Classical narrative

Approaches to Cinema 1: Film Language and Form

Week 9: Classical Narrative

narrative has been central to human experience since prehistoric times

what is classical narrative?

‘a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occuring in time and space’(Bordwell and Thompson, Film Art, 2008, p.74

• linear

• economical

• at least two lines of action which intersect

three-act structure

equilibriumequilibriumdisrupted

equilibrium restored(resolution)

plot and story

plot all the events the film shows

story

all the events that the film showsand infers

we create the story in our minds on the basis of cues in the plot

a. crime conceived

b. crime planned

c. crime committed

d. crime discovered

e. detective investigates

f. detective reveals a, b, c

story

plot

time

plot duration story duration screen duration

beginnings, endings and narrative developments

beginning often in media res

exposition

ending

delay of possible outcome

deadline

climax

resolution

characterisation

one or two protagonists

goal-oriented

ideology of individualism

psychologically definedwith clear motivations

action as ‘outward expressionof inner feeling’ (Bordwell and Thompson, The Classical Hollywood Cinema, 1985, p.15)

focalisation

film narrative experienced throughcharacter(s)

restricted/unrestricted information

who knows what when?

hierarchy ofknowledge

role of the narrator

omniscient narrator

narrator as character