1. Narrative Theory

• Learning Objective:

To understand what is meant by narrative and look at some examples of narrative theory.

2. Plot vs Narrative

The plot of a film is everything that happens to the characters in chronological order.

The narrative of a film is the coherence or organisation given to a sequence of events.

It is up to the audience to decode the narrative and work out what the plot is.

3. For example, in Titanic

The plot begins when several characters board an ocean liner

The narrative shows one of the characters as an old woman who then relays her story of the ocean liner.

4. Storytime vs Screen Time

The story time is the length of the entire story whereas the screen time is the length of the film.

Usually the story time is longer than the screen time.

Sometimes the story and screen times are the same (eg 24 (arguably!))

Can you think of a possible way that the screen time could be longer than the story time?

5. Time Manipulation

Summary (e.g time compression)

Ellipsis (cutting out intervening time)

Flashbacks

Dream Sequences

Repetition

Different characters POV

Flash Forwards

6. Location Manipulation

Establishing shots

• New York skyline

Creative Geography

• Separate shots of different locations audience assumes they must be related.

Location conventions

• Often associated with genre and form spaceships.

7. Todorovsa pproach ton arrative

There arefivestages a narrative has to passt hrough:

The state ofequilibrium(state of normality good, bad or neutral) .

A neventdisrupts theequil i brium (a character or an action) .

The mainprotagonistrecognises that the equilibrium has been disrupted.

Protagonist attempts to rectify this in order torestore equilibrium .

Equilibrium is restored but, because causal transformations have occurred, there are differences (good, bad, or neutral) from original equilibrium, which establish it as anew equilibrium .

8. Propps approach to narrative

Vladimir Propp studied hundreds of Russian folk and fairytales before deciding that all narratives have a common structure.

He observed that narratives are shaped and directed by certain types of characters and specific kinds of actions

He believed that there are 31 possible stages orfunctions in any narrative

These may not all appear in a single story, but nevertheless always appear in the same sequence.

A function is a plot motif or event in the story.

A tale may skip functions but it cannot shuffle their unvarying order.

9. Propps approach to narrative

Villain struggles with hero

Donorprepares and/or provides hero with magical agent

Helperassists, rescues, solves and/or transfigures the hero

Princessa sought-for person (and/or her father) who exists as goal and often recognises and marries hero and/or punishes villain

Dispatchersends hero off

Herodeparts on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to donor and weds at end

False Heroclaims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like a real hero

Propp believed that there are seven roles which any character may assume in the story: 10. Examples of Propps narrative functions

Preparation

Complication

Transference

Struggle

Return

Recognition

11. Claude Levi-Strausss approach to narrative

After studying hundreds of myths and legends from around the world, Levi-Strauss observedthat we make sense of the world, people and events by seeing and usingbinary oppositeseverywhere.

He observed that all narratives are organised around theconflictbetween such binary opposites.

12. Examples of binary opposites

Good vs evil

Black vs white

Boy vs girl

Peace vs war

Civilised vs savage

Democracy vs dictatorship

Conqueror vs conquered

First world vs third world

Domestic vs foreign/alien

Articulate vs inarticulate

Young vs old

Man vs nature

Protagonist vs antagonist

Action vs inaction

Motivator vs observer

Empowered vs victim

Man vs woman

Good-looking vs ugly

Strong vs weak

Decisive vs indecisive

East vs west

Humanity vs technology

Ignorance vs wisdom

13. Roland Barthes Codes

Action codes symbolic/iconographic images that communicate events from the narrative, e.g. characters brushing hands to retrieve spilled papers suggest that they are falling in love

Enigma codes questions raised by a narrative that the audience yearn to answer