To understand what is meant by narrative and look at some examples of narrative theory.
2. Plot vs Narrative
The plot of a film is everything that happens to the characters in chronological order.
The narrative of a film is the coherence or organisation given to a sequence of events.
It is up to the audience to decode the narrative and work out what the plot is.
3. For example, in Titanic
The plot begins when several characters board an ocean liner
The narrative shows one of the characters as an old woman who then relays her story of the ocean liner.
4. Storytime vs Screen Time
The story time is the length of the entire story whereas the screen time is the length of the film.
Usually the story time is longer than the screen time.
Sometimes the story and screen times are the same (eg 24 (arguably!))
Can you think of a possible way that the screen time could be longer than the story time?
5. Time Manipulation
Summary (e.g time compression)
Ellipsis (cutting out intervening time)
Flashbacks
Dream Sequences
Repetition
Different characters POV
Flash Forwards
6. Location Manipulation
Establishing shots
New York skyline
Creative Geography
Separate shots of different locations audience assumes they must be related.
Location conventions
Often associated with genre and form spaceships.
7. Todorovsa pproach ton arrative
There arefivestages a narrative has to passt hrough:
The state ofequilibrium(state of normality good, bad or neutral) .
A neventdisrupts theequil i brium (a character or an action) .
The mainprotagonistrecognises that the equilibrium has been disrupted.
Protagonist attempts to rectify this in order torestore equilibrium .
Equilibrium is restored but, because causal transformations have occurred, there are differences (good, bad, or neutral) from original equilibrium, which establish it as anew equilibrium .
8. Propps approach to narrative
Vladimir Propp studied hundreds of Russian folk and fairytales before deciding that all narratives have a common structure.
He observed that narratives are shaped and directed by certain types of characters and specific kinds of actions
He believed that there are 31 possible stages orfunctions in any narrative
These may not all appear in a single story, but nevertheless always appear in the same sequence.
A function is a plot motif or event in the story.
A tale may skip functions but it cannot shuffle their unvarying order.
9. Propps approach to narrative
Villain struggles with hero
Donorprepares and/or provides hero with magical agent
Helperassists, rescues, solves and/or transfigures the hero
Princessa sought-for person (and/or her father) who exists as goal and often recognises and marries hero and/or punishes villain
Dispatchersends hero off
Herodeparts on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to donor and weds at end
False Heroclaims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like a real hero
Propp believed that there are seven roles which any character may assume in the story: 10. Examples of Propps narrative functions
Preparation
Complication
Transference
Struggle
Return
Recognition
11. Claude Levi-Strausss approach to narrative
After studying hundreds of myths and legends from around the world, Levi-Strauss observedthat we make sense of the world, people and events by seeing and usingbinary oppositeseverywhere.
He observed that all narratives are organised around theconflictbetween such binary opposites.
12. Examples of binary opposites
Good vs evil
Black vs white
Boy vs girl
Peace vs war
Civilised vs savage
Democracy vs dictatorship
Conqueror vs conquered
First world vs third world
Domestic vs foreign/alien
Articulate vs inarticulate
Young vs old
Man vs nature
Protagonist vs antagonist
Action vs inaction
Motivator vs observer
Empowered vs victim
Man vs woman
Good-looking vs ugly
Strong vs weak
Decisive vs indecisive
East vs west
Humanity vs technology
Ignorance vs wisdom
13. Roland Barthes Codes
Action codes symbolic/iconographic images that communicate events from the narrative, e.g. characters brushing hands to retrieve spilled papers suggest that they are falling in love
Enigma codes questions raised by a narrative that the audience yearn to answer
