NARRATIVE

THEORY

THE GOAL ORIENTATED PLOT AND

NARRATIVE THEORY

PLOT VS. NARRATIVE

Plot = the chronological events of a story.

E.g. The story of Titanic begins when people

board a really big boat and it ends with the

peaceful death of the old lady (Rose).

Narrative = the organisation of this story.

E.g. The film of Titanic begins in the present

with the old lady relaying her story before

the film has prolonged flashbacks to the

past

CREATE A NARRATIVE

FROM THESE PLOT

EVENTS

A plum is eaten

A telephone rings

Busy traffic

A man dies

Ink Spills

AIMS AND

OBJECTIVES

Critically review films and its narrative

Apply narrative theory to your assignment

Gather research to define narrative theory

WHAT IS NARRATIVE?

Narrative is defined as

“a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occuring in time”

(Bordwell & Thompson, Film Art, 1980)

The way that stories are told, how meaning is constructed to achieve the understanding of the audience.

In film, narrative is constructed through elements like camerawork, lighting, sound, mise-en-scene and editing.

WHAT DRIVES A

NARRATIVE FORWARD?

WHY IS A GOAL

ORIENTATED PLOT

USEFUL FOR STORY

TELLING?

EXAMPLES

Kill Bill – Kill Bill

The Hangover/2 – Find friend

Children of Men – Save the girl

Inglorious Basterds – Kill Hitler

The Bicycle Thieves – Replace the bicycle

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World – Defeat the evil ex’s

The Big Lebowski – Retrieve The Dude’s rug

OTHER EXAMPLES

ARISTOTLE THEORY

Beginning

Middle

End

TODOROV

Todorov describes narrative as going from equilibrium to disequilibrium back to an

altered equilibrium

Standard 3-

point narrative.

•Beginning

•Middle

•End

More detailed 5-

point narrative

IZETAN TODOROV

Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:

Equilibrium: (sets the scene)

Everyday Life

Disruption: (complication)

Something happens to alter the equilibrium

Conflict: (climax)

Trying to solve the problem (seek resolution)

Resolution:

Problem is sorted

New Equilibrium: (satisfactory end)

Back to normal (but never the same)- a new normal

INCEPTION – 2010

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

KILL BILL – 2003

QUENTIN TARANTINO

TYPES OF NARRATIVE

STRUCTURE

LEVI STRAUSS

THEORY

Binary Opposition

Narrative tension is based on opposition or conflict.

This can be as simple as two characters fighting, but more

often functions at an ideological level – e.g., in Westerns,

what do the cowboys and Indians each represent? What

ideologies are embodied by the opposed sides in LOTR or

Star Wars?

The Wickerman shows key elements of Binary Opposition

BARTHES

Barthes describes narrative as a series of codes that are read and interpreted by

the audience

BARTHES’ 5 CODES

Action Code:

something the audience knows and doesn't need explaining e.g.

someone being wheeled out on a stretcher tells us they are going to

hospital

Enigma Code:

something hidden from the audience (creates intrigue)

Semic Code:

something that the audience recognize through connotations

Symbolic Code:

Something that symbolizes a more abstract concept e.g. a darker

than usual room of a murder scene could symbolize the depth of

darkness and depravity

Referential Code:

Something that is read with understanding due to cultural

awareness (e.g. youth culture use certain words that are understood

by that culture)

300

COMMENTARY

VLADMIR PROPP THEORY

OF CHARACTERS

Vladimir Propp’s theory was formed in the early twentieth

Century.

8 types of characters: the hero, the villain, the donor, the

dispatcher (the messenger), the false hero, the helper, the

princess and her father.

He did not state these characters were all separate people

e.g. the provider could also be the helper.

There are only 8 different character types and only 31

things they ever do (makes stories predictable)

Todays film and TV: The hero, the villain and the damsel in

distress.

APPLY PROPP’S THEORY

TO STAR WARS

The hero – Luke Skywalker

The villain – Darth Vader

The donor – Obi Wan

The dispatcher – Obi Wan

The false hero – Darth Vader

The helper – Obi Wan

The princess - Leia

The father – Leia’s father