1(b) Narrative
Narrative = the way these events are put together
(Story = a sequence of events known as the plot)
This could include:
—who is telling the story and how reliable they are
—in what form the story is told e.g. video diary, flashback, series of images, voiceover.
—how events are selected and/or missed out to create a particular story
—how and in what order the events are imparted to the audience
—with which character (if any) the audience is encouraged to identify
—how much knowledge the audience is allowed to have in relation to the characters
—Media texts use codes and conventions to indicate a story – we might consider these as media ‘shorthand’.
How could you signal:
—Someone has a secret?
—Someone is being followed?
—Something bad is going to happen?
Narrative shapes material in terms of space and time - it defines where things take place, when they take place, how quickly they take place.
Narrative, especially that of film and TV, has an immense ability to manipulate our awareness of time and place e.g. flashbacks, replays of action, slow motion, speeding up, jumping between places and times.
NARRATIVE MODES There are two main modes of narrative which need to be structured.
1 . The narrative of events e.g. - A hero shoots an enemy agent, dives into a
lake, triggers a remote control device which will destroy the enemy submarine.
2. The narrative of drama e.g. - The heroine has a tense argument with the
Hero and decides he was never her type and she is going to leave. Nothing has really happened in terms of events but a lot has happened dramatically.
Texts often need to signal changes in chronology.
How could you signal:
—A few months has gone by?
—A flashback?
—An historical event?
—The next day?
—A memory?
—Night falling?
Audiences need to be able to work out where or in what sort of place an event takes place.
How could you signal:
—An urban location?
—An environment unfamiliar to the character?
—The next scene takes place in a different city?
—A journey?
—Open Narratives – a text which is open to a number of possible interpretations and stories, so the audience tends to create their own narratives around the text.
—Closed (or fixed) Narratives – a text which provides its audience with only one possible story.
Music video and narrativeWhat problems for narrative are presented by the form of the music video? Consider:
Characters repetition setting chorus dialogue pace chronology
So - can we read a music video as a straightforward narrative?
Should we not expect to?
Or should we expect to have to work harder to create a story for ourselves?
Todorov's theory of equlilibium
—Todorov proposed a basic structure for all narratives. He stated that films and programmes begin with an equilibrium, a calm period.
—Then agents of disruption cause disequilibrium, a period of unsettlement and disquiet.
—This is then followed by a renewed state of peace and harmony for the protagonists and a new equilibrium brings the chaos to an end.
—The simplest form of narrative (sometimes referred to as ‘Classic’ or ‘Hollywood’ narrative).
BARTHES’ ENIGMA CODEAn enigma = a mystery to draw the audience in and encourage questions.
Eg. the slow revealing of a character through delaying a shot of their face.
eg. a series of reaction shots before showing the audience the cause of the reaction
eg. the quick succession of image motifs to raise questions about the characteristics of a relationship
— The narrative will establish enigmas or mysteries as it goes along.
— Essentially, the narrative functions to establish and then solve these mysteries.
PROPP’S THEORY ON CHARACTER AND ACTIONVladimir Propp’s theory was formed in the early twentieth Century.
He studied Russian fairytales and discovered that within a narrative there were always 8 types of characters evident.
These are: the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, 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. Once you have identified the character type (e.g., the hero) it’s easy to guess what they will do (save the maiden, defeat the villain, marry the maiden or whatever) because each character has a SPHERE OF ACTION.
Propp provided a model of narrative where characters and events can be seen as constructs, which exist in order to ‘move along’ and drive a narrative momentum. Using fairy tales as his basis, Propp identified a set of interchangeable character types that have clear functions in order to fuel a narrative.
— · The hero, focused on a quest.
— · The villain hindering the hero on his/her quest
— · The donor, who gives the hero some magical key or information.
— · The helper, who assists the hero on his / her quest.
— · The heroine, who is used by the villain and is a reward for the hero.
In this model, the audience will identify with the hero and root for the successful completion of the quest, and therefore be apposed to the villain as hindering narrative closure and, thus, satisfaction.
LEVI-STRAUSS AND BINARY OPPOSITIONS
Claude Levi-Strauss identified a narrative system of ‘binary opposites’ in which symbols and ideas exist in relation to their opposites, with which they are in conflict. The theory is that a simplified set of meanings is drawn from a text, where an idea is considered only in relation to its opposite, pandering to a viewer’s need to side with a character which is ‘good’ against that which is ‘evil’. Binary oppositions can be seen in the following:
GOOD + EVIL
MALE + FEMALE
US + THEM
Following this model we can consider the way in which many narratives are told from the point of view of the main protagonist, and consider what they ‘are’ in relation to what they ‘are not’. For example many Hollywood narratives are told from the point of view of a white, male figure, the hero of the narrative. This necessarily puts him in a privileged position inside the fold of the narrative, therefore, using Levi-Strauss’ model, we can identify what he exists in opposition to.
The theory is interesting in that it draws attention to the fact that the world of a text is a constructed fiction, where simplified moral systems can operate (the grey area being removed).
Levi-Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts. An example would be GOOD and EVIL – we understand the concept of GOOD as being the opposite of EVIL.
Levi –Strauss was not so interested in looking at the order in which events were arranged in the plot. He looked instead for deeper arrangements of themes. For example, if we look at Science Fiction films we can identify a series of binary oppositions which are created by the narrative:
Earth Space
Good Evil
Humans Aliens
Past Present
Normal Strange
Known Unknown
Practice exam Question:
“Storytelling- narrative- is central to how people communicate their understanding of the world” (Kevin Williams). Explain the role of narrative in one of your productions.
Key points to remember in your response:
· Remember that you can choose any production you have created over the AS and A2 courses – main task or preliminary/ancillary.
· Aim to include some relevant application of narrative theory (e.g. Propp/Barthes) to explain what you did.
· Evaluate your work, don’t just describe it – how well did your narrative techniques work? How similar or different is your finished product from other media texts you know, or from your initial ideas and expectations?
· Relate your work to your understanding of institutions – your decisions were at least partly based on what you know about promotion, distribution etc. as well as creativity.
(Story = a sequence of events known as the plot)
This could include:
—who is telling the story and how reliable they are
—in what form the story is told e.g. video diary, flashback, series of images, voiceover.
—how events are selected and/or missed out to create a particular story
—how and in what order the events are imparted to the audience
—with which character (if any) the audience is encouraged to identify
—how much knowledge the audience is allowed to have in relation to the characters
—Media texts use codes and conventions to indicate a story – we might consider these as media ‘shorthand’.
How could you signal:
—Someone has a secret?
—Someone is being followed?
—Something bad is going to happen?
Narrative shapes material in terms of space and time - it defines where things take place, when they take place, how quickly they take place.
Narrative, especially that of film and TV, has an immense ability to manipulate our awareness of time and place e.g. flashbacks, replays of action, slow motion, speeding up, jumping between places and times.
NARRATIVE MODES There are two main modes of narrative which need to be structured.
1 . The narrative of events e.g. - A hero shoots an enemy agent, dives into a
lake, triggers a remote control device which will destroy the enemy submarine.
2. The narrative of drama e.g. - The heroine has a tense argument with the
Hero and decides he was never her type and she is going to leave. Nothing has really happened in terms of events but a lot has happened dramatically.
Texts often need to signal changes in chronology.
How could you signal:
—A few months has gone by?
—A flashback?
—An historical event?
—The next day?
—A memory?
—Night falling?
Audiences need to be able to work out where or in what sort of place an event takes place.
How could you signal:
—An urban location?
—An environment unfamiliar to the character?
—The next scene takes place in a different city?
—A journey?
—Open Narratives – a text which is open to a number of possible interpretations and stories, so the audience tends to create their own narratives around the text.
—Closed (or fixed) Narratives – a text which provides its audience with only one possible story.
Music video and narrativeWhat problems for narrative are presented by the form of the music video? Consider:
Characters repetition setting chorus dialogue pace chronology
So - can we read a music video as a straightforward narrative?
Should we not expect to?
Or should we expect to have to work harder to create a story for ourselves?
Todorov's theory of equlilibium
—Todorov proposed a basic structure for all narratives. He stated that films and programmes begin with an equilibrium, a calm period.
—Then agents of disruption cause disequilibrium, a period of unsettlement and disquiet.
—This is then followed by a renewed state of peace and harmony for the protagonists and a new equilibrium brings the chaos to an end.
—The simplest form of narrative (sometimes referred to as ‘Classic’ or ‘Hollywood’ narrative).
Eg. the slow revealing of a character through delaying a shot of their face.
eg. a series of reaction shots before showing the audience the cause of the reaction
eg. the quick succession of image motifs to raise questions about the characteristics of a relationship
— The narrative will establish enigmas or mysteries as it goes along.
— Essentially, the narrative functions to establish and then solve these mysteries.
PROPP’S THEORY ON CHARACTER AND ACTIONVladimir Propp’s theory was formed in the early twentieth Century.
He studied Russian fairytales and discovered that within a narrative there were always 8 types of characters evident.
These are: the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, 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. Once you have identified the character type (e.g., the hero) it’s easy to guess what they will do (save the maiden, defeat the villain, marry the maiden or whatever) because each character has a SPHERE OF ACTION.
Propp provided a model of narrative where characters and events can be seen as constructs, which exist in order to ‘move along’ and drive a narrative momentum. Using fairy tales as his basis, Propp identified a set of interchangeable character types that have clear functions in order to fuel a narrative.
— · The hero, focused on a quest.
— · The villain hindering the hero on his/her quest
— · The donor, who gives the hero some magical key or information.
— · The helper, who assists the hero on his / her quest.
— · The heroine, who is used by the villain and is a reward for the hero.
In this model, the audience will identify with the hero and root for the successful completion of the quest, and therefore be apposed to the villain as hindering narrative closure and, thus, satisfaction.
LEVI-STRAUSS AND BINARY OPPOSITIONS
Claude Levi-Strauss identified a narrative system of ‘binary opposites’ in which symbols and ideas exist in relation to their opposites, with which they are in conflict. The theory is that a simplified set of meanings is drawn from a text, where an idea is considered only in relation to its opposite, pandering to a viewer’s need to side with a character which is ‘good’ against that which is ‘evil’. Binary oppositions can be seen in the following:
GOOD + EVIL
MALE + FEMALE
US + THEM
Following this model we can consider the way in which many narratives are told from the point of view of the main protagonist, and consider what they ‘are’ in relation to what they ‘are not’. For example many Hollywood narratives are told from the point of view of a white, male figure, the hero of the narrative. This necessarily puts him in a privileged position inside the fold of the narrative, therefore, using Levi-Strauss’ model, we can identify what he exists in opposition to.
The theory is interesting in that it draws attention to the fact that the world of a text is a constructed fiction, where simplified moral systems can operate (the grey area being removed).
Levi-Strauss looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts. An example would be GOOD and EVIL – we understand the concept of GOOD as being the opposite of EVIL.
Levi –Strauss was not so interested in looking at the order in which events were arranged in the plot. He looked instead for deeper arrangements of themes. For example, if we look at Science Fiction films we can identify a series of binary oppositions which are created by the narrative:
Earth Space
Good Evil
Humans Aliens
Past Present
Normal Strange
Known Unknown
Practice exam Question:
“Storytelling- narrative- is central to how people communicate their understanding of the world” (Kevin Williams). Explain the role of narrative in one of your productions.
Key points to remember in your response:
· Remember that you can choose any production you have created over the AS and A2 courses – main task or preliminary/ancillary.
· Aim to include some relevant application of narrative theory (e.g. Propp/Barthes) to explain what you did.
· Evaluate your work, don’t just describe it – how well did your narrative techniques work? How similar or different is your finished product from other media texts you know, or from your initial ideas and expectations?
· Relate your work to your understanding of institutions – your decisions were at least partly based on what you know about promotion, distribution etc. as well as creativity.
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