Narrative

22.01.2015

Narrative 

A chain of events with a beginning, middle and end that embodies a judgement about the narrative events 

Narrative is the art of storytelling 

Think of the story as raw Ingredient of text

Narrative = plot + story 

Plot is everything visibly and audibly present in the text

Story is all the events of the narrative both explicit and implicit 

Narrative is a chain of events in a cause and effect relationship in time and space

Technical Codes

This refers to all the aspects of narrative construction that involve technical decision making. Therefore anything to do with camera angles and movement, lighting, sound, props. shot framing and composition, design and layout and editing. What do each of the choices made tell you about what is going on - for instance, is a character shot from a high or low angle and how does that make you, the audience, feel about them? How are sound effects used to help you make sense of what is going on?

Verbal Codes

The use of language - written and spoken - and signs contained in graphics. We learn a lot about a narrative from what we are told in this way, but the best narratives show rather than tell, leaving the audience to draw their own conclusions.

Symbolic Codes

These are the signs contained in the narrative that we decode as being significant and having meaning - for example a ragged coat worn by a character may mean that they are poor and possibly hungry. Think of them as clues that have to be followed, and different viewers/readers will follow clues in different ways.

Structure

Russian theorist, Tzvetan Todorov, suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure. They begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored.

The Seven Character Types of Vladimir Propp

1. The villain—struggles against the hero
2. The donor—prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object
3. The (magical) helper—helps the hero in the quest
4. The princess and her father—gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished
5. The dispatcher—character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
6. The hero or victim/seeker hero—reacts to the donor, weds the princess
7. False hero—takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

These roles could sometimes be distributed among various characters, as the hero kills the villain dragon, and the dragon's sisters take on the villainous role of chasing him. Conversely, one character could engage in acts as more than one role, as a father could send his son on the quest and give him a sword, acting as both dispatcher and donor.

Barthes codes 

Enigma code Teases the audience A puzzle or riddle to be solved Creates tension Drives Narrative

Action code

A resolution is produced through action

What is to come

Momento 

A man creates a strange system to help him remember things; so he can hunt for the murderer of his wife without his short-term memory loss being an obstacle.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Writers: Christopher Nolan (screenplay), Jonathan Nolan(short story "Memento Mori")

Stars: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano Genres: Mystery | Thriller

Country: USA

Language: English

Release Date: 25 May 2001 (USA)

Production Co: Newmarket Capital Group, Team Todd, I Remember Productions

 

• Starts shooting someone then goes backwards in time when the film is in colour.
• when the film is in black and white it is liner between the coloured parts of the film at some point towards the end the two link and the black and white leads into the coloured storyline. 
• Leonard - uses tattoos to remind himself about people and events. also uses lots of notes and pictures of people.
• we only see what he can so the story is just as confusing to the audience as it is for the main character. 
• People like Natalie manipulate him by using his memory loss to get him to do her dirty work and tired to get him to kill someone. 
• the enigma code is that you don’t know who is on the phone.
• Don’t know who the killers/rapist are until the end 

it turns out that learned killed his wife by giving her too much insulin but creates this false story about Sammy Jenkins when its what really happened to kill.

• Leonard made the conscious decision to kill John at the end.

The Seven Character Types of Vladimir Propp

1. The villain—Leonard 
2. The donor— Natalie
3. The helper - Teddy
4. The dispatcher—Natalie
5. The hero - Teddy 
6. False hero—Leonard
7. princess - the wife
8. father - ?