G325 - Narrative

Today we are:
Recapping what narrative is
Exploring the different theories on narrative and applying
them to our films
Answering an exam question to see how to answer
incorporating narrative theories
 Narrative Recap
• What is narrative?
• Narrative is the organisation given to a series of facts (which are linked
somehow). Humans need narrative to make sense of things - in everything
we seek a beginning a middle and an end. We understand and construct
meaning using our experience of reality and of other media texts. It is very
different to what is known as “the story.”

Types of Narrative:
Open and Closed
Conventional (Linear) and Experimental (Anachronic/Fractured, Forking Paths,
Episodic, Split Scenes)

Narrative Theories:
Propp and his 7 characters
Todorov and his five stages
Barthes and his ball of wool
 Narrative Theories
• Vladimir Propp: Characters took on the role of
narrative spheres of action or functions.

• Tzvetan Todorovs theory: Conventional narratives set

out in 5 stages

• Barthes theory - A text is like a tangled ball of threads

which needs unraveling so we can separate out the
colours. Once we start to unravel a text we
encounter an absolute plurality of potential meanings
 Propps Theory
• Conventional narrative theory can be explored via the work of Russian Formalists from the 1920’s.
Vladimir Propp’s Theory of Narrative
• Vladimir Propp suggested that characters took on the role of narrative 'spheres of action' or functions.
From a comprehensive study of folktales Propp came up with seven different character types:
• • The hero, usually male, is the agent who restores the narrative equilibrium
• often by embarking upon a quest (or search). Propp distinguishes between
• the victim hero, who is the centre of the villain's attentions, and the seeker
• hero who aids others who are the villains victims. The hero is invariably the
• texts central character.
• • The villain who usually creates the narrative disruption.
• • The donor gives the hero something, it may be an object, information or
• advice, which helps in resolution of the narrative.
• • The helper aids the hero in the task of restoring equilibrium.
• • The princess (the victim) is usually the character most threatened by the
• villain and has to be saved, at the climax, by the hero. The father's (who in
• fairy tales was often the king) role is usually to give the princess away to the hero at the narrative's
conclusion. He may also dispatch the hero.
• • The dispatcher sends the hero on her or his task (who can typically be the princess father)
• • The false hero appears to be good but is revealed, at the narrative's end, to have been bad
• Characters can fulfill more than one sphere character type, for example; a princess may also be a
helper.
 Todorov’s Theory....
Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:
• 1. a state of equilibrium at the outset;
• 2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action;
• 3. a recognition that there has been a disruption;
• 4. an attempt to repair the disruption;
• 5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium
• This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to
many ‘mainstream’ film narratives.
 Barthes Theories
• Barthes theory - A text is like a tangled ball of threads which needs
unraveling so we can separate out the colours. Once we start to
unravel a text we encounter an absolute plurality of potential
meanings
• He suggested open and closed narratives
• He uses codes to allow us to understand how media texts are
communicated to and interpreted by audiences:
• Enigma Codes - They control the amount of information that is
released to the audience in more to make them curious and want to
consume more of the text. Information is often undisclosed until
further on in the text. Unexplained clues in form of enigmas are
given early in the narrative.
• Action Codes - These codes are a form of shorthand for advancing
the narrative. They signal to the audience a narrative event that will
take place.
 Linear/Conventional Narrative

• When a film runs from A to B

• The film does not stop until the

problem is resolved - (Todorov’s
theory)
 Experimental/Modular Narratives..
• Anachronic modular narratives involve the use of flashbacks and/or flash forwards,with no
clear dominance between any of the narrative threads. These narratives also often repeat
scenes directly or via a different perspective. Examples include: Pulp Fiction and Memento.

• Forking-path narratives juxtapose alternative versions of a story, showing the possible

outcomes that might result from small changes in a single event or group of events. The
forking-path narrative introduces a number of plotlines that usually contradict one another.
Examples include Groundhog Day and Run Lola Run.

• Episodic narratives are organised as an abstract series or narrative anthology. Abstract

series type of modular narrative is characterized by the operation of a nonnarrative formal
system which appears to dictate (or at least overlay) the organization of narrative elements
such as a sequence of numbers or the alphabet. Anthology consists of a series of shorter
tales which are apparently disconnected but share a random similarity, such as all ‘episodes’
being survivors of a shipwreck.

• Split screen narratives are different from the other types of modular narrative discussed
here, because their modularity is articulated along spatial rather than temporal lines. These
films divide the screen into two or more frames, juxtaposing events within the same visual
field, in a sustained fashion. Examples include 24.
 Narrative Theorists/Quotations
to use in the exam....

“Narrative is such a powerful analytical tool that it is, arguably,

an even more important key concept than genre.”
Nick Lacey (2000:6)

“Narrative is a way of organising spatial and temporal data into

a cause effectchain of events with a beginning, middle and
an end that embodies a judgement about the nature of
events.”
Branigan (1992:3)
 The Exam Question
• “Media texts rely on cultural experiences
in order for audiences to easily make sense
of narratives.” Explain how you used
conventional and /or experimental
narrative approaches in one of your
production pieces.

• What is the question asking you?