5/24/2018 A2 Media Question 1B: Narrative (Revision Sheet
Example)
MEDIA QUESTION 1B: NARRATIVE
INTRODUCTION:
Through studying media, I am aware of the importance of
narrative: as
human we often try to make sense of every event we encounter
so
when we watch a film, it instantly becomes less enjoyable if it
does not
make sense.
SURREAL NARRATIVE PLANNING EXERCISE:
During planning for our film, we participated in a
media exercise for surreal films where we each
named an event at random and listed them
together. However, we soon started to try make
sense of the events so realised that even within
a surreal film, some narrative is needed. With
this in mind, we decided to create a semi-surreal
thriller to allow us to interpret our narrative in a
challenging yet understandable new way.
ANTI-NARATIVE TECHNIQUES:
For a surreal film we knew we must use anti-narrative techniques
but as
we were keen to still include a metaphorical message, we looked
into
Todorovs 3 Act Structure and how we could alter it to a more
surreal
narrative. We decided out film has a constant disequilibrium
until the
end where there is no resolution but we see a revelation. From
this
point, our film becomes more fitting to Todorovs circular
narrative
although we end on a disequilibrium instead of a new
equilibrium.
BINARY OPPOSITES:
We used Levi-Strauss binary opposites to highlight the
characters
multiple emotions/personalities by creating one side of her
whichlaughs manically and the other which cries heavily. We used
these
opposites to distinguish the characters two personalities
clearly in order
to convey our bipolar based narrative with ease. It is important
for the
audience to understand she has schizophrenic tendencies in order
for
the films overall narrative to make sense.
CONTEMPARY NARRATIVE: SHARK BITE:
We have also used a contempary style narrative
through use of the shark model in which the
action is instant and the tension begins to build
quickly from the start of the film but is then
released as he film enters a more relaxed mirror
sequence. His initial building of tension allows
the thriller aspect of our films narrative to
become clear and allows the audience to then
follow the dark storyline with a personal
following rather than as an outsider.
ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE CONVENTIONS:
When creating our narrative, we looked into and
used many arthouse film conventions. To stick to
surreal/arthouse conventions we made our film
black and white to thoroughly establish the type
of film narrative from the beginning. Typically,
arthouse films depict a large amount of emotion
which is why we placed so much emphasis on
the characters various feelings and by breaking
the fourth wall, we were able to connect these
emotions to the audience. Breaking the fourth
wall is often used within arthouse films and we
included this through direct mode of address
where the doll stares directly down the camera
lens to the audience to establish this connection,particularly
on highly emotional scenes.
Arthouse films are often metaphorical and based
within the characters mind/imagination which
lead to us portraying the thoughts of a young girl
through the doll she plays with. Finally, arthouse
films often have open ending where questions
remain unanswered and we left our viewer
wondering what will happen next and whether
the emotions belong to the doll or little girl.
SHORT FILM CONVENTIONS:
After looking into typical short film narratives, we knew it
was
important to include a twist ending as short films do not have
much
time to develop a full narrative build up so for our twist, we
chose toswitch from to reality to reveal the young girl playing
with the doll.
Other short film conventions include few characters as there is
not
enough time to develop numerous personalities and as our
main
character (the doll) has a deep and contradicting personality,
we
decided to only focus on her and barely introduce the young girl
as this
leaves the audience asking further questions about her. We also
used
one, very minimal set and focused on props to explain the
narrative to
stop confusion about location and stick by the few locations
short films
conventionally contain.
BARTHES CODES: (AND ENIGMAS)
We knew using Barthes cultural codes would be helpful as an
arthouse
audience (our target audience) will often look deeply into a
film for
further meanings. To further this, we used symbolic codes such
as
mirrors which are clear representations of self-consciousness
and the
desire to be pretty. For an arthouse audience who look deeply
into mise
en scene, this also represents the self-reflection the
audience
experience through the film. Our use of an analogue TV
represents how
the obsession with photo shopped images is increasing in the
digital age
and for a richly cultured audience who are a part of this
through simply
watching films, this will be a current, relatable and
understandable
message for them.
We have also stuck to Barthes use of enigmas where we have
constantly raised new problems/questions to pleasurably delay
the
ending and further avoid a resolution which was important to
leaving
our ending open.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, from understanding the
importance of narrative, we included a variety of
techniques to make the style and story within
the narrative clear to our arthouse audience.
