Narrative Flashcards
Narrative Form
a type of filmic organization in which the parts relate to one another through a series of causally related events taking place in time and space
Story
in a narrative film, all the events that we see and hear, plus all those that we infer or assume to have occurred, arranged in their presumed causal relations, chronological order, duration, frequency, and spatial locations
opposed to plot, which is the film’s actual presentation of events in the story
Plot
a narrative film, all the events that are directly presented to us, including their causal relations, chronological order, duration, frequency, and spatial locations
opposed to study, which is the viewer’s imaginary construction of all the events in the narrative
Duration
in a narrative film, the aspect of temporal manipulation that involves the time span presented in the plot and assumed to operate in the story
Frequency
in a narrative film, the aspect of temporal manipulation that involves the number of times any story event is shown in the plot
Narration
the process through which the plots conveys or withholds story information
the narration can be more or less restricted to character knowledge and more or less deep in presenting characters’ perception and thoughts
What is narrative?
a chain of events in cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space
needs to have causality
causality can be manifested at the local level shot change or larger level of major plot turns
What is story?
the set of all events in a narrative, both the ones explicitly presented and those the viewer infers takes place
presumed and inferred events; explicitly presented events
What is diegesis?
the total world of the story action
What is plot?
everything visibly and audibly present in the film set before the viewer, including non-diegetic material like title credits and orchestral score
explicitly presented events; added nondiegetic material
What are the three aspects of narrative?
causality
time
space
What is causality as an aspect of narrative?
spectators actively seek to connect events by ascribing causality
causal motivation: the causal justification given in a film for the presence of an element in a film
characters are the main agents of cause and effect
natural events, such as an earthquake in a disaster films, can motivate character actions
plots can present effects but withhold their causes to reveal them later in a film, such as a murder mystery
What is temporal order?
the order in which the plot presents story events
normally, events in a film are presented in chronological order, but can be temporally reordered
What is temporal duration?
the selection of story events
e.g. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off takes place within a day while the story duration of 2001: A Space Odyssey is several millennia
What is screen duration?
the running time of a film
What is temporal frequency?
the number of occasions that a story event is presented in a film
normally, an event is presented only once in a film, but some films repeat events
What is space as an aspect of narrative?
events often occur in specific locations, with locations often assuming narrative significance
narrative spaces can also be inferred
screen space: the plot space that is selected by the screen through onscreen/offscreen decisions
What is depth of story information?
the extent of story information provided to the viewer
omniscient and restricted narration spectrum
What is omniscient narration?
a type of narration that informs the viewer about multiple plot lines in different locations, and discloses their subjective states of characters, such that the viewer knows more than characters
What is restricted narration?
a type of narration that restricts the knowledge of the viewer about story events to the perspective of one character, such that the viewer knows the same amount of information as that character
What is internal focalization (depth)?
the representation of the private subjective states of characters (optical and aural points of view, dreams, intentions)
What is internal focalization (space)?
the inference of the subjective states of characters based on their expressions and their perceptions
What is external focalization?
the presentation of characters through their verbal and physical behavior
What is a diegetic narrator?
a character who narrates the events in the film
What is a non-diegetic narrator?
a figure who narrates the story outside the story world
What is a extra-fictional narrator?
a non-diegetic narrator of the film
What is the historical authors?
the relevant filmmakers involved in the production of the film and its story
What is narrative structure?
feature narrative films are normally conceived as possessing three parts: openings, middle, endings
What is Syd Field’s “three-act structure”?
act I: beginning
act II: confrontation
act III: resolution
1/4 - 1/2 - 1/4 ratio
What is Kristin Thompson’s “four-part structure”?
set up
complicating action
development
climax (often followed by a short epilogue)
What is the set up in the four part structure?
the establishment of the initial story situation, often entailing the protagonist formulating his/her goals
What is the complicating action in the four part structure?
takes the story in a different direction by introducing a new situation, often entailing the protagonist pursuing a different strategy to achieve his/her goals
What is the development in the four part structure?
the period in which the protagonist struggles to achieve his/her goals as a result of the obstacles that have been previously introduced
What is the climax in the four part structure?
the progress leading to the resolution of whether the protagonist’s goals will be achieved or not
What is the epilogue in the four part structure?
resolution of the remaining subordinate plotlines
What is a plot turn?
an incident in a film’s narrative in which the story is taken in a different direction, often impacting upon the goals of the protagonist(s)
What is a character?
an agent in a story, who is normally human or possesses human attributes (thoughts, emotions, goals), and through their goals and actions drive the story forward
character’s goals and actions are the main source of causality in mainstream films
What is a protagonist?
the main character of the film’s story, who assumes the central focus throughout the story
What is an antagonist?
the principal opponent of the protagonist who presents obstacles in the way of the protagonist achieving his/her goals
What are flat characters?
characters who depiction in a film is reduced to their social function whose subjectivity is not considered narratively significant
often understood by viewers with reference to social categorization
What are rounded characters?
characters that are more individuated as a result of their depiction of their subjective states and goals
often perceived by viewers to possess an individuating personality, which is given “life” through the performance of the actor
What are the three components of the structure of sympathy?
recognition
alignment
allegiance
What is character recognition?
those aspects of character depiction that facilitate the representation of figures to be recognized and reidentified as characters, usually through their possession of basic human attributes (whether a human body and/or a mind)
What is character alignment?
the narrational processes by which a film follows a character along their path within a story, as well as providing access to their subjective states
What is character allegiance?
the ways in which a film guides a spectator’s moral orientation to the characters in a film - often triggers emotional sympathy or antipathy toward a character (or some combination of both)
What are the historical contexts of film narrative innovation?
Italian neorealism (1940s and 1950s)
European Art Cinema (1950s to 1980s)
American independent cinema (1980s to 1990s)
What are alternative narrative strategies?
episodic narrative structures
reliance on ending that are open-ended with unresolved plotlines and uncertainty as to the fate of the characters as opposed to being close-ended with all major plotlines resolved
an abandonment of deadlines as narrative structure
characters lack clear-cut traits, motives and goals and behave inconsistently
greater emphasis probing the psychology of characters than the development of plot
greater emphasis depicting subjective mental states of characters, whether dreams, memories, hallucinations, fantasies, they are often unmarked from objective sequences
greater use of temporal reordering, with flashbacks often un-cued
greater degree of narrative ambiguity
story interrupted for some form of overt narrational “commentary”
unreliable narrator
viewer prompted to reflect upon how the story is told rather than exclusively focus on the story
What are alternative characters in the independent cinema?
independent films also provided opportunities to differentiate characters from those typically presented in mainstream films
differed not only in terms of goals and character traits but also in terms of social types
independent films depicted a broader cross section of social life than depicted in the mainstream and offered greater opportunities to dwell on their subjectivities
race and ethnicity; sexuality; subcultures
