Chapter 4-Elements of a Narrative

narration

the act of telling a story of film, the primary source of a movie's narration is the camera, which narrates the story by showing us the events of the narrative on-screen. when the world narration is used to refer more narrowly to spoken narration.

narrator

who or what that tells the story of a film. the primary narrator in cinema is the camera, which narrates the film by showing us events in the movies narrative

first person narration

narration by an actual character in the movie

voice over narration

narration heard concurrently and over a scene but not synchronized to any character who may be talking on screen. it can come from many sources, including a third person who is not a character to bring us up to date, a first person narrator commenting on the action or in nonfiction film, a commentator

direct address narration

a form of narration in which an on-screen character looks and speaks directly to the audience

third person narration

narration delivered from outside the diegesis by a narrator who is not a character in the movie

omniscient narration

narration that provides a third person view of all aspects of a movies action or characters

restricted narration

narration that reveals information to the audience only as a specific character learns of it

character

an essential element of a film’s narrative; any of the people who play functional roles within the plot; they can be flat, round, major, minor, protagonist or antagonist

goal

a narratively significant objective pursued by the protagonist

narrative

A cinematic structure in which content is selected and arranged in a cause-and-effect sequence of events occurring over time.

round/dynamic character

a complex character possessing numerous, subtle, repressed, or contradictory traits which develop or change over the course of a story

flat/static character

a relatively uncomplicated character exhibiting few distinct traits.; often does not change significantly as the story progresses

protagonist

the primary character whose pursuit of the goal provides the structural foundation of a movie’s story

antihero

an outwardly unsympathetic protagonist pursuing a morally objectionable or otherwise undesirable goal

obstacles/complications

events, circumstances, and actions that impede a protagonist’s pursuit of the goal. These often originate from an antagonist and are central to a narrative conflict.

normal world

in a narrative screenplay, this is the state of the character and setting before the inciting incident

catalyst/inciting incident

the narrative event that presents the protagonist with a goal that sets the rest of the narrative in motion

antagonist

the character or force that obstructs or resists the protagonist’s pursuit of her or his goal

stakes

in a conventional narrative, this refers to what is at risk due to the protagonist's pursuit of the goal

suspense

the anxiety brought on by partial uncertainty; the end is certain but the means are not

suprise

a sudden realiaztion of what was previously unaware, which could be potentially shocking

familiar image

any image that a director periodically repeats in a movie to help inform or stabilize the narrative

scope

the overall range of a story

setting

the time and space in which a story takes place

repetition

when a story element recurs in a plot. It signals that a particular event has noteworthy meaning or significance

rising action

the development of the action in the narrative that builds toward a climax

real time

the actual time during which something takes place. Screen duration and plot duration are exactly the same

crisis

a critical turing point in a story when the protagonist must engage a seemingly insurmountable obstacles

climax

the highest point of conflict in a conventional narrative; the moment of the protagonist's ultimate attempt to attain the goal by overcoming the final obstacle

narrative resolution

the concluding events that follow the climax and celebrate or perhaps reflect upon the story’s outcome

story

in a movie, this refers all the events we hear on the screen as well as all the events that are implicit or inferred to have happened but not explicitly presented

diegetic elements

events, characters, objects, settings, sounds that form the world in which the story occurs

plot

the specific actions and events that filmmakers select, and the order in which they arrange those events and actions to effectively convey on screen the movie’s narrative to viewers

non-diegetic elements

things that we see and hear on the screen that come from outside the world of the story, such as background, music titles, credits, and voice over narrations

duration

a quantity in time-In film there are three specific kinds: story, plot, screen

story duration

the implied amount of time taken by the entire narrative arc of a movie’s story, whether or not the events were explicitly presented on screen

plot duration

the elapsed time of the events within a story that a film chooses to tell

screen duration

the amount of time taken to present the movie’s plot on screen-also called the mov ie’s running time

summary relationship

a time relationship in which screen duration is shorter than plot duration

stretch relationship

a time relationship in which screen duration is longer than plot duration