Alternative Narrative Structures

Frame Narrative

The Notebook

• Titanic• The Princess Bride• Raging Bull• Citizen Kane• The Life of Pi• Inception• Slumdog Millionaire

Frame Narrative

Episodic Narrative

The 400 Blows

Open-ended Narrative

Inception

• The 400 Blows• The Graduate• Manhattan• 2001: A Space Odyssey• Taxi Driver• Mulholland Drive• City Lights

Open-ended Narrative

Nonlinear Narrative

Pulp Fiction

• 500 Days of Summer• Annie Hall• Memento• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind• Blue Valentine• The Prestige• Citizen Kane

Nonlinear Narrative

Three-Act and Nonlinear

500 Days of Summer

Network Narrative

Crash

• Pulp Fiction• Love Actually• Traffic• Babel• The Help• Diner• Hannah and Her Sisters

Network Narrative

Variations on Narrative Conventions

• Clarity• Unity• Characters• Closure

Conventions

Viewers should not be confused about setting, time, events, or character motivations.

Conventions: Clarity

Forest Gump

Lack of Clarity

Donnie Darko

• Mulholland Drive• Rashomon• Citizen Kane• Fight Club• Adaptation• Synechdoche, New York• The Tree of Life• 2001: A Space Odyssey

Lack of Clarity

Connections between cause and effect must be direct and complete.

Conventions: Unity

Spiderman (2002)

Lack of Unity

Mulholland Drive

• Last Year at Marienbad• Memento• Reservoir Dogs• Synechdoche, New York• Upstream Color

Lack of Unity

They should invite viewer identification, be active, and seek goals.

Conventions: Characters

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Unconventional Characterization

The Wolf of Wall Street

• Taxi Driver • There Will Be Blood• Drive• A Clockwork Orange• The Graduate • Blue Jasmine • Young Adult

Unconventional Characterization

Third acts and epilogues should tie up loose ends and answer all questions.

Conventions: Closure

The Shawshank Redemption

Open-ended Narrative

Inception