Post on 02-Nov-2014
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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