What is a Narrative?
Simply put, a Narrative is a story. We are extraordinarily familiar with narrative and narrative structure. You were most likely read to as a child, watched TV shows, read your own books, went and saw movies and told your own stories.
In Unit 3/4 Media, you will start to analyse the structure of these stories, specifically for film. You will gain an understanding of the technical, symbolic and written codes of film and also film and genre conventions
Codes are cinematic tools used by film-makers to construct meaning (for example, a high camera angle making a character look small and insignificant) .
They are used by the film-makers to help construct meaning for the audience.
Conventions of narratives are used to establish form and structure (for example, narratives are formed by character arcs, developing storylines, etc).
They are used by the screenwriters to form and shape the narrative during the writing process.
In Unit 3/4 Media, you will start to analyse the structure of these stories, specifically for film. You will gain an understanding of the technical, symbolic and written codes of film and also film and genre conventions
Codes are cinematic tools used by film-makers to construct meaning (for example, a high camera angle making a character look small and insignificant) .
They are used by the film-makers to help construct meaning for the audience.
Conventions of narratives are used to establish form and structure (for example, narratives are formed by character arcs, developing storylines, etc).
They are used by the screenwriters to form and shape the narrative during the writing process.
Technical Codes
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Camera - The camera is the eye of the film. Much like a human eye, the camera captures light. That is its primary function. How a director of photography uses the camera can develop the plot, characters and narrative possibilities. This can include shot types (e.g.: close up, wide shot, etc), camera movement (e.g. pan dolly, tracking, etc) , lens types (e.g. wide angle, fish eye, etc) and camera angles (e.g. high or low angles, dutch angles, etc) Editing - the post production assembly and manipulation of footage which can either be continuity editing (a replication of reality) or expressive (heightened editing such as slowing down or speeding up time, split screen compositions, colour correction, special effects and many others) Transitions between one moment to the next can include: cuts, fades, wipes, mask wipes, smash cuts, match cuts, cuts on action, etc. Lighting - the illumination of set and actors via natural or artificial lighting sources. it can replicate reality such as a bright sunny day (high key lighting) or darkly lit basement (low key lighting) Alternatively, lighting can be expressive (this is lighting that expressive a mood, emotion or hint of view such as coloured lighting, isolated spotlights, heavenly glows, etc). Sound - the audible world of the character (diegetic sound, such as sound effect and dialogue) or the audible world of the film that only the audience is privy to (non-diegetic sound, such as narration, music, etc) |
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Symbolic Codes
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Acting - the actors use of expressive skills such as facial expressions, voice, movements, gestures and body language to portray a character. Mise-En-Scenè - French term that mean 'put in the scene' which refers to everything we can see in the frame including actors, colours, lighting, styles, patterns, sets, props . Mine-en-scene can often have a deeper symbolic function and reveal more about character's personality or themes in the film. Setting - the narrative's setting in time, history, social class, location and/or country. Setting can also have a deeper symbolic function, such as Lester Burnam's middle class suburbia acting like a prison for him. Colour - the use of colour in film is often symbolically coded. For example we understand that white = purity, red = rage or love, black = sorrow. Colour is often used this way in film. Colour can be manipulated and applied in the film's colour grade, set and costume design, visual motifs,etc. Visual Composition - the way mice-en-scene and actors are arranged or positioned in the frame. For example, foreground objects demand our attention, while objects further away may be taken in subconsciously. |
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Written Codes
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Dialogue - the words spoken by a character or narrators as written by the author of the screenplay Language - The way context under which dialogue is delivered. Language can be defined by race, socio-economic status, region, creed, age, personality, etc. |
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Film Conventions
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Point of View - the perspective from which the narrative events play out. Usually from the protagonist's perspective but it can sometimes change. Sometimes we as an audience can see elements that our protagonist or protagonists cant see so we understand that a character may be in danger or making a bad decision. This is called an 'objective perspective.' While other times the audience may be made to feel like they are experiencing events as the protagonist experiences them. This is called the 'subjective perspective.' Storyline Structure - the opening of the film usual established time, place, location and characters and sets up narrative possibilities (the hook!). These possibilities are developed throughout the course of the film and are usually resolved by the narrative conclusion. Most narratives operate in a 3 act structure that follows the story of the protagonist, however some films may follow multiple character storylines. Usually, the protagonists storyline will begin in equilibrium, where their world is relatively normal for them. Then a problem or conflict may occur and throw the protagonist's storyline into disequilibrium. Character Development - A character's personalities traits, motivation and desires are often established in the opening of a narrative. Quite often, their motivations will drive their actions and propel the storyline forward. As the film progresses, the character will usually face some kind of challenge (a dangerous situation? a love interest? an unfulfilling life?) and the Character usually will need to learn to overcome their challenge by growing and developing. We call this the character arc. Good character arcs are usually defined by wants and needs. What a character 'wants' is usually external and drives motivation (to win a game or to slay the dragon, etc). However to get to what a character wants, they often need to gain something they truly 'need'. A character need is internal and is essentially the heart of the film (for example, to win the game the character needs to learn to embrace teamwork, or to slay the dragon the character needs to learn how to believe in himself.) Cause and Effect - the logical pattern of one action causing a resulting consequence. Good writing will follow the 'therefor structure' which suggests "THAT happened THEREFOR, THIS happens." Every action should have a logical consequence. Structure of Time - the temporal structure of a Narrative. Overall, a narrative is usually linear (from one point in time to another) circular (from the end of a story, back to the beginning and then to the end again) or non-linear (events play out any temporal order) Individual moments can have their own expressive structure of time. events may speed up or slow down, shots may linger for a long time (extended temporal duration) or they may repeat often (increased temporal frequency) |
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Genre
Genre theory is used in the study of films in order to facilitate the categorization of films. Genre are dependent on various factors such as story line, whom the director is, what are the audience expectations, etc.
In order to understand Genre we may look at several examples. When we speak of the western we know that within this collection of films we may expect to find gun fights, horses and indians, the solitary cowboy and to some degree the actors and directors of such films. Another example would be when looking at the horror film where we know everyone will die except one. The audience whom go to those films expect to see zombie, were wolves,werewolvess and more. This is what we call conventions or common tropes belonging to the genre.
Get Out is a horror satire
some conventions of this genre are:
American Beauty is an existential drama
some conventions of this genre are:
In order to understand Genre we may look at several examples. When we speak of the western we know that within this collection of films we may expect to find gun fights, horses and indians, the solitary cowboy and to some degree the actors and directors of such films. Another example would be when looking at the horror film where we know everyone will die except one. The audience whom go to those films expect to see zombie, were wolves,werewolvess and more. This is what we call conventions or common tropes belonging to the genre.
Get Out is a horror satire
some conventions of this genre are:
- jump scares (periods of silence followed by a loud noise and scary visual)
- darkly lit locations
- grotesque or violent imagery
- The use of tension and suspense
- The deaths of ancillary characters
- The protagonist's fight for survival
- (satire) - The ridiculing of established societal norms
- (satire) - exaggerated characters and situations with a basis in reality
American Beauty is an existential drama
some conventions of this genre are:
- expressive lighting and editing
- central protagonist undertakes a journey of self discovery
- questions the meaning/point of existence
- looks behind the ‘façade of normality’
- contain dream sequences/fantacy sequences
- melancholic approach to life and death
