Lecture 4 Narrative

Practice: Plot segmentation of film narrative

ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE CONSTRUCTION

Viktor Shklowsky (Russian formalist)

STORY (story, what happened)

/vs./ /vs./

PLOT (narrative, how it is told)

Situation A
(lack, equilibrium)

changes to (disequilibrium)

Situation B
(restoration of equilibrium)

PLOT

the driving force of a narrative (movement from A to B)

Film narrative

Shots scenes sequences

Distinct events that occur within same place, same time

plot

 Vladimir Propps analysis applied to film narrative structure (especially in linear narratives) . Regardless of differences in point of plot / characters / settings most narrative share common structural features: a) seven character functions:
the villain the donor OFFERS GIFTS with magic properties the helper the princess the father the dispatcher send hero on mission the hero the false hero

b) thirty-one narrative units (see below).

Preparation: l. One of the members of a family absents himself from home. 2. An interdiction (ban) is addressed to the hero. 3. The interdiction is violated. 4. The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance. 5. The villain receives information about his victim. 6. The villain attempts to deceive his victim by using persuasion, magic, or deception. 7. The victim submits to deception and thereby unwittingly helps his enemy. (Hero sleeps.) Villainy / Lack (Plot set in motion): 8. The villain causes harm or injury to a member of a family. 8a. One member of a family either lacks something or desires to have something. 9. Misfortune or lack is made known: the hero is approached with a request or command; he is allowed to go or he is dispatched. 10. The seeker (hero) agrees to or decides upon counteractions. 11. The hero leaves home. 12. The hero is tested, interrogated, attacked, etc. which prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent or helper. (The donor usually enters the story here.) 13. The hero reacts to the actions of the future donor. 14. The hero acquires the use of a magical agent. 15. The hero is transferred, delivered, or led to the whereabouts of an object of search. Path A: Struggle and Victory over Villain; End of Lack and Return: 16. The hero and villain join in direct combat. 17. The hero is branded. 18. The villain is defeated. 19. The initial misfortune or lack is liquidated. 20. The hero returns. 21. The hero is pursued. 22. The hero is rescued from pursuit. Path B: Unrecognized Arrival, Task, Recognition, Punishment, Wedding: 23. The hero, unrecognized, arrives home or in another country. 24. A false hero presents unfounded claims. 25. A difficult task is proposed to the hero. (Trial by drink, fire, riddle, test of strength.) 26. The task is resolved or accomplished. 27. The hero is recognized, often by a mark or an object. 28. The false hero or villain is exposed. 29. The hero is given a new appearance. 30. The villain is punished. 31. The hero is married and ascends the throne.

Mode of address

= the voice who addresses the audience in a written piece of fiction, in a film, advertisement, etc Modes:
-voice-over -the enigma code (Roland Barthes): who did what -the action code: a narative device resolution is effected by means of action

Class task
Watch Hard Times Coca Cola commercial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnUKurl7Fog What is the structure of the narrative, stages of the plot? conflict, character, event, narrator? Which are the character types that become distinguishable in the advertisement (the hero, false hero, the donor, the helper, the father, the princess, the dispatcher)? Notice and comment upon narrative devices like the enigma code and the action code. Identify intertextual elements in the narrative. Why do you think these are used? What is the effect?

Watch Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994).

1. Following the pattern given in P.Rayner & P. Wall, Media Studies, p.53, provide the plot segmentation of the films narrative [organize the plot into sequences, identify the flaskbacks] 2. Identify stages of the plot: exhibition, crisis, climax, resolution. 3. How many flashbacks does the film include? What is their function? 4. Identify types of characters, according to Vladimir Propps division [p.55]: the hero, the false hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the helper, the princess 5. Analyze how the plot is set into motion: which is the disruptive element that triggers the crisis? beginning middle end initial balance balance broken balance restored 6.Does the film have an enigma code? What about an action code? [Roland Barthes narrative functions through a series of codes that are used to control the way in which information if given to the audience: a) enigma code [a riddle, a puzzle the audience has to decipher]; the action code [a denoument is achieved through action]

Task