1. CHAPTER FOUR
Elements of Narrative

2. What Is Narrative?
Narrative – a cinematic structure in which the filmmakers have selected and arranged events in a cause-and-effect sequence occurring over time
Narrative movie – a fiction film, as opposed to other movies modes, such as documentary or experimental
Narration – the act of telling the story
The Narrator – who or what tells the story

3. The Primary Narrator
In every movie, the camera is the primary narrator
Its narration consists of the many visual elements it captures and arranges in every composition in every shot
Other cinematic elements such as lighting, set design, makeup, performance and editing contribute to the narrative

4. Possible Narrators Types
First-person – typically a voice-over but may address the audience directly
Third-person – a voice imposed from outside the narrative
Omniscient – has unrestricted access to all aspects of the narrative and characters, as well as information that no character knows
Restricted – information limited to the knowledge of a single character

5. Black Swan (2010). Darren Aronofsky, director
Black Swan (2010). Darren Aronofsky, director. Black Swan is told in the restricted narration of the increasingly unreliable perspective of Nina (Natalie Portman).

6. Basic Types of Characters
Two essential elements of virtually every film narrative are a character pursuing a goal.
Round characters – more lifelike, with complex personalities that may change as the story progresses
Flat characters – few distinct traits and do not change significantly as the story progresses

7. Characters Protagonist – the primary character pursuing the goal
Antagonist – The person(s), creature, or force responsible for obstructing the protagonist
Anti-hero – an unsympathetic protagonist chasing a less than noble goal
Imperfect characters in a narrative – have obstacles, character development, and character motivations

8. District 9 (2009). Neill Blomkamp, director
District 9 (2009). Neill Blomkamp, director. In a science fiction thriller, progression and character change are essential to narrative developments.

9. Narrative Structure Most narratives structures can be broken down to:
Beginning (Act I) – sets up the story and establishes the normal world
Middle (Act II) – longest section that develops the story
End (Act III) – resolves it

10. Figure 4.1: Narrative structure schematic

11. The Screenwriter
Creates the movie’s story and writes the screenplay in its various stages either from scratch or by adapting another source
Builds the narrative structure and devises characters, action, dialogue, and settings
Adheres to a precisely prescribed format so that each page equals one minute of screen time

12. Diegetic and Nondiegetic
Diegetic Elements-
What we see and hear on the screen that come from inside the world of the story: characters, objects, settings, and sounds from the world of the story
Nondiegetic-
What we see and hear on the screen that come from outside the world of the story: titles, credits, music (not originating from the world of the story) and voice-over or third-person narratives

13. Narrative: Two Fundamental Elements
Story – all of the explicit and implicit narrative events in the story and the diegesis, or total world in which the the story occurs
Plot –the specific actions and events and the order in which the events are arranged to convey the narrative to the viewer, including the nondiegetic elements
These two concepts overlap and intersect with one another in every movie.

14. Figure 4.2 Story and Plot

15. The Social Network (2010). David Fincher, director
The Social Network (2010). David Fincher, director. The deliberate structure of selected events and nondiegetic elements like rhythmic music and titles comprise the plot that delivers the story of Mark Zuckerberg’s social networking epiphany.

16. Elements of Narrative: Plot Order and Events
Plot order – a fundamental decision filmmakers make about how to relay story information
Events – happen in a logical order and their relative significance to the story defines them as either major or minor (secondary)

17. Elements of Narrative: Duration
Duration – the length of time it takes for things to occur (in life or in movies)
Story duration – the length of time the implied story takes to occur
Plot duration – the elapsed time of the events explicitly presented in the film take to occur
Screen duration – the movie’s running time on the screen

18. Figure 4.3 Duration: Story versus Plot

19. Figure 4.4 Duration: Plot versus Screen

20. Timecode (2000). Mike Figgis, director
Timecode (2000). Mike Figgis, director. Timecode is shot in real time but splits the screen into four quarters, each displaying a distinct but overlapping story with each quarter’s shot consisting of one continuous 93-minute take.

21. Elements of Narrative: Exposition
Provides background information on the characters, setting, and basic conflict
Ends with an inciting moment that sets the rest of the narrative in motion

22. Elements of Narrative: Suspense vs. Surprise
Surprise – taken unaware, can be shocking. Our emotional response is generally short-lived and can only happen in the same way once.
Suspense – anxiety brought on by partial uncertainty or even knowing what is going to happen. The means by which created is uncertain, and we want to warn and protect the empathetic characters.

23. Elements of Narrative: Repetition
Repetition – the number of times a story element recurs in a narrative plot
Familiar image – an audio or visual image that a director periodically repeats in a movie to stabilize its narrative
By its repetition, the image calls attention to itself as a narrative element.
may be symbolic

24. Elements of Narrative: Setting and Scope
Setting – the time and place in which the story occurs
Scope – the overall range, in time and place, of a movie’s story

25. Bladerunner (1982). Ridley Scott, director
Bladerunner (1982). Ridley Scott, director. Bladerunner takes place in an imaginary world of 2019, where cities like Los Angeles are ruled by technology and saturated with visual information, making the setting an important part of understanding the narrative.

26. The Last Emperor (1987). Bernardo Bertolucci, director
The Last Emperor (1987). Bernardo Bertolucci, director. The Last Emperor has the expansive scope of a historical epic, ranging from 1908 until 1967.

27. Looking at Narrative: John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939)
Based upon the “ship of fools” convention
Sharp psychological portraits of vivid characters
Pointed social commentary

28. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Looking at Narrative: John Ford’s Stagecoach. Stagecoach, © 1939 Walter Wanger Productions.

29. Stagecoach: Narration and Narrator
Ford relies on visual images and dialogue
The camera is omniscient (has unrestricted access to all aspects of the narrative) and provides the narration

30. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. The cavalry bugle signals that help is near and is a key auditory turning point in the movie, giving the stagecoach party hope. 30 30

31. Stagecoach: Characters
Antagonist – Geronimo, but for Ringo, the Plummers
Protagonist – Ringo
Major (round) characters – Dallas, Ringo, Peacock, Gatewood, Dr. Boone, and Lucy are all multi-dimensional characters inside the stagecoach
Minor (flat) characters – Hatfield, Peacock, and Gatewood, Buck Rickabaugh and Marshall Wilcox

32. Stagecoach: Narrative Structure
Narrative – follows the familiar, three-act paradigm
Act I – establishes the world of Tonto, and the characters reasons for going to Lordsburg, their common goal
Act II – we see that what’s at stake, delay and danger, are introduced to the obstacles, and the characters’ actions
Act III – Ringo’s crisis is resolved and several other story items are resolved

33. Stagecoach: Plot Covers the two-day trip from Tonto to Lordsburg
Developed in a strictly chronological way
Events follow each other coherently and logically
Relations of cause-and-effect action are easy to discern

34. Stagecoach: Order Maintains strict chronological order
The journey provides chronological and geographical markers
Reveals a clear pattern of cause and effect

35. Stagecoach: Diegetic and Nondiegetic Elements
Nondiegetic elements – opening and closing titles and credits; background music
Important diegetic element – American folk music

36. Stagecoach: Events 12 major events
Minor plot events add texture and complexity to characters and events
Let’s look at the 12 major events in Stagecoach

37. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 1
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 1. The passengers’ decision to leave Tonto in spite of the cavalry’s warning about Geronimo and his troops .

38. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 2
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 2. Marshall Wilcox’s decision to let Ringo join the party.

39. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 3
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 3. The passengers’ vote to leave the Dry Fork station for Lordsburg, even though a relief unit of cavalry has not yet arrived.

40. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 4. Dr
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 4. Dr. Boone’s willingness to sober up and deliver the baby.

41. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 5
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 5. Dallas’s decision at the Apache Wells station to accept Ringo’s proposal.

42. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 6
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 6. The group’s decision to delay departure from Apache Wells until Lucy has rested from childbirth and is ready to travel.

43. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 7
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 7. Ringo’s attempt to escape at Apache Wells.

44. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 8
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 8. The passengers’ decision at the burned-out ferry landing to try to reach Lordsburg, even though they realize that an Apache attack may be imminent.

45. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 9
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 9. As the Apaches attack.

46. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 10
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 10. Ringo’s willingness to risk his life to bring the coach under control.

47. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 11
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 11. The arrival of the cavalry soon after the Apache attack has begun.

48. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 12
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Major Events: 12. The marshall’s decision to set Ringo free.

49. Stagecoach: Duration
Story duration – what we know and what we infer from the total lives of all the characters
Plot duration – the two-day trip from Tonto to Lordsburg
Screen duration (running time): 96 minutes

50. Stagecoach: Repetition
No story events recur in Stagecoach
Repetition and transformation of character traits
Repetition of familiar images (three-part editing pattern) about a dozen times
1. long shot of the stagecoach
2. two-shot of Curley and Buck on the driver’s seat
3. middle shot, or close-up, of the passengers inside

51. Stagecoach: Suspense Fear of an imminent Indian attack
Will Lucy stop acting like a spoiled rich woman?
Will Dr. Boone sober up in time to deliver her child?
Will Dallas accept Ringo’s proposal?

52. Stagecoach: Settings
Settings were constructed on Hollywood sound stages, and Ford used actual locations in Monument Valley, Arizona
Interior and exteriors of the stagecoach
The desert
Tonto and Lordsburg
Dry Fork Station

53. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Settings: The main street of Tonto, where the horses are being attached to the stagecoach.

54. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Settings: The stagecoach, with its cavalry escort, enters the first phase of its journey.

55. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Settings: The Apache attack on the stagecoach.

56. Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director
Stagecoach (1939). John Ford, director. Settings: The main street of Lordsburg, where residents watch the stagecoach arrive.

57. Stagecoach: Scope Broad overall range of time and place
Presents a historical, social, and mythical vision of American civilization in the 1870s.
Envelopes the social themes of Manifest Destiny

58. Review In every movie, the primary narrator is a. subjective.
b. first-person.
c. the camera.
d. direct-address.
ANS: c REF: What Is Narrative?, Ch. 4, p. 123

59. Review The narrative peak is called a. catharsis. b. crisis.
c. climax.
d. complication.
ANS: b REF: What Is Narrative?, Ch. 4, p. 135

60. Review
Which of the following includes events explicitly presented in a movie but does NOT include implicit events?
a. Diegesis
b. Scenario
c. Plot
d. Narrative
ANS: c REF: Story and Plot, Ch. 4, p. 140

61. Review
2. Which of these consists of both explicitly presented and implicit events?
a. Story
b. Plot
c. Narrative
d. Diegesis
ANS: a REF: Story and Plot, Ch. 4, p. 140

62. Review
3. Emphasizing importance or meaning can be achieved through the manipulation of
a. story order.
b. plot order.
c. the film’s diegesis.
d. narrative.
ANS: b REF: Order, Ch. 4, p. 146

63. Review a. is the central figure, hero or anti-hero .
The antagonist of a movie’s narrative
a. is the central figure, hero or anti-hero .
b. is responsible for obstructing the protagonist.
c. is a virtuous individual.
d. opposes the narrative .
ANS: c REF: Story and Plot, Ch. 4, p. 133

64. Review
4. Manipulation of what formal element is primarily responsible for both stretch and summary relationships between durations?
a. Cinematography
b. Characterization
c. Lighting
d. Editing
ANS: d REF: Duration, Ch. 4, p. 150