Narrative Difference

What is Narrative Difference?

• The way a story is told

• The story has themes: Family, War, Romance etc.

• There are six ways to think about narrative difference

• You can understand a movie, TV show, Internet video, magazine, and even a radio show if you think about Narrative difference

Six Parts

1. Technical Difference – (TD)

2. Verbal Difference – (VD)

3. Symbolic Difference – (SD)

4. Structure Difference – (SAD)

5. Character Difference– (CD)

6. Narrative Conflict Difference– (NCD)

Technical Difference – (TD)

• Camera Angles

• Sound

• Editing

• Colour

• Design

Verbal Difference – (VD)

• Written Language

• Spoken Language

Memory Difference– (MD)

• The Mood of the movie

• The Set design

• The Feeling from the image

• Remembering the past

Beginning

Middle

Ending

Structure - The Story Arc (SAD)

Introduce characters

and situation

A change

Result of change

Characters – (CD)

Hero

VillainLove Interest

Father

Teacher

Character Type Role within narrative

Protagonist (or Hero)

Leads the narrative, is usually looking

for something (a quest) or trying to solve

something (a mystery). Does not have

to be male :)

Antagonist (or Villain) Gets in the protagonist's way

Heroine (Female Hero)Is usually some sort of prize or reward

for the hero. NB if your hero is female,

your heroine can be male :)

Father

An authority figure who offers a reward

to the hero for completing their quest.

That reward might be a prince or a

princess or a cool new job

HelperHelps the hero - often acts as a

sidekick

Teacher Teaches and guides the hero

Narrative Conflict - (NCD)

Story goes forward because of conflict or

fighting….

Cowboys v Indians Woman v Man bad hair v good hair

Narrative Conflict - (NCD)

light/dark good/evil

right/wrong poverty/wealth

noise/silence youth/age

strength/weakness inside/outside

1. Technical Code (TD)

2. Verbal Code (VD)

3. Memory Code (MD)

4. Structure (SAD)

5. Character (CD)

6. Narrative Conflict (NCD)

1. Technical Code – (TD)Anything using camera angles, sound, different colours,editing style, and design.2. Verbal Code – (VD)Style of text, style of voice, voice overs - Listening3. Memory Code – (MD)Signs about the mood of the film or TV show you remember from the past.4. Structure – (SD)Introduction of characters and how they change.5. Character – (CD)Types of personalities: Hero, Villian, Teacher etc6. Narrative Conflict – (NCD)Fighting between two people or groups or items.