Some Views on Narrative Structure

Narrative serves a number of purposes:1) It delivers the Story in Visual & Dialogue 2) It decides what order information is to be

delivered and when3) It places the audience on the side of the

protagonist by way of ‘privileging’ their perspective above others

4) It establishes the pace of the text5) It delivers implicit messages & values

(Ideology) which support the perspectives of the makers.

Story:All the events. Both those that are

visually represented and those that are inferred, before and parallel to those onscreen, which we DO NOT see…

Plot:The filmic arrangement of the story –

which is usually less than the story and may be in a different order (eg. Go or Pulp Fiction)

The world of the Film’s Story Everything that is going on in the fictional reality on screen. This is why the most common use of the term is to describe SOUND as either Diegetic (as in dialogue & naturalistic background noise)

or Non-Diegetic (use of ‘mood’ music in a scene)

Romantic Violins in a Love Scene…

Continuity Editing:

A style of Editing which creates the impression of seamlessness (invisible editing) which draws the Audience in to the world of film – when a character walks through a door to the left, they enter the next room from the right to create the impression that the room is ‘real’

Montage Editing:

A term used in a number of different ways but here, in contrast to the aforementioned Continuity editing – a style of editing which employs effects to create particular moods or meanings, particularly when shots are crashed together without logical progression or relationships. Eg: The Shower scene in Psycho or Action sequences.

Compression of Time:Most films operate a high degree of Ellipsis

or Time manipulation. In order to move the story forward, the audience only ‘sees’ the moments in time which are relevant to the Narrative.

Some texts operate time as a more balanced ‘Real time’ construction but Classical/Post Classical Hollywood Narrative maintains strict control over Narrative Time.

Use of Narrative to create Suspense and Audience expectations…

Restricted or Unrestricted Narratives determine how much information is released to the Audience at a time… What do they need to know and when?

Eg the Mysterious visitor, Gina Hawkes– she is not what she seems. As serial progresses more information is revealed about her.

TodorovStage One:

Equilibrium

Stage Two: Disruption

Stage Three: Recognition of

disruption

Stage four: Attempt to repair

damage

Stage five: Return to a new Equilibrium

ProppStage one:

Preparation

Stage two: Complication

Stage Three:transference

Stage four: Struggle

Stage five: Return and recognition

Action Codes: Images or sequences which work as a form of a Visual Shorthand making complex Ideas immediately apparent and carrying the story forward.Enigma Codes: Images/sequences which control how much we know in the story, engaging and holding audience interest. They present puzzles which demand to be solved

And The Action Codes

And the Binary Opposites

Vulnerability of those in need of protection

Weak

Effeminate/Feminine

Uncivilised/No ethics

Ignore Justice

__________________________

On the side of BAD

EVIL / Guilt

Dishonest

Criminality

Skill & expertise of the hero

Strong

Masculine

Civilised set of ethics

Sense of Justice

______________________

On the side of Good

Innocence

Honest

Law abiding

1) Separation:The hero ventures forth from the world of

common day to a region of Supernatural wonder.

2) Initiation:The hero encounters dangers/threats which

he overcomes with guidance from a mentor – rewarded for his heroism with powers or gifts.

3) Return:The hero returns from this Adventure with

the power to bestow boons upon his fellow man / with the power to free his fellow man.

And the Hero’s Journey…

• Prioritises Narrative over Form.• Highly constructed Reality which masks its

own constructions• Continuity editing which ‘stitches’ the

audience into the film• Disruption to Equilibrium – Complication –

new Equilibrium• Neater, Higher degree of Narrative Closure• Spacial & Temporal Clarity – Audience

aware of Time & Space