Narratives & Narrative Structures

Alex Hughes, CONEL College, January 2010

Unit 21, Single Camera Production

Aims & Objectives

•To understand what narratives are, and their importance in The World.

•To analyse narrative structures and identify familiar types.

•To apply narrative techniques to your own work.

Overview

•Narratives: Stories

•Narrative structures: the way stories are constructed

•Why are they important?

Narratives•Stories construct our lives!

•Nursery rhymes

•Bedtime stories

• Jokes

• Images

•Comics

•Anecdotes

•Photography

•Radio

•Films

•Graphics

•Everywhere!

Nursery Rhymes

•Give us our moral compass

•Give us ‘life lessons’

•Teach us the basics:

•‘Good versus evil’

•‘Right from wrong’

•‘Danger signs’- Humpty Dumpty:

H. Dumpty

•“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

•Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,

•All the King’s horses, and all the King’s men

•Couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

Bedtime Stories•“If you want your child to be a genius,

read them bedtime stories every night”- Albert Einstein

• Teach us right from wrong

• Fire the imagination

• Generally work with the hero versus villain format

Jokes

•“A man walks into a bar...”

•“Knock knock.... who’s there...”

•“Why did the chicken cross the road?”

•“Doctor, doctor....”

•“Have you ever noticed how....”

Anecdotes

•Real (but generally ludicrous), stories

•Relatable to the audience

•Endearing to the audience

•Show a vulnerability from the story teller.

Narrative Structures

•The way the story is constructed

•Applied to film making

•Formulaic (“blockbuster”)

•Vladimir Propp

•“Spheres of Action”

Characters

•The hero

•The villain

•The donor

•The (magical) helper

•The princess (and father)

•The dispatcher

•The false hero

Structures:

•Linear

•Non-linear/ Non Sequential

•Flashback/ flash-forward

•Realist

•Anti-realist

•Open ended/ closed

Task 1:

•Think about your favourite films.

•In small groups, analyse the narratives and narrative structure of one film and report your findings back to the group in 30 mins

•Discuss the characters, structure and format

Task 2:

•Begin to structure your ‘single camera’ essay.

•Think about last weeks session (single camera)

•Think about this weeks session (narratives and narrative structure.)