Narrative Films

Narrative

a story with a particular plot and point of view

Story

the subject matter pr raw materials of a narrative

Plot

is the narrative ordering of the events of the story as they appear in the actual work, carefully arranged according to their particular temporal, spatial, generic, casual, or other patters

Classical Film Narrative

Hollywood’s dominant style of narrative film making in which characters’ goals propel a linear plot towards closure

Character Coherence

consistency and coherence in a character’s behaviors, emotions, and thoughts

• values: the character coheres in term of abstract values such as determination or treachery

• actions: character acts out a logical relation between their implied mental life and visible actions (like a kind character helps somebody)

• behaviors: character reflects social & historical assumptions about normal or abnormal behavior (like in historical narratives where the men are kind of sexist)

Character Depth

a pattern of psychological and social features that distinguish a character as rounded and complex in a way that approximates realistic human personalities

Character Types

convey clear psychological or social connotations and imply cultural values about gender, race, social class, or age that a film engages with/manipulates

Archetypes

film characters that are so exaggerated or reduced that they no longer seem realistic and instead seem more like abstractions or emblems

• can appear as a spiritual, psychological, or cultural model expressing certain virtues/values (like good vs evil)

Stereotypes

where an otherwise realistic character is reduced to a set of static traits that identify them in terms of their social, physical, or cultural category

Character Development

the patterns through which the characters in a film move from one mental, physical, or social state to another

• external change: where the character’s physical appearance changes

• internal change: where a character’s mentality changes

• progressive & regressive development: where a character improves or advances in development or worsens/reverts back to where they were earlier in the film

Diegesis

the world of the film’s story (characters, places, events) including what is shown and what has been implied to have taken place

Nondiegetic Insert

an insert that depicts an action, an object, or a title originating outside the space and time of the narrative world, material used that does not relate to the diegesis of the film’s world

Linear Chronology

the arrangement of plot events and actions that follow each other in time

• use of flashbacks/flashforwards would make a film not linear

Deadline Structure

a narrative structured around a central event or action that must be accomplished by a certain time

Parallel Plots

when there is more than one plot, often implied to be simultaneous, and often intersection at various points (pulp fiction)

Narrative Duration

the length of time used to present an event or action in a plot

Narrative Frequency

the number of times a plot element is repeated throughout a narrative

Psychological Location

when the film suggests an important correlation between a character’s state of mind and the physical place they inhabit in the story

Symbolic Space

a space transformed through spiritual or other abstract means related to the narrative

Narration

the telling of a story or descriptions of a situation, the emotional, physical, or intellectual perspective through which the characters, events, or action of the plot are conveyed

• is not restricted to a single or verbalization through a narrator, can also refer to how movies organize plot elements

First-Person Narration

where a single character uses voiceover commentary or camera techniques/optical effects that mark an individual’s perspective

Narrative Frame

designates a context or person positioned outside the principal narrative of a film, such as cuts to scenes in which a character in the story’s present begins to relate events of the past and later conclude on their tale.

Third-Person Narration

narration that assumes an objective or detached stance toward the plot and characters by describing events from outside the story

Omniscient Narration

narration that presents all elements of the plot, exceeding the perspective of any one character

• is a version of third-party narration

• the standard form of classical films

Restricted Narration

narrative in which our knowledge is limited to that of a particular character, organizes stories by focusing on one or two characters

• historically from novels/short stories where one or two characters dominate narration

Reflexive Narration

a mode of narration that calls attention to the narrative authority as an objective perspective on the world

Unreliable Narration

narration that raises questions about the truth of the story being told

• sometimes called manipulative narration

Multiple Narration

when there are several different narrative perspectives for a single story or for different stories in a movie that loosely fit together

Anthology Films

films composed of various segments, often by different filmmakers

• extreme version of multiple narratives where the perspectives feel distinctive instead of loosely connected

Classical Film Narrative

• centers one or more central character who propel the plot with cause-effect logic

• plot develops with linear chronologies directed at certain goals, even when flashbacks are incorporated into the film

• employs and omniscient or restricted narration that suggests some degree of realism

Post-Classical Narrative

the form and content of films after the decline of the hollywood studio system around 1960

Alternative Film Narrative

deviates from common narrative structures, generally where the narrative undermines the centrality of the main character, the continuity (linearity), or the realism

Art Cinema

often experimental and disorientating, integrate the political assumptions and classical narratives by overturning their formal assumptions

• form of alternative narrative

• began around the 1950s