Constructing  Narratives

Narrative stories in film and television are deliberately structured to keep the audience engaged. This is why we often say Narratives are 'constructed' as it refers to careful and deliberate decision making.

How a narrative is constructed depends on its form and consumption habits of the audience. Media narratives come in many forms. On this page we will focus on films, television and streaming. Each media form has a different manner in which audiences will consume the content.

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Films

Characteristics of construction:
  • Usually around 2 hours in length. 
  • Most often formed by a 3 act structure. the setup, the conflict and the resolution.
  • Act 1 - The setup - establishes characters, relationships, settings and narrative possibilities.
  • Act 2  - The conflict - develops the characters and storylines set up in the opening. The conflict develops and tension rises. obstacles and challenges present themselves.
  • Act 3 - The resolution - an emotional climax is reached. storylines and character arcs are resolved.
  • Protagonists/Antagonists are introduced early and usually go through a from of character development as the film progresses.
  • Films usually fit into a genre/style with audiences expecting certain cliches and conventions of the genre. 
  • Storylines and characters are usually unfamiliar to the audience (unless part of a franchise or series).
  • Most films are marketed with a trailer to excite the audience.

Characteristics of consumption:
  • Usually consumed in a distraction-free environment (like a cinema)
  • Usually paid for in advance (so audiences will most often sit through the film, even if they are not enjoying it)

How these factors contribute to audience engagement:
  • Audiences are harder to win over as most films have to engage the audiences in brand new content. 2 hours is the limit of an adult attention span before needing a break. stories are deliberately constructed to engage audiences almost immediately and get straight to the conflict quickly. Many films often suffer from poor character development or shallow storylines as a consequence. Typically, franchised or a series of movies are easier to market and draw audiences towards. 
  • Trailers are extremely important as they are often the only information an audience member has to help them discern whether a movie is worth the 2 hour time investment.

TV

Characteristics of construction:
  • Episodes are usually around 20-45 minutes in length (plus advertising)
  • Most often finishing on a cliffhanger before each commercial break.
  • Storylines and characters are usually familiar to audiences after the first episode.  
  • characters and storylines are developed over a longer period of time - usually giving more context and backstory.
  • episodic television will usually run multiple storylines at once. Think of the Simpsons; there is always a main storyline and a subplot happening to a minor character.​

Characteristics of consumption:
  • Usually consumed in a distracted environment (such as the home)
  • Usually free to watch and compete with other television shows on at the same time.
  • Television shows can often form loyal fan bases and run for years or even decades.

How these factors contribute to audience engagement:
  • Audiences are less likely to view a television series based on a trailer. Most audiences watch television shows because of positive word of mouth (the water cooler effect).  This means that television fans can become very loyal and invested.  It can also mean that popular television series can run for years after their critical peak (The Simpsons?). Television shows need to keep audiences engaged in distracted environments so they often have many smaller moments of drama and tension to keep audiences engaged through commercials or in noisy homes.

Streaming

Characteristics of construction:
  • Episodes are usually around 30-60 minutes in length (plus advertising)
  • No commercials mean the build up of tension, drama or comedy is usually slower. Almost always finishing on a cliffhanger to get audiences to view the next episode.
  • Episodes auto play into the next episode
  • Whole series are released ‘on demand’ at once and worldwide

Characteristics of consumption:
  • Usually consumed on an internet enabled device
  • Often viewed on many devices such as TVs, laptops, phones, etc.
  • often binged-watched (many episodes in one viewing)
  • Viewers consume the same content worldwide at the same time (universal access)

How these factors contribute to audience engagement:
  • audiences can be very distracted while streaming and will likely stop watching a series if it doesn't interest them. however, engaged audiences will binge watch a series so streaming television is usually releases a whole season at once to cater for that style of viewing. Streaming television that doesn't rate highly anymore is usually cancelled faster than television drama because they are often more expensive to produce due to competition between streaming giants.
  • because streaming services offer video 'on demand' there is often social pressure to watch content the moment it is released to avoid spoilers or being left out of conversation (the water cooler effect)
  • Universal consumption means that streaming television becomes cultural discourse almost overnight. For example, if a new season of Stranger Things appears on Netflix, the whole world watches and discusses it. It becomes a cultural talking point all over the internet and that kind of engagement leads to further consumption. To not consume would put the audience at risk of feeling culturally alienated.
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