Narration and narrative structure

narration opening structure (conventional storytelling method)

  • usually opens in an introduction of the character and more about who they are

  • we can't comprehend what is going on because we can't determine how these events are connected by causality or time or space

what is a narrative?

  • a narrative is a chain of events linked by cause and effect and occurring in time and space

what is a story?

  • a chain of events in chronological order, includes everything that happens to the characters, both seen and unseen

what is a plot?

  • selection and arrangement of events as presented to the audience -- the specific structure and order in which the story is revealed

how do you employ these elements to tell the stories?

  • your choice of how and in what order to tell the story will determine the plot of your film

possible structure orders:

  • 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4

  • 2 -> 1 -> 3 -> 4

  • 3 -> 1 -> 2 -> 4

  • an exception to this structure is "Memento" (2000, Nolan) which structures in 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1

characters

  • if narrative depends on changes created by cause and effect, how can characters function as causes?

  • by triggering events and reacting to them, characters play casual roles within the film's narrative form

protagonist

  • the plot action centers on the protagonist, who may initiate it, or react to what's already been started by another character

  • character(s) who are onscreen more often than others, whom we most sympathize with, who changes the most, and who resolves the action

antagonist

  • character(s) who oppose the protagonist

conventional filmmaking

  • there's a good guy and a bad guy

non-conventional filmmaking

  • there's an unknown cause of a good guy and bad guy

‣ eg: war movies, murder mysteries

◦ sometimes the audience knows who the bad guy is, but this information is held back           from the movie characters

narration

  • the plot's way of distributing story information in order to achieve specific effects. narration is the moment-by-moment process that guides viewers in building the story out of the plot. many factors enter into narration, but the most important ones for our purposes involve the range and depth of story information that the plot presents:

    • restricted or unrestricted

    • withholding information

depth of information

  • objective or subjective

    • point of view

narration is created by the employment of narrative devices:

  • exposition/backstory

  • flashback

  • flashforward

  • first person narrator

  • third person narrator

  • breaking the 4th wall

  • framing story

  • foreshadowing

  • cliffhanger

  • red herring

  • unreliable narrator

  • plot twist

  • in medias res

  • distracting effect

narrative structure: opening, development and closing

  • beginning, middle, and end

    • a classic drama narrative usually involves a set up: a protagonist, an inciting incident that turns the protagonist's world upside down; the protagonist embarking on a journey full of obstacles; an antagonist. resolution comes after a climatic confrontation between the protagonist and the antagonist