A Quick Guide to Narrative

Narrative is defined as a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time (Bordwell & Thompson, Film Art, 1980). Narrative: A story or account. Narrative Structure: The way a story is organised and shaped in terms of time and events. Story all events referenced both explicitly in a narrative and inferred (including backstory as well as those projected beyond the action) Plot the events directly incorporated into the action of the text and the order in which they are presented Diegesis - The internal world created by the story that the characters themselves experience and encounter.

Todorovs Narrative Stages

Equilibrium - This is where everything is fine in the world of the film. Main characters and settings are introduced to the audience. We get a sense of the characters world. Disruption - Sometimes only the audience will be aware of the events which disrupt the equilibrium. The main characters will have not yet discovered what is to come. Recognition of disruption - This is when the key characters recognise the disruption that has taken place . They learn what the audience may have known for a long time. Attempt to repair disruption - This is the longest part of the film where the main characters try to rectify any mistakes or problems. New Equilibrium - Things are resolved and a new equilibrium is created.

Vladimir Propps Theory of Narrative Vladimir Propp suggested that characters took on the role of narrative 'spheres of action' or functions. From a comprehensive study of folktales Propp came up with seven different character types: The hero, usually male, is the agent who restores the narrative equilibrium often by embarking upon a quest (or search). Propp distinguishes between the victim hero, who is the centre of the villain's attentions, and the seeker hero who aids others who are the villains victims. The hero is invariably the texts central character. The villain who usually creates the narrative disruption. The donor gives the hero something, it may be an object, information or advice, which helps in resolution of the narrative. The helper aids the hero in the task of restoring equilibrium. The princess (the victim) is usually the character most threatened by the villain and has to be saved, at the climax, by the hero. The father's (who in fairy tales was often the king) role is usually to give the princess away to the hero at the narrative's conclusion. He may also despatch the hero. The dispatcher sends the hero on her or his task (who can typically be the princess father) The false hero appears to be good but is revealed, at the narrative's end, to have been bad. Characters can fulfil more than one sphere character type, for example; a princess may also be a helper. Levi-Strauss Binary Oppositions night/day good/bad light/dark male/female hot/cold

Levi-Strauss was interested in how much of the world is is described in terms of opposites. He noticed that these opposites tended to structure texts such as stories, plays and films as well. The constant creation of conflict/opposition propels narrative. Narrative can only end on a resolution of conflict. Opposition can be visual (light/darkness, movement/stillness) or conceptual (love/hate, control/panic), and to do with soundtrack. Modular Narratives in Contemporary Cinema by Allan Cameron Modular Narratives articulate a sense of time as divisible and subject to manipulation. Cameron has identified four different types of modular narrative:

Anachronic

Forking Paths

Episodic Split Screens

Anachronic modular narratives involve the use of flashbacks and/or flashforwards, with no clear dominance between any of the narrative threads. These narratives also often repeat scenes directly or via a different perspective. Examples include: Pulp Fiction and Memento. Forking-path narratives juxtapose alternative versions of a story, showing the possible outcomes that might result from small changes in a single event or group of events. The forking-path narrative introduces a number of plotlines that usually contradict one another. Examples include Groundhog Day and Run Lola Run. Episodic narratives are organised as an abstract series or narrative anthology. Abstract series type of modular narrative is characterized by the operation of a non- narrative formal system which appears to dictate (or at least overlay) the organization of narrative elements such as a sequence of numbers or the alphabet. Anthology consists of a series of shorter tales which are apparently disconnected but share a random similarity, such as all episodes being survivors of a shipwreck. Split screen narratives are different from the other types of modular narrative discussed here, because their modularity is articulated along spatial rather than temporal lines. These films divide the screen into two or more frames, juxtaposing events within the same visual field, in a sustained fashion. Examples include Timecode.

Audience Involvement
Audiences enjoy media texts most when they are really involved with them. When they are genuinely hooked into the texts narrative and development, it is as if they are actually part of it. Here are some camera shots/angles and techniques used to help an audience become involved or positioned in a film or television text. Point-of-view shots (POV): This shot shows a view from the subject's

perspective. It is usually edited in such a way that it is obvious whose POV it is.

Reaction shots: The camera moves to an extreme close up of a characters face to show their reaction to something that has happened. Insert shots: a shot that occurs in the middle of a larger scene or shot, usually a close-up of some detail or object, that draws audience attention, provides specific information, or simply breaks up the film sequence (e.g., a quivering hand above a gun holster in a Western, a wristwatch face, a letter, a doorbell button, a newspaper headline, a calendar, a clock face); an insert shot is filmed from a different angle and/or focal length from the master shot and is different from a cutaway shot (that includes action not covered in the master shot); also known as cut-in. Shot reverse-shot: the camera alternates between two characters to show their building relationship, often as a conversation is taking place between them. The camera serves as a third person, giving the audience the impression that they are turning their heads from one character to another. Establishing shot: The camera is set far back to show or emphasise setting or location rather than the subject. Slo-mo: A moment which is replayed very slowly. Pan shot: The camera moves horizontally, taking in all the details along the way. Tracking shot: The camera moves alongside characters using either a hand-held technique or smooth dolly tracks. Zoom: The camera focuses in on, or out from, a subject using a telescope lens.