influences the way audiences understand them.

28

Selecting Events for SignificanceSelecting Events for Significance“The distinction between the fabula and the

syuzhet makes clear that each event represented in the film has been selected for dramatization and has been ordered

systematically – there are no accidents . . . The syuzhet need not chronicle every moment in the fabula, and it usually emphasizes the importance of some

moments relative to others.”– Pramaggiore and Wallis,” Narrative Form”

29

Narrative StructureNarrative Structure

Lesson 3: Part III

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)Directed by Guillermo del Toro

30

Three Act Structure – Act IThree Act Structure – Act I• The three act structure is the standard

structure that shapes narrative films.– Act I introduces characters, goals and

conflicts and ends with the first turning point, an important change that affects characters and situations.

– A turning point can be thought of as a point of no return for the characters, when the initial situation can no longer exist.

31

Three Act Structure – Acts II and IIIThree Act Structure – Acts II and III• Act II presents complications:

– The protagonist meets obstacles – often the result of an antagonist – that prevents her from achieving her goals.

– The conflicts increase in number and complexity, leading to a major turning point, often referred to as the climax.

• Act III presents the dénouement:– Here a series of events resolves the conflicts

that have arisen – not always happily.

32

Four Part StructureFour Part Structure• Some film scholars and screenwriters

prefer to think of feature films as being comprised of a four-part structure.

• The major difference is that the four-part structure features an extra turning point known as a midpoint, which happens at the dead center of the film.

33

ExampleExample• In Jaws, the midpoint comes at minute 60 of

a 120 minute film, when the hero realizes that he will have to kill the shark at sea.

• This turning point – also known as a reversal – sends the film off on another direction. The initial situation can no longer exist until equilibrium is restored.

34

ExpositionExposition• Act I of a film is often dense with narrative

detail, backstory and plot set-up.• This density of story information is called

exposition and it is designed to orient viewers into the world of the story.

• The exposition briefs viewers on place, time, characters and circumstances.

• For example, James Cameron spends a great deal of Act I orienting viewers to the fictional world in Avatar.

35

Classical Vs. Non-Classical Classical Vs. Non-Classical StructureStructure

Lesson 3: Part IV

36

Classical Narrative StructureClassical Narrative Structure“The principles of narrative that govern

commercial feature films emerged from the practices and preferences of Hollywood

filmmakers in the early part of the twentieth century. Commercial Hollywood studios established a formula for making popular

films that tell stories and refined these rules over several decades.”

– Pramaggiore and Wallis,” Narrative Form”

37

““Rules” for Classical NarrativeRules” for Classical Narrative• Clarity: Viewers should not be confused

about space, time, events or character motivations.

• Unity: Connections between cause and effect must be direct and complete.

• Characters should invite viewer identification, be active and seek goals.

• Closure: Third acts and epilogues should tie up loose ends and answer all questions.

38

Other Aspects of Classical Other Aspects of Classical Hollywood NarrationHollywood Narration

• Individual characters serve as causal agents and the narrative centers on their personal psychological causes.

• Desire often moves the narrative

• Cause and effect imply change.

• Objective point of view. We see what the characters do and say.

• Closure

39

• A number of narrative filmmaking traditions have modified or rejected the rules of the dominant Hollywood method of storytelling.– Art films

– Independent films

– Experimental / Avant-Garde films

Alternative Storytelling FormsAlternative Storytelling Forms

40

• Some examples of rejecting traditional narrative rules include:

• Lack of clarity – multiple, conflicting lines of action, inconsistent characterization, extreme degree of character subjectivity

• Lack of unity - broken chain of cause and effect

Rejecting Traditional RulesRejecting Traditional Rules

• David Hemmings inadvertently photographs a murder.

• He becomes obsessed with the crime.

• Despite his investigation, he never finds out what happened or why.

41

Art Film: Art Film: Blow Up Blow Up 19661966

42

• Unconventional characterizations – audience is distanced from characters rather than invited to identify– There Will be Blood

• Unclear character goals; unreliable narrator

-Shutter Island• Devices such as direct address that call

attention to the narrative process– Do the Right Thing

Rejecting Traditional Rules Rejecting Traditional Rules (Continued)(Continued)

43

Alternative NarrativesAlternative Narratives• Some non-traditional films may be open-

ended - that is they conclude without resolution: No Country for Old Men.

• Frame narration - used in Citizen Kane consists of a character who narrates an embedded tale to onscreen or implied listeners.

• In episodic narratives, such as The 400 Blows or Pulp Fiction, events are not tightly connected in a cause and effect sequence and characters do not focus on a single goal.

44

Narrative Structure in Narrative Structure in RashômonRashômon

Lesson 3: Part V

Rashômon (1950)Directed by Akira Kurosawa

45

Rashômon Rashômon (1950)(1950)• Based on a 1921 story by Ryunoskue

Akutagawa titled “In a Grove.”• Directed by Japanese master filmmaker

Akira Kurosawa.• First Japanese film to gain international

recognition - Oscar for Best Foreign Film.• Famous for its unconventional narrative

organization.

46

The NarrativeThe Narrative• Rashômon Rashômon represents an alternative to represents an alternative to

classical narrative form through its structure, classical narrative form through its structure, characters and conclusion.characters and conclusion.

• This approach to storytelling helps the film This approach to storytelling helps the film develop its central theme the impossibility of develop its central theme the impossibility of comprehending truth.comprehending truth.

• This is an example of how film form and This is an example of how film form and content are inextricable from one another.content are inextricable from one another.

47

The Frame StoryThe Frame Story• Rather than a traditional, linear three-act Rather than a traditional, linear three-act

structure with a beginning, middle and end, structure with a beginning, middle and end, Rashômon Rashômon is composed of a frame is composed of a frame narration and an embedded story.narration and an embedded story.

• In the frame story, a woodcutter relates the In the frame story, a woodcutter relates the details of a violent encounter between a details of a violent encounter between a samurai, his wife and a bandit.samurai, his wife and a bandit.

Pause the lecture and watch clip #3 from Rashomon, which depicts the frame story.

48

• The embedded tale relating the events of the forest altercation is told in flashbacks, and not just the woodcutter’s version.

• Four flashbacks show the same events from the perspectives of the woodcutter, the samurai, the wife and the bandit.

• Cause and effect is confused, raising the question of what actually happens.

Pause the lecture and watch clip #4 from Rashomon of a flashback

The Embedded TaleThe Embedded Tale

49

• With the multiple versions of what happened, it’s difficult to know what really occurred and why.

• The self-serving and unreliable characters are hard to sympathize and identify with.

• The film’s conclusion is open-ended - the truth about what actually happened remains in doubt and unresolved

Pause the lecture and watch clip #5 from the conclusion of Rashomon

Characters and ConclusionCharacters and Conclusion

50

Final PointFinal Point“In these three aspects - narrative structure,

characters and conclusion - Rashomon departs from the classical narrative in

innovative ways. The layered narrative, unusual characterizations, and open-ended conclusion have all contributed to the film’s

ability to fascinate viewers for many decades.”

– Pramaggiore and Wallis,” Narrative Form”

51

End of Lecture 3End of Lecture 3

52

Lecture 4: Mise-en-ScéneLecture 4: Mise-en-Scéne