Notes from sheet

 Notes from sheet


Narrative - Chain event in cause-effect relationship occurring in time( Bordwell& Thompson 1980)

Diegesis - Internal world created by story characters experience and encounter

Story - events referenced both in narrative and inferred (includes backstory as well as those projected beyond action)

Plot - events directly incorporated into action of text and order in which they are presented

Narrative Range

Unrestricted narration - Narrative which has no limits to information that is presented i.e. news bulletin.

Restricted narration - only offer minimal information in narrative -  thrillers and suspense

Narrative Depth

Subjective character identification - viewer given unique access to a range of characters see and do

Objective character identification - viewer given unique access to character's pov such as seeing things from character's mind, dreams, fantasies or memories.


Propps Narrative theory

• Hero - Male, restores narrative equilibrium embarking on a quest. 
• Victim Hero - centre of villian attention
• Seeker Hero - aids others who are the villains victims

• Villain - creates disruption
• Donor - give hero something (object, info, advice - helps resolve narrative)
• Helper - aids restoring equilibrium
• Princess- victim ( most threatened by villain, has to be saved as climax by hero, fathers role in fairy tales to give princess to hero. Father can also be dispatcher. see Conan the barbarian film)
• Dispatcher - sends hero on quest
• False Hero - good but is actually evil

Characters can also fulfill more than one categories

Todorov Narrative theory

• Equilibrium
• Disruption
• Recognition
• Repairing the disruption
• New Equilibrium

Modular Narratives in Contemporary Cinema by Allan Cameron

Modular Narratives show a sense of time as divisible and subject to manipulation

There are 4 types of modular narratives - Cameron

1. Anachronic
2. Forking Paths
3. Episodic
4. Split Screens

Anachronic - involve use of flashbacks and or flash forwards - no clear dominance between any of narrative threads. Repeats scenes directly or through a different perspective e.g Pulp Fiction.

Forking-path - narrative juxtapose alternate versions of story, shows possible outcomes that might result in small changes in single or group events. Can introduce a no. of plotlines that contradict one another e.e Groundhog Day, Run Lola Run.

Episodic - Narrative organised as abstract series or narrative anthology.

• Abstract - modular narrative characterised by operation of non narrative formal system which can dictate organisation of narrative elements such as sequence of no. or alphabet

• Anthology - series of shorter tales, disconnected by share random similarity e.g all epsiodes being survivors of a shipwreck.

Split screen - Narrative modularity articulated along spatial rather than temporal lines. Films divide screen into two or more frames, Juxtaposing events within same visual field in a sustained fashion e.g Timecode.