Narrative: General

Narrative Structure

On a very basic level, all films have the same narrative pattern. Stories move through the following stages: exposition, development, complication, climax, resolution.

Exposition

The exposition part of a film’s narrative introduces the setting and the characters to the viewer.

Exposition sequences usually present the viewer with a situation which is calm, safe or at least predictable for the characters involved. You will need to identify not only the information which is given in your exposition sequence, but how it is presented to the viewer. Your film might present a setting which appears tranquil. It might create a positive mood through mise--en-scene. It may show characters involved in the day to day workings of the normal life. The equilibrium ( safe, calm, predictable situation ) of your exposition scene, can be created through dialogue, setting, mise-en-scene and sound elements.

Development

This is the stage of a film where the storyline is developed and we are introduced to more characters.

Consider how and why new characters are being presented to the audience and what the impact is of new information given in this section. If a character is introduced conflicting with the main character in some way ( through an argument, for example ), then this character may present a disruptive force within the remainder of the film. If problematic information is given in this section regarding the main protagonist within your film, then one of the functions of the narrative elements within your sequence might be to introduce a ‘flaw’ in your central character which will have an impact on later actions and events.

Complication

During this stage of the film’s narrative, we are presented with a complicating event which will affect the lives of the main characters.

Identify how your central character responds to the complication, the role of any disruptive characters within the complication and the response the viewer might have to the complicating elements. You could discuss how the complicating factor is shown, whether it is within a parallel scene showing the planning of the disruptive character or introduced to the audience via a point of view shot, which lets us experience the complication as if we were the main character. Don’t forget that camerawork and editing, along with mise-en-scene and sound contribute to our understanding of narrative events.

Climax

This is the point within a film where dramatic tension is at its height and we uncover the mystery of the story or have our questions about the film’s story answered.

Identify the means by which the answers to the film’s narrative questions are given. Does the protagonist have a revelatory conversation with another character ? Is this a character who has previously been position within the film as trustworthy ? Are the answers given within an action sequence, where the protagonist eventually kills the character who has provided the threat and complication within the story ? Narrative ‘answers’ do not have to come in the form of information, they may be events which halt the complicating factors within a film.

Resolution

The end of a film usually holds its resolution; the sequence where stability is re-established and a form of calm has been restored.

Sequences from the resolution part of a film provide a new situation of calm for both the characters and the audience. They present situations where the chaos and drama which existed thoughout much of the film are gone and what is left is not the same situation which existed at the beginning of a film, but a new situation and a new type of calm. Your sequence may use mise-en-scene to present this calm. You might find that the colours and setting in which you find your characters at the end of the film, are those you associate with safety and peace. You could discuss audience expectations of resolved endings. If viewers are given resolution, they are left with a sense of their expectations having been met.

Narrative Function

1. To organise groups of events into a pattern of cause and effect.

We see something happening and are then given information about the effect of what has happened. This allows the audience to see the consequences of action which occur in the film’s story and feel that their expectations of the film’s narrative have been met. If we were not shown the effect of a crime or a character’s actions, then we might feel cheated of information. The viewer might be shown the consequences of an event through a close-up of a character’s reactions, for example, or through a conversation between two characters.

2. To organise time and space.

Within a three hour film, years of story may have been compressed. Part of the function of narrative is to make this compression of time invisible to the viewer. If the narrative omitted significant events within a compressed time structure, then the viewer would question the sense of the film and the artificiality of ‘film time’ would become more noticeable. Look out for any points within the sequence you have chosen where there are leaps of time. Why does your film allow this time to be jumped over ? Why do we not need to see what happened in the time period which has been lost ? The ‘squashing’ of time to fit a 2-3 hour period requires the audience to take a leap of faith and trust that the film is giving them all of the information they need. Within the type of film you chose for the macro study, you will probably not find any complex time structures, but you might find time compression which you will need to discuss. You may also identify a flashback or flashforward element within your sequence. These are also narrative strategies which organise time. Try to identify the function of the flashback or flashforward. What information is given within it and what impact does this have on characters and audience ?

Audience

http://www.mediaknowall.com/alevkeyconcepts/audience.html

Media Language

Check your knowledge of terms with the on-line dictionary below:

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/education/glossary.html

Don't just use the general term in your analysis, make sure you go into detail. For example, you might mention mise en scene, but if you look at the outline below, you will see that mise en scene includes a number of different elements:

Mise-en Scene

Mise-en scene is a French term which literally means “putting into the scene”. Imagine that you have freeze-framed a film. All of the elements in that freeze-frame which have been placed infront of the camera can be discussed as elements of mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene includes:

* settings

* decor

* props

* lighting

* costume

* make-up

* colour

* character body language and movement

The use of mise-en-scene elements by a filmmaker helps to encourage the viewer to ‘read’ a scene in a particular way. Mise-en-scene can offer the viewer information and meanings connected to character, genre, atmosphere, mood, place, space and time. Elements of mise-en-scene may be repeated within a film and they may also change. You should carefully identify the elements which are constant and those which change and consider why this difference occurs.

Settings

Settings within a film have the ability to evoke many kinds of responses in the audience. They can mirror the emotions of a character, establish place and time, and offer information about themes within a film. Consider the snowbound, bleak landscape of the Coen Brothers’ film Fargo, for example. From the opening shots which are almost completely filled with snow, we have a sense of a place which is isolating and isolated. The monotony of the snowy landscape and its monotone colour palette act as a counterpoint to the dramatic and violent events which unfold in the film. The white picket fences, perfect lawns and houses of the setting for Sam Mendes’ American Beauty, for example, are too perfect and provide a picture-box surface for the the dissatisfaction which exists within the characters.

Decor

The rooms in which the action of a scene occurs can add meaning to add meaning to the event shown. The decor of a room ( wallpaper, furniture and layout ) can also mirror a character’s psychological state. Norman Bates’s study in Hitchcock’s Psycho, is full of old furniture and and stuffed birds. This is a room in which the decor has no vitality. The room is almost mummified and the stuffed birds are devoid of life. The rooms on different decks in James Cameron’s Titanic, present the class differences between the passengers. The upper decks are opulent and expensively furnished. The rooms of the lower class passengers are simple and without luxury.

Props

The objects included in a scene are also essential in the generation of meaning. They could give information about genre or historical period or character. One of the ways in which we can identify the genre of a film such as The Matrix ( Wachowski Brothers ), would be through the props it uses. Space ships, futuristic weaponry and advanced computer systems all indicate that the genre of the film is Science Fiction. The puppets used by the central character in Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich, indicate a man whose dissatisfaction with his own life leads him to play out his fantasies through these wooden characters. Think about which props are evident in the scene you have chosen and analyse what information you can deduce from them.

Lighting

Lighting is essential in conveying the mood or atmosphere of a scene. The viewer can be drawn to objects or characters which are brightly lit or can be made nervous by shadows and obscured parts of the film frame. The three main types of light used in film are:

1. The key light. This is usually the brightest light.

2. The back light. This is often used behind characters to make them seem more rounded and less one dimensional.

3. The filler light. This helps to soften harsh shadows which might be thrown because of the key light or back light.

These three types of light can be directed from different angles in order to produce different effects. ‘Underlighting’ describes and effect where the main source of light within a scene comes from below. This often has a distorting effect on the object or character being lit and can be used to make make the character or object seem threatening. Horror films often use underlighting in order to make the audience feel scared of a character or fearful of an object. ‘Top lighting’ describes light which comes from above. This is often used to highlight the features of a character and make them appear more glamorous. ‘Back lighting’ is when the light source comes from behind a character. If the only lighting in a scene is backlighting, then silhouettes can be created. This could be used to create mystery around a character and tension in the audience.

Some genres of film use specific types of lighting to create effects. Scenes in examples of Film Noir often use pools of light rather than full lighting. This is to generate the mystery and suspense which is at the heart of all Film Noir examples. Identify what the dominant type of lighting is in the sequence you have chosen and then consider what meanings it is helping to generate.

Costume

The costumes used in a film are important in the creation of historical time, character state of mind and status, and in the generation of place. The differing clothes worn in each of the three time periods within Stephen Daldry’s The Hours, for example, define the time periods very clearly as the 1920s, the 1940s and the 1990s. Changes in costume for a particular character during a film can indicate anything from a change in fortunes to a shift in political affiliations. Julia Roberts’s costume shift in Pretty Woman, for example, carries particular meaning and signals the movement of her character from street hustling prostitute to girlfriend of a tycoon. Within this kind of Cinderella story the shedding of one set of clothes and the adoption of another signals a change in social status.

Make-up

Make-up is obviously an essential tool for all actors within a film, but can also be used to generate particular meanings. Tom Hanks’ make-up in the film Philadelphia, allows us to see the physical ravages of AIDS and adds to our identification with, and empathy for, his plight. The make-up and prosthetics worn by Willem Dafoe in Sam Raimi’s Spiderman, are grotesque and frightening. We are left in no doubt that the Green Goblin is the villain within this narrative. Subtle differences in the use of make-up can also indicate historical period. The 1960s scenes in the Austin Powers films, for example, are given more realism by the heavy eye-liner and bright lipstick shaded from that period.

Colour

Colours which appear dominant in scenes or those attached to people and objects can be used to great effect within films. The sequence you have chosen may seem bled of colour, featuring only dull or neutral colours and this may have been used to indicate a depressed situation or character. On the other hand, your scene may be brimming with colours and this may indicate a positive atmosphere and state of mind of the characters. Consider the startling colour change when Dorothy enters the land of Oz, in The Wizard of Oz. Her ‘real’ life is depicted in black and white, but her fantasy world is technicoloured. The escapism and dream quality of Oz is clear to see. The colour red, for example, becomes significant in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, as the red of a young girls coat is highlighted against the black and white of the rest of the scene. When we see a flash of red within a mound of bodies, the plight of the girl under the Nazi regime is horribly evoked.

Character body language and movement

The way a character moves, sits or stands can transmit much information concerning their feelings and attitudes. The aimless wandering through the streets of New York, of Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, for example, is symptomatic of his state of mind. He feels alienated and isolated and this is translated into his purposeless walking. ‘Blocking’ is a term which you will need to be aware of in your discussions concerning character. If a character is partially hidden from view by a wall or a tree or another character, then they are ‘blocked’. If the viewer is not able to see what a character is doing, this this may create a response of concern or fear. Imagine if you watching a horror film and the actions of the killer are obscured from view. Your imagination will create the worst reading of that character’ actions.

Representation

Representation is constructed through micro elements. Choices in mise en scene etc are made in order to present a particular national or social group in a particular way.

Practice

Look at the clip below and make notes on how cinematography, editing, sound and mise en scene are being used to present men and masculinity in Top Gun.

Narrative: Tzvetan Todorov

The following essay is on two films, rather than a student's own work. However, the way in which Todorov's theories are applied will give you a good indication of how you should look at your own products:
A critical comparison of the narrative structure of "Star Wars" and "Un Chien Andalou"
Contributed by David Watts (12/01)

A narrative structure is what the audience follows when they watch a film. It helps them to understand the content of a film and comprehend the meanings intended by the filmmaker. Tzvetan Todorov formed the theory of the 'Classic Hollywood narrative'. He believed that a narrative came in three stages, opening with a form of equilibrium, thus getting disrupted and then the equilibrium later getting regained and either a new or the opening equilibrium is returned. This theory relates to many of Hollywood's mainstream cinema releases to date. George Lucas's 'Star wars a new hope' (1977) is a good example of this theory.

The audience identifies with 'Luke Skywalker's' narrative as he is the films central character and the audience is made to focus and sympathise with him. Luke's narrative opens with him in a state of equilibrium; he helps his Uncle and Auntie work on their farm. Then 'R2 D2' and 'C3P0' are introduced to the narrative and Luke Skywalker accidentally comes across the message from 'Princess Leia' that was installed in R2D2. This automatically puts Luke in a form of disequilibria. His narrative has been disrupted and the audience is encouraged to follow his sequence of events further as they gain interest in his situation. When the film ends, Luke has regained a new state of equilibrium. Regarding that of the sequel, 'Star Wars the empire strikes back', 'Star wars a new hope' is given a closed narrative of sorts and the audience are left feeling satisfied with the films narrative structure, they are given a sense of closure.

'Star wars a New Hope' has a linear narrative form, in which the film overall narrative goes straight from beginning to the end in a chronological order. The sequences of events are all related to each other via the use of cause and effect. Luke would never have found Princess Leia's message if it wasn't for him choosing to buy R2D2 over the other droids. This event took place and it then caused the effect of Luke going in search of 'Obi Wan Kenobi'. This then further caused many other effects to take place in the narrative such as the encounter with 'Han Solo'. This contrasts highly to that of Salvador Dali and Luis Buneul's 'Un chien Andalou' (1928).

The sequence of events in this short film all occur one after another, each holding no relationship to each other and not presenting a definitive cause and effect structure in the narrative. The film opens with a man sharpening a razor blade; this is placed next to shots of a woman having her eye widened. Then, as the man looks up to see the full moon get cut across by that of a dark cloud, a graphic match is used to represent the classic shocking imagery of the woman getting her eye slit open with the razor blade. This then cuts straight to the title screen of '8 years later'.


The two shots bare little relationship to each other, as the film progresses it becomes clear that 'Un chien andalou' does not appear to have a narrative that can be visibly read by the audience. There is no central character that presents the audience with a storyline to follow or gain interest in. All sequence of events appear random to each other, the woman whose eye is slit open is later seen in the film yet is not physically scarred. There is no explanation given or reference made back to the opening prologue. The man with the razor blade is never seen again throughout the rest of 'Un chien andalou' also. This proposes questions such as who is the man? Where is he? When is he? Did he just imagine a woman getting her eye slit open or did it really happen? If so, then why? All unanswered enigmas that are never exposed, thus going against Todorovs theory of the Classical Hollywood narrative.

All these plot sequences in the film are juxtaposed together though to create a dream like representation which is what Luis Buneal and Salvador Dali intended. The film was deliberately made to not give 'Any idea or image that might lend a rational explanation of any kind…" 'Star wars a new hope' varies to this as George Lucas's science fiction classic runs in a chronological order in sense of time and space. The audience is represented with a vague idea of where the narrative is placed and when, the entire sequence of events happens in a logical order. This manipulation of time and space differs in 'Un chien andalou'. For, 'Un chien andalou' is not given a specific time nor space to be set in. The title screen tells us that one plot sequence takes place '8 years later' to the other one yet the audience is not given an opening set time to begin with anyhow. Where is the following sequence of events 8 years from? This is, along with a number of other enigmas in 'Un chien andalou's' narrative, never revealed to the audience. All the information given is that certain events have happened 8 years later, at 3 in the morning, 16 years ago and in Spring. Yet none of these events resemble any linkage to each other, so still, no sense can be made from this narrative structure's sequence of events. This differs to 'Star wars a New Hope' as 'Un chien andalou' does not give the audience a clear sense of closure in the narrative. It is left open for continuity. Due to this approach the film goes against the Classical Hollywood narrative, there is no equilibrium that is disrupted to later regain a new equilibrium.

It goes against Todorovs theory and Vladimir Propp's theory, which stated that a film contains the same type of characters who perform the same function in the narrative. For example, this applies to 'Star wars a New Hope' as Luke acts as the narratives 'Hero'. Han Solo acts as 'The helper', he aids Luke. Obi Wan Kenobi acts as 'The donor' as he gives Luke his father's lightsaber, Darth Vador acts as 'The villian'. Many characters in 'Star wars a New Hope' apply to Propps theory and give important parts in the narrative structure.

Both films take radical different approaches to their narrative structure. 'Star wars a New Hope' follows all the conventions of theories by both Todorov and Propp and has a linear narrative. Its structure is simple and can be easily read. The film also features conventions of the science fiction genre that makes the film possible to categorize. These comparisons all contrast strongly to 'Un chien andalou'. The film goes against the manipulation of theories such as the Classical Hollywood and Propps character type functions. 'Un chien andalou' visually gives the audience a lot of information to read yet little narrative to follow in the plot. These make it increasingly difficult to categorize the film too as it holds no specific genre conventions to run by.

Bibliography


Studying film book
Nathan Abrams, Ian Bell and Jan Udris
Un chien andalou website
http://www.lib.berleley.edu/MRC/bunuel6.html
Un chien andalou website
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/01/12.cteq/chien.html

Narrative Vladimir Propp

Narrative structure

Vladimir Propp extended the Russian Formalist approach to the study of narrative structure. In the Formalist approach, sentence structures were broken down into analyzable elements, or morphemes, and Propp used this method by analogy to analyze Russian fairy tales. By breaking down a large number of Russian folk tales into their smallest narrative units, or narratemes, Propp was able to arrive at a typology of narrative structures.

He also concluded that all the characters could be resolved into only 7 broad character types in the 100 tales he analyzed:

1.The villain — struggles against the hero.
2.The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
3.The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the quest.
4.The princess and her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
5.The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
6.The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
7.False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.
These roles could sometimes be distributed among various characters, as the hero kills the villain dragon, and the dragon's sisters take on the villainous role of chasing him. Conversely, one character could engage in acts as more than one role, as a father could send his son on the quest and give him a sword, acting as both dispatcher and donor.

from Wikipedia

Genre

Have a look at the following links that discuss genre and genre theory:

http://media.edusites.co.uk/index.php/article/understanding-genre

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_genre