Narrative Structure

Structure of narrative

• Narrative is also much more than just a series of cause- effect events.
• The overall narrative structure of a film comprises, in the vast majority of cases, a beginning, middle and end.
• More technically (After Tzvetan Todorov)

Narrative structure applied to a specific film

13 going on 30 (Dir. Gary Winick, USA, 2004)

1. The state of equilibrium

Jennifer Garner is 13 and its her birthday, she has her best friend called Mathew but wants to hang out with a group of her school which are the “cool” girls. She gets angry as the girls cheated her and wants to turn 30 and be pretty.

2. Disruption to that equilibrium

Jennifer Garner wakes up and she was 30, and living the life she wanted when she was 13. But she realises that it wasn’t what she really liked and wants to go back to her old life.

3. Successful restoration of the equilibrium

Goes to Mathews house were there was the powder that had made her wish when she was 13 true. And asks again to be 13 and lives her life as normal.

Narrative

What drives narrative?

• Cause and effect
• One event causes another to happen
• E.g. Psycho (1960)
• Marion and Sam have little money; Tom (the wealthy man) hands over a lot of money; Marion is given the money by the boss; the motive is establish by the rest of the film.
• In psycho, initial events occur more less independently to the main characters
• Marion is quickly killed off- and the film continues without her. Her boyfriend never reappears meaningfully

Cause- effect logic + needs of the characters

• The cause effect logic all relates directly to Thornhill
• In other words, narrative development also has to de seen in relation to the characters themselves, who motivate the cause effect logic
• The forward momentum of North by northwest is driven by the needs and wishes of Thornhill

Structure of Narrative

• Narrative is also much more than just a series of cause effect events
• The overall narrative structure of a film comprises, in the vast majority of cases, a beginning, a middle, and an end.
• More technically
• A state of equilibrium
• Disruption to that equilibrium
• Successful restoration of the equilibrium

The liminal period

• The middle part of a film is generally more dramatic
• It is sometimes refers as the liminal period
• This is when narrative transgresses normal social events, before the equilibrium is restored.

A satisfying film is guaranteed if the main character ends up with more than began.

Narrative techniques

Technique	Description	Effect (in term of driving forward the narrative of the film)	Example from a film
1. Exposition	Fills in the back story of the characters and their situations	Shows our interest in the characters and we want to see what happens to them next.	The narration of the beginning of Amelie explaining the background and her parents.
2. Dangling cause	Information or action that leads to no effect or resolution until much later in the film	Our interest in the film is retained, and allows the film to have many different stories going on.	Shrek 2, the king is actually a frog and the fairy god mother turned him into a prince so he could be king.
3. Obstacle	Stands in the way of the characters reaching their goal	Makes it more interesting and dramatic as it demands that things happen.	Psycho. The police man follows her.
4. Deadline	A time limit placed on a protagonist to accomplish a goal	Increases tension, makes the film more goal orientated.	Inception, you have certain time in the dreams as they are synchronized.
5. Dialogue hook	Creates a link between two consecutive scenes	Makes two unrelated scenes make sense.

Narrative structure applied to a specific film

 13 going on 30 (Dir. Gary Winick, USA, 2004)

1. The state of equilibrium

Jennifer Garner is 13 and its her birthday, she has her best friend called Mathew but wants to hang out with a group of her school which are the “cool” girls. She gets angry as the girls cheated her and wants to turn 30 and be pretty.

2. Disruption to that equilibrium

Jennifer Garner wakes up and she was 30, and living the life she wanted when she was 13. But she realises that it wasn’t what she really liked and wants to go back to her old life.

3. Successful restoration of the equilibrium

Goes to Mathews house were there was the powder that had made her wish when she was 13 true. And asks again to be 13 and lives her life as normal.