Looking at MoviesFourth Edition

Richard Barsam Dave Monahan

CHAPTER FOUR

Elements of Narrative

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What Is Narrative?

• Narrative – a cinematic structure in which the filmmakers have selected and arranged events in a cause-and-effect sequence occurring over time

• Narrative movie – a fiction film, as opposed to other movies modes, such as documentary or experimental

• Narration – the act of telling the story• The Narrator – who or what tells the story

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The Primary Narrator

• In every movie, the camera is the primary narrator• Its narration consists of the many visual elements it

captures and arranges in every composition in every shot

• Other cinematic elements such as lighting, set design, makeup, performance and editing contribute to the narrative

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Possible Narrators Types

• First-person – typically a voice-over but may address the audience directly

• Third-person – a voice imposed from outside the narrative

• Omniscient – has unrestricted access to all aspects of the narrative and characters, as well as information that no character knows

• Restricted – information limited to the knowledge of a single character

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Basic Types of Characters

• Two essential elements of virtually every film narrative are a character pursuing a goal.

• Round characters – more lifelike, with complex personalities that may change as the story progresses

• Flat characters – few distinct traits and do not change significantly as the story progresses

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Characters

• Protagonist – the primary character pursuing the goal

• Antagonist – The person(s), creature, or force responsible for obstructing the protagonist

• Anti-hero – an unsympathetic protagonist chasing a less than noble goal

• Imperfect characters in a narrative – have obstacles, character development, and character motivations

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Narrative Structure

• Most narratives structures can be broken down to:

– Beginning (Act I) – sets up the story and establishes the normal world

– Middle (Act II) – longest section that develops the story

– End (Act III) – resolves it

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The Screenwriter

• Creates the movie’s story and writes the screenplay in its various stages either from scratch or by adapting another source

• Builds the narrative structure and devises characters, action, dialogue, and settings

• Adheres to a precisely prescribed format so that each page equals one minute of screen time

Diegetic and Nondiegetic• Diegetic Elements-

– What we see and hear on the screen that come from inside the world of the story: characters, objects, settings, and sounds from the world of the story

• Nondiegetic- – What we see and hear on the screen that come from

outside the world of the story: titles, credits, music (not originating from the world of the story) and voice-over or third-person narratives

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Narrative: Two Fundamental Elements

• Story – all of the explicit and implicit narrative events in the story and the diegesis, or total world in which the the story occurs

• Plot –the specific actions and events and the order in which the events are arranged to convey the narrative to the viewer, including the nondiegetic elements

• These two concepts overlap and intersect with one another in every movie.

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Elements of Narrative:Plot Order and Events

• Plot order – a fundamental decision filmmakers make about how to relay story information

• Events – happen in a logical order and their relative significance to the story defines them as either major or minor (secondary)

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Elements of Narrative: Duration

• Duration – the length of time it takes for things to occur (in life or in movies)

• Story duration – the length of time the implied story takes to occur

• Plot duration – the elapsed time of the events explicitly presented in the film take to occur

• Screen duration – the movie’s running time on the screen

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Elements of Narrative: Exposition

• Provides background information on the characters, setting, and basic conflict

• Ends with an inciting moment that sets the rest of the narrative in motion

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Elements of Narrative: Suspense vs. Surprise

• Surprise – taken unaware, can be shocking. Our emotional response is generally short-lived and can only happen in the same way once.

• Suspense – anxiety brought on by partial uncertainty or even knowing what is going to happen. The means by which created is uncertain, and we want to warn and protect the empathetic characters.

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Elements of Narrative: Repetition

• Repetition – the number of times a story element recurs in a narrative plot

• Familiar image – an audio or visual image that a director periodically repeats in a movie to stabilize its narrative– By its repetition, the image calls attention to itself as

a narrative element.– may be symbolic

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Elements of Narrative: Setting and Scope

• Setting – the time and place in which the story occurs

• Scope – the overall range, in time and place, of a movie’s story

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Looking at Narrative: John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939)

• Based upon the “ship of fools” convention• Sharp psychological portraits of vivid characters• Pointed social commentary

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Stagecoach: Narration and Narrator

• Ford relies on visual images and dialogue• The camera is omniscient (has unrestricted access to all

aspects of the narrative) and provides the narration

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Stagecoach: Characters

• Antagonist – Geronimo, but for Ringo, the Plummers• Protagonist – Ringo• Major (round) characters – Dallas, Ringo, Peacock,

Gatewood, Dr. Boone, and Lucy are all multi-dimensional characters inside the stagecoach

• Minor (flat) characters – Hatfield, Peacock, and Gatewood, Buck Rickabaugh and Marshall Wilcox

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Stagecoach: Narrative Structure

• Narrative – follows the familiar, three-act paradigm • Act I – establishes the world of Tonto, and the

characters reasons for going to Lordsburg, their common goal

• Act II – we see that what’s at stake, delay and danger, are introduced to the obstacles, and the characters’ actions

• Act III – Ringo’s crisis is resolved and several other story items are resolved

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Stagecoach: Plot

• Covers the two-day trip from Tonto to Lordsburg• Developed in a strictly chronological way• Events follow each other coherently and logically• Relations of cause-and-effect action are easy to discern

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Stagecoach: Order

• Maintains strict chronological order• The journey provides chronological and geographical

markers• Reveals a clear pattern of cause and effect

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Stagecoach: Diegetic and Nondiegetic Elements

• Nondiegetic elements – opening and closing titles and credits; background music

• Important diegetic element – American folk music

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Stagecoach: Events

• 12 major events• Minor plot events add texture and complexity to

characters and events

Let’s look at the 12 major events in Stagecoach

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Stagecoach: Duration

• Story duration – what we know and what we infer from the total lives of all the characters

• Plot duration – the two-day trip from Tonto to Lordsburg

• Screen duration (running time): 96 minutes

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Stagecoach: Repetition

• No story events recur in Stagecoach• Repetition and transformation of character traits• Repetition of familiar images (three-part editing

pattern) about a dozen times– 1. long shot of the stagecoach– 2. two-shot of Curley and Buck on the driver’s seat– 3. middle shot, or close-up, of the passengers inside

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Stagecoach: Suspense

• Fear of an imminent Indian attack• Will Lucy stop acting like a spoiled rich woman?• Will Dr. Boone sober up in time to deliver her child?• Will Dallas accept Ringo’s proposal?

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Stagecoach: Settings

• Settings were constructed on Hollywood sound stages, and Ford used actual locations in Monument Valley, Arizona

• Interior and exteriors of the stagecoach• The desert• Tonto and Lordsburg• Dry Fork Station

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Stagecoach: Scope

• Broad overall range of time and place• Presents a historical, social, and mythical vision of

American civilization in the 1870s.• Envelopes the social themes of Manifest Destiny

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Review

In every movie, the primary narrator is

a. subjective.

b. first-person.

c. the camera.

d. direct-address.

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Review

The narrative peak is called

a. catharsis.

b. crisis.

c. climax.

d. complication.

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Review

Which of the following includes events explicitly presented in a movie but does NOT include implicit events?

a. Diegesis

b. Scenario

c. Plot

d. Narrative

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Review

2. Which of these consists of both explicitly presented and implicit events?

a. Story

b. Plot

c. Narrative

d. Diegesis

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Review

3. Emphasizing importance or meaning can be achieved through the manipulation of

a. story order.

b. plot order.

c. the film’s diegesis.

d. narrative.

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The antagonist of a movie’s narrative

a. is the central figure, hero or anti-hero .

b. is responsible for obstructing the protagonist.

c. is a virtuous individual.

d. opposes the narrative .

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Review

4. Manipulation of what formal element is primarily responsible for both stretch and summary relationships between durations?

 

a. Cinematography

b. Characterization

c. Lighting

d. Editing