NARRATIV

E THEORY

NARRATIVE MEANING

Narrative is the way the story is told. It is the way a series of facts are organised and presented.

This is the difference between narrative and story. Story is the facts, for example A meets B, something happens, A leaves B. Whereas narrative might begin Once upon a time……

NARRATIVE

The way the story if told. How meaning is constructed for the audience

Groups events into cause and effect – action and inaction

Organises time and space to suit the medium

Narrative is constructed through elements like camerawork, lighting, sound, mise-en-scéne and editing.

. FIVE-STAGE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

Exposition – setting scene and introducing characters

Development – situation develops, more characters introduced

Complication – something happens to complicate lives of characters

Climax – decisive moment reached; matters come to head; suspense high

Resolution – matters are resolved and satisfactory end is reached.

TVZETAN TODAROV

Very simple idea that narrative is

EQUILIBRIUM – DISEQUILIBRIUM – NEW EQUILIBRIUM

The middle stage where something happens disturbs what was established at the start, and the resolution of that results in a new equilibrium which is different from the original one.

TVZETAN TODAROV

This can be expanded to be

EQUILIBRIUM – DISEQUILIBRIUM –RECOGNITION OF DISRUPTION - ATTEMPT TO REPAIR DISRUPTION – CHANGE TO A NEW EQUILIBRIUM

VLADIMIR PROPP

Analysed a series of Russian fairy tales and come up with a list if stock characters and character types. Not the only character analyst but the best know one.

Such as hero (protagonist), villain (antagonist), donor, princess, her father, dispatcher. false hero, helper

Further details can be found http://www.adamranson.plus.com/Propp.htm

VLADIMIR PROPP

In his analysis he also identified stock situations which he called narratemes, or narrative functions, necessary for the narrative to exist. Each narrateme is an event that drives the narrative forward, possibly taking it in a different direction. Not all of these functions appear in every story, but they always appear in the same order.

http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=propp

VLADAMIR PROPP - CRITICISM

Propp doesn't imply that the "functions" he found are universal in fiction (but some are very general), nor that they are an exhaustive description of fairy tales, nor that they are directly applicable to other traditions of fairy tales (but other European fairy tales are actually very similar to the ones Propp studied).

VLADAMIR PROPP – CRITICISM (CONT)

Propp's work was important for two related structuralist ideas: that all fictional works have basically the same structure underneath, and that a story can be created by instantiating a sequence of abstract plot elements

But do not try to apply his ideas to all texts (probably only linear, quest driven ones), and do not forget the lists are not exhaustive.

NARRATIVE THEORY

Both Todarov and Propps ideas about narrative emphasise resolution in the end and derive from structuralism.

Propp also gives up the perspective that all characters have a function and there to drive the narrative forward.

STRUCTURALISM

Ferdinand de Saussure the most influential structuralist stated that a sign has no intrinsic meaning but relies on its context ( syntagmatic dimension) and the group (paradigm) to which it belongs.

He contended that language must be considered as a social phenomenon, a structured system that can be viewed synchronically (as it exists at any particular time) and diachronically (as it changes in the course of time).

SAUSSURE - SEMIOTICS

He gave us the two part model of the sign

signifier – the form that the sign takes

signified – the concept it represents

Also emphasized the negative oppositional differences between sign, and that key are these binary oppositions. To be what the others are not.

CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS

An French academic thinker who stated that our understanding of certain words derived not so much from the words but rather their opposites or what they are not, our understanding of hero is driven by our understanding between the word and its ‘opposite’ or as it is referred to ‘binary opposite’.

CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS

Oppositions that should help you understand the idea are the youth/age binary, the masculinity/femininity, the good/evil binary, and so on.

Levi-Strauss noticed another important feature of these 'binary opposites': that one side of the binary pair is always seen by a particular society or culture as more valued over the other.

NARRATIVE CODES – ROLAND BARTHES

Narrative Codes Barthes suggested that narrative works with different codes which activate the reader to make sense of it.

Enigma Code – little puzzles to be solvedAction codes – looks, significant words, close ups which suggest an event such as ‘jealousy’, ‘falling in love’ accident waiting to happen etcSymbolic code – an object, event or action which refers to something outside itself – like the flower which represents ET’s life.

ROLAND BARTHES

Barthes also gave us two narrative codes that in theior different ways drive the narrative forward and keep us the viewer watching and engaged.

Both lead to the creation of a certain amount of suspense and because people have a longing for resolution keeps us reading or viewing the story.

ROLAND BARTHES

The HERMENEUTIC code which refers to plot elements that raise questions that we want answered eg we see a dead body and we don’t know why, how, whom etc

The PROAIRETIC code refers to actions in the plot which lead to other actions, eg an assassin draws a gun and we wonder if he will shoot or get shot, rather that have why explained to us

SYD FIELD

Suggests says a typical Hollywood film can de divided into three sections.

Plot points are important pieces of plot that effects the lives of the characters, change their relationships and alter tone of the film.

These happen between the Act 1 and 2 and between act 2 and 3

SYD FIELD

Act 1 the set up. The first 10 mins are just so important to grab the audience. Intro the main character, why they should care what happens. They should also be able to see what style and genre. With the next 20 mins showing the nature of the problem that the

SYD FIELD

Act 2 the confrontation. This ios the longest section of the film and shows us more and more extreme difficulties for the hero. They will be helpless and it will look like they are going to de defeated. And then something will happen or they realise something that starts to turn it around and they will realise the way to succeed at plot point two.

SYD FIELD

Act 3 – the resolution. The hero wins ( surprise surprise!!)

often by confronting the opposing forces

STANLEY KUBRICK

And others used the term ‘non-submersible units’ to refer to the essential elements of a story, which would carry the film, the bits that the film just couldn’t do without These units should be so strong and interesting that they would be themselves keep the viewer hooked.

“ All you need is six non-submersible units… forget about the connections..”

2001 NON-SUBMERSIBLE UNITS

1. The monolith visits humankind in its infancy

2. An early man discovers technology (Moon Watcher smashes the bones)

3. The monolith is excavated on the moon by astronauts and sends a message to Jupiter

4. Humankind send a manned mission to Jupiter to investigate

5. Advanced technology (Hal) endangers the mission crew

6. Technology is defeated and the surviving cremember rendezvous with the aliens

7. The Starchild is born

SIMPLE 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

DEVELOPMENT

Development 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

Complication 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

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

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.

NARRATIVE FUNCTION – TIME AND SPACE

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 ?