What is narrative? Narrative is the art of storytelling, something we all do every day. It is an important part of our lives and something that we value highly, if you consider the amount of time we all spend in front of television and cinema screens receiving narratives. Narrative is defined as “a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time” (Bordwell & Thompson, Film Art, 1980).
Narrative and narration
"narrative is a way of organizing spatial and temporal data into a cause-effect chain of events with a beginning, middle and end that embodies a judgement about the nature of the events." (Edward Branigan, Narrative comprehension and Film) The concepts of 'narrative' refers to what happens or what is depicted in films (as well as novels), and 'narration' refers to how narrative is presented to the film spectator (or reader of a novel). So 'narrative' refers to actions, events and characters, whereas 'narration' describes a mechanism that controls how the spectator gains information about those actions, events and characters. "
Story and plot
Narrative structure is about two things: the content of a story and the form used to tell the story. Two common ways to describe these two parts of narrative structure are story and plot. Story – all events referenced both explicitly in a narrative and inferred (including back story as well as those projected beyond the action), the set of all events in a narrative, both explicit and those the viewer infers. Example: we assume other people to be off screen in a street scene, even when we don’t see them. This is also called the diegesis. Everything that exists in the story world is called diegetic material. Plot – the events directly incorporated into the action of the text and the order in which they are presented, everything that is visibly and audibly presented on-screen. Example:
characters and setting on-screen; credits; theme music. Things that are
seen on-screen but are not a part of the story are called non-diegetic
material.
Elements of narrative
Cause and effect
Usually, the agents of cause and effect are characters. By reacting to events, they create causes and react to the twists and turns in the story.
Characters have several properties:
They usually have a body.
They possess traits: attitudes, skills, psychology, drives, details of dress and appearance, habits, etc.
The viewer seeks to connect events by causal motivation of characters.
Sometimes the plot will lead viewers to infer causes and effects. The plot may withhold causes and thus arouse the viewer’s curiosity (sci-fi, horror, mystery).
It may also withhold effects after presenting causes, prompting suspense and uncertainty (disruptive if it happens at the end of the film and leaves viewer hanging).
Time Causes and effects take place in time. The film may present events out of chronological order. The film does not show every detail from start to finish (we assume insignificant details: sleeping, eating, etc). In constructing the film’s story, the viewer considers these temporal factors:
Temporal order: may be in or out of chronological order, including flashbacks and flashforwards; it may alternate between past and present.
Temporal duration: Screen time is the duration of time it takes to watch a film. Story time is the duration of time covered by the story. Screen time is usually between 90 minutes to 3 hours; story time may cover a day, several years, or a century, for example.
Temporal frequency: includes how many times the story is told in one film. Majority of films tell story only once; notable recent exceptions are Run, Lola, Run and Groundhog Day.
Space – Events occur in particular locales. The visible space between the frame (plot) is called screen space. Story space includes screen space and other locales that are spoken of, but never seen.
Openings, Closings, and Patterns of Development A film begins “in medias res,” Latin for “in the middle of things.” The viewer speculates what went on before based on plot cues. The portion of the plot that sets out story events and character traits is called exposition. The set-up of a film is generally the first 30 minutes to ¼ of the film.
Patterns of development:
Change in knowledge – a character does something that turns the plot .
Goal-oriented plot – a character takes steps to achieve a desired goal/object.
Search or investigation – this pattern is often seen in crime dramas and mysteries.
Journey – an actual journey, or a metaphysical one.
A film doesn’t stop, it ends. The climax is the high point of drama. This is where everything reaches a head. The climax is followed by the resolution, or a tying up of loose ends.
Narration – the flow of information – Range and depth The range of story information – who knows what when.
Unrestricted – the audience knows more, sees more, hears, more than all the characters. Also called omniscient narration, especially in historical narratives, where the audience knows the outcome of an actual historical event (i.e., Civil War) that the characters are living on screen.
Restricted – The characters and the audience learn story information at the same time. This may be useful in creating suspense in a horror or mystery. However, Alfred Hitchcock, known for the suspense genre, prefers unrestricted narration, so that the audience will fear for the protagonist, who doesn’t know what we know.
Restricted and unrestricted are opposite ends of a continuum. Most films are a mixture.
Depth of story information Ø Most narrative flow (narration) is objective; that is, the plot confines us to external behavior of its characters. Ø At times, we see things from the character’s point of view (POV). This mental subjectivity is when we see images from the character’s mind: dreams, fantasies, memories (in the form of flashbacks). This subjectivity increases a viewer’s identification with the character, and may reveal a character’s motives.
The Narrator The narrator is a specific agent who purports to be telling us the story.
The narrator may also be a character in the story (or a character who is a child in the story, but an adult narrator).
A non-character narrator is the anonymous “voice of God.” This type is a matter of fact commentator who may be objective or subjective.
Sometimes the narrator is not revealed until the end.
Who is telling this story is a vital question to be asked when analysing any media text. Stories may be related in the first or third person, POVs may change, but the narrator will always
reveal the events which make up the story
mediate those events for the audience
evaluate those events for the audience
The narrator also tends to POSITION the audience into a particular relationship with the characters on the screen.
Narrative theory
Download this file, and examine some basic narrative theories.
Opening: Establishes setting and introduces character
Build Up: Relationships established. Development of characters and their world…
Problem: A dilemma or series of complications. Characters are faced with
an obstacle to overcome a mystery to solve. Often more than one.
Events: A series of events/action as characters try to overcome obstacle,
solve problem, discover truth etc. Further complication may arise in
the process.
Climax: the turning point in a narrative, when the outcome of the story is revealed
Resolution: The protagonists are victorious, problems are solved, truth revealed.
Ending: Characters reflect on events, reinstate relationships and look forward.
The Classical Hollywood Narrative Structure
The Classical Narrative Structure is called this because it is the way most movies are made in Hollywood. It’s not classic because it is the oldest structure of storytelling or the best. But the most common. It is the storytelling structure in Star Wars, Buster Keaton’s The General (1926), The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 1999), and any number of other films we might think of. It’s based on a three-act format that organizes the story in the following way.
Act I – The Setup Here, we are introduced to the main characters in the story, their goals, and the obstacles they are likely to face to achieve their objectives. The main conflict in the story is introduced, as well as the major antagonist (the villain) who will stand in the way of the protagonist’s (the hero’s) objectives. We can call Act I in a movie the Hook. It sets up the story so that the film engages the attention of the audience and suggests the story’s likely development. Act I generally takes up about one- quarter of a film’s total length.
Act II – The Development Here plot complications are added to the story. An increasing sense of urgency is created when the main characters encounter obstacles that stand in the way of their journey. The second act generally occupies the middle two-quarters of the film and it often includes a false resolution to the main conflict set up in Act I. Once the false resolution has been encountered, the action in the movie generally points inevitably toward a necessary climax. Throughout Act II, Cause-Effect Relationships propel the main characters along. Cause-effect relationships involve actions that force a reaction on the part of some character, leading to a new action and reaction, and so on.
Act III – The Resolution In the final segment of the film, the results of the story’s main conflict come to dramatic confrontation. This is called the Climax. It is the point where key struggles are waged and an eventual victor is determined. In Hollywood films, needless to say, the eventual victor is usually our hero. Following the climax, Closure is introduced into the story, which simply means that all the major conflicts, issues, or ideas in the story are resolved. The so-called “Hollywood ending” is the most popular kind of closure in the classical narrative structure. Films with this kind of conclusion usually close with a sense that the protagonists in the film live happily ever after.
The three-act Paradigm by Syd Field
Alternative forms for narrative structure
Realistic Narrative Films with Realistic Narratives generally favour episodic stories, which means stories that move along from one episode to the next, in no particular order, almost like a “slice of life”. As audiences, we only get to see a part of a main character’s experiences, but we generally learn enough about the character to identify and sympathize with him or her. This narrative structure doesn't mean that these kind of films are more "realistic", this only a technique. Examples: John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H (1969)
Formalist Narratives Unlike Realistic Narrative, Formalist Narratives generally make it very clear to audiences that we are watching a made-up story, which the director can play with in any way he or she likes. They tend to use the narrative structure to highlight themes the director feels are important by stylizing, exaggerating, or distorting particular elements in ways that convey the articiality of the lm experience. In the history of lm, directors like Jean Luc Godard, Alfred Hitchcock, and Steven Soderbergh have all explored Formalist Narratives with striking results. Contemporary examples of lms with Formalist Narrative structures include Run Lola Run (1998) and Moulin Rouge! (2001).
Guiding questions for story and plot
To describe story in a lm, we would need to answer the following questions:
Where is the story set?
What event starts the story?
Who are the main characters?
What conict(s) do they face? What is at stake?
What happens to the characters as they face this conict?
What is the outcome of this conict?
What is the ultimate impact on the characters?
To describe the plot structure of the movie, we would need to answer these questions:
How and when is the major conict in the story set up?
How and when are the main characters introduced?
How is the story moved along so that the characters must face the central conict?
How and when is the major concit set up to propel the lm to its conclusion?
How and when does the lm resolve most of the major conicts set up at the outset?