Elements of Narrative (Film Class)

Narrative

a cinematic structure in which the filmmakers have selected and arranged events in a cause-and-effect sequence occurring over time

Narrative movie

a fiction film, as opposed to other movie modes, such as documentary or experimental

Narration

the act of telling the story

Narrator

who or what tells the story

Primary Narrator

1. In every movie, the camera is the primary narrator.

2. Its narration consists of the many visual elements it captures and arranges in every composition in every shot

3. Other cinematic elements such as lighting, set design, makeup, performance, and editing, contribute to the narrative

Narrator Types

1. First Person: often in the form of voice-over narration

2. Direct address: a character “breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the audience

3. Third person: a voice imposed from outside the narrative

4. Omniscient: has unrestricted access to all suspects of the narrative and characters, as well as information that no character knows

5. Restricted: information limited to the knowledge of a single character

Basic Types of Characters

1. Protagonist: the primary character pursuing the goal

2. Antagonist: the person, creature, or force responsible for obstructing the protagonist

3. Antihero: an unsympathetic protagonist chasing a less-than-noble goal

4. Character imperfections are useful for the creation of obstacles, character development, and character motivations

Narrative Structure

1. Beginning (Act 1)- sets up the story and establishes the normal world

2. Middle (Act 2)- the longest section that develops the story

3. End (Act 3)- resolves the story

Narrative Structure: Key Elements

1. Catalyst, or inciting incident- disturbs the normal world

2. Stakes- represent the risk to the protagonist; “raising the stakes” increases the risk

3. Rising Action- increases narrative tension and presents obstacles to the protagonist’s goal

4. Crisis/ Climax- peak narrative moment when the protagonists faces a seemingly insurmountable obstacle

5. Resolution- biggest narrative questions are answered; story moves toward its conclusion

The Screenwriter

1. Creates the movie’s story and writes the screenplay in its various stages either from scratch or by adapting another source

2. Builds the narrative structure and devises characters, action, dialogue, and settings

3. Adheres to a precisely prescribed format so that each page equals one minute of screen time

Plot Order and Events

1. Plot order- a fundamental decision filmmakers make about how to relay story information

2. Events- Happen in a logical order and their relative significance to the story defines them as either major or minor (secondary)

Duration: Stretch Relationship

1. Stretch Relationship: screen duration is longer than plot duration

• may highlight the importance of a plot event

• Achieved by special effects or editing techniques

• Odessa sequence from Battleship Potemkin (1925): moments of the massacre are overlapped and repeated to give the event deeper meaning

Suspense versus Surprise

Surprise: taken unaware, can be shocking. Our emotional response is generally short lived and can only happen in the same way once

Suspense: anxiety brought on by partial uncertainty or even knowing what is going to happen. The means by which its created is uncertain, and we want to warn and protect the empathetic characters

Repetition

Repetition: the number of times a story elements recurs in a narrative plot

Familiar image: an audio or visual image that a director periodically repeats in a movie to stabilize its narrative

• by its repetition, the image calls attention to itself as a narrative element

• may be symbolic

Setting and Scope

Setting: the time and place in which the story occurs

Scope: the overall range, in time and place, of a movie’s story

Stagecoach: Characater

Antagonist- Geronimo, but for Ringo, the Plummers

Protagonist- Ringo

Major (round) characters- Dallas, Ringo, Dr. Boone, and Lucy are all multi-dimensional characters inside the stagecoach

Minor (Flat) characters- Hatfield, Peacock, Gatewood, Buck Rickabaugh, and Marshall Wilcox

Stagecoach: Narrative

Act 1- establishes the world of Tonto, the character’s reasons for going to Lordsburg, and their common goal

Act 2- introduces obstacles, the risking stakes, delay and danger, and character actions

Act 3- resolves Ringo’s crisis as well as several other story item

Stagecoach: Plot

• Covers the two-day trip from Tonto to Lordsburg

• Developed in a strictly chronological and logically

• Relations of cause and effect action are easy to discern

Stagecoach: Order

• Maintains strict chronological order

• The journey provides chronological and geographical markers

• Reveal a clear pattern of cause and effect

Stagecoach: Diegetic and Nondiegetic Elements

Nondiegetic elements- opening and closing titles and credits; background music

Important diegetic element- American folk music

Stagecoach: Duration

Story Duration- what we know and what we infer from the total lives of all the characters

Plot duration- the two-day trip from Tonto to Lordsburg

Screen duration (running time): 96 minutes

Stagecoach: Repetition

• No story events recur in stagecoach

• Repetition and transformation of character traits

• Repetition of familiar images (three-part editing pattern) about a dozen times

• 1. Long shot of the stagecoach

• 2. shot of Curly and Buck on the driver’s seat

• 3. middle shot, or close up, of the passengers inside

Stagecoach: Suspense

• Fear of an imminent Apache attack

• Will Lucy stop acting like a spoiled rich women?

• Will Dr. Boone sober up in time to deliver Lucy’s child?

• Will Dallas accept Ringo’s proposal?

Stagecoach: Settings

Settings were constructed on Hollywood sound stages, and Ford used actual locations in Monument Valley, Arizona

Interior and exterior of the stagecoach

The desert

Tonto and Lordsburg

Dry Fork Station

Stagecoach: Scope

Broad overall range of time and place

Presents a historical, social, and mythical vision of American civilization in the 1880s

Envelops the social themes of manifest destiny

What is Acting?

An art in which an actor uses imagination, intelligence, psychology, memory, vocal technique, facial expressions, body language, and an overall knowledge of the filmmaking process to realize, under the director’s guidance, the character created by the screenwriter

The Performance and Effect

Initial Interest- our interest in a movie is often sparked by the actors featured in it

A movie’s financial success- the power of some actors to draw an audience is frequently more important than any other factor.

Essential relationship- screen actors know that the essential relationship is between them and the camera.

Early Screen Acting

• Early films resembled recorded stage productions

• Serious theater actors initially refused to work in movies; amateur or less successful actors were cast

• Theatrical “stage” style of acting was applied: exaggerated gestures and facial expression; mouthing of words instead of speaking

• Sarah Bernhardt: first serious theater actress to appear in film; Queen Elizabeth (1912) attracted audiences to serious drama in movie form

Influence of Sound

Production had to change to accommodate sound

• Screenplays with dialogue meant dialogue coaches memorizing lines, and more extensive rehearsals

• Camera motor sound made recording dialogue difficult

• Blimps: soundproofed enclosures for the camera

  • Muffled the sound but limited camera movement

  • Microphone placement limited actor’s movement

What is Acting?

An art in which an actor uses imagination, intelligence, psychology, memory, vocal technique, facial expressions, body language, and an overall knowledge of the filmmaking process to realize, under the director’s guidance, the character created by the screenwriter

The performance and effect

Initial interest- our interest in a movie is often sparked by the actors featured in it

A movie’s financial success- the power of some actors to draw an audience is frequently more important than any other factor.

Essential Relationship- Screen actors know that the essential relationship is between them and the camera

Early screen Acting

Early Films resembled recorded stage productions

Serious theater actors initially refused to work in movies; amateur or less successful actors were cast.

Theatrical '“stage” style of acting was applied: exaggerated gestures and facial expressions; mouthing of words instead of speaking

Sarah Bernhardt; first serious theater actress to appear in film; Queen Elizabeth (1912) attracted audiences to serious drama in movie form