Story

How do stories work? What makes a story compelling?

On the Waterfront

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Mimesis (Showing)
Live theatre

Diegesis (Telling)
Literary - told by narrator who may or may not be reliable

Cinema combines the two for a wider range of storytelling techniques

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Narratology - how stories work
Structures Strategies Genres and their symbolism

The Adventures of Robin Hood

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All stories are communication from a sender to a receiver but in film, who is the sender?
The Director? The Writer(s)? The Producers? The Stars?

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Star

Hamlet & Lethal Weapon 2

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Title

Emma & Clueless

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Director

Jurassic Park, Schindlers List & E.T.

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Knowledge of history

Unforgiven & The Searchers

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Narrative Realistic vs. Classical vs. Formalist
Portray the world without distortion but It is also a style. Plot is looser and less defined.

Guiding hand that shapes the story. The boring bits are edited out.

Storyteller is overly manipulative. Time and events are restructured to suit. Subjective point of view.

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Strategies
Realistic Narratives
True to Life No distortion Conflict is gradually exposed Avoidance of exaggeration Avoidance of romanticizing cause & motivation Plain, straightforward presentation

Requiem for A Dream

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Formalist Narrative
Time is scrambled Theme is emphasized Interludes of style Personality and views of author are imposed on subject matter
8 &1/2 & Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

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Classical Paradigm
Dominant narrative structure in American Film Protagonist - initiates action Antagonist - resists action Dramatic question How does the protagonist get what he/she wants Conflict/opposition Patterns of action - cause & effect until climax and resolution

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Dramatic unity Plausible motivations Coherence All equal a smooth flow of action Deadlines help move the action Often Classical Narrative is a journey, chase or search Protagonist is goal-oriented - passive characters are not deemed as interesting

High Noon

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Screenplay Structure
Three Acts Act I - Set up First quarter of the movie Premise defined Obstacles laid out

High Noon

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Screenplay Structure
Act II - Confrontation First quarter of the movie Protagonist fights obstacles Reversal of fortune in middle

High Noon

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Screenplay Structure
Three Acts Act III - Resolution What happens as a result of the climax

High Noon

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Chekhovs Gun
If you see a gun on the wall in Act I, it better go off in Act III

Anton Chekhov, 1860-1904

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Types of Genres
Way to organize the story conveniently Conventions understood by audience Archetypal story pattern Conventions and artistic contributions
Johnny Guitar

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Western Musical Melodrama Crime/Gangster Thriller Horror Sci-Fi Action War Fantasy Comedy

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Repeated elements Familiar elements

Eyes Without a Face H2O

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Cycles of Genre
Primitive

The Great Train Robbery

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Cycles of Genre
Classical

Stagecoach

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Cycles of Genre
Revisionist

Unforgiven

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Cycles of Genre
Parodic

Blazing Saddles

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High Noon
1952 Dir. Fred Zinnemann Starring Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Katy Juardo. Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges Nominated for 5 Oscars & won 4 (Best Actor, Song, Score & Editing) Uses real time Highlights his attention to casting, detail & fascination with complex moral issues

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The Blacklist & the Hollywood Ten - 1950 House Un-American Activities Committee interviewed 41 people working in Hollywood who became friendly witnesses who named people with leftist sympathies Some of these people named others and some refused to cooperate & were jailed Those who refused were called the Hollywood Ten mostly writers

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Snowball effect into The Blacklist or those who would not be hired by any studio Over 300 actors, writers and others in the industry
The Hollywood 10: Alvah Bessie, Herbert J. Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner, Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott, Dalton Trumbo

The 1950s
Ronald Reagan was president of the Screen Actors Guild and an FBI informant Cold War hysteria increased Joseph McCarthy investigated the State Department & the Army for Communists His investigations were inconclusive and television showed him for what he was - a bully in 1954 see Good Night & Good Luck

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Fred Zinnemann, 1907-1997
2 Best Director Oscars, 1 Best Picture (A Man For All Seasons & From Here to Eternity) & 1 Best Documentary Short Oscar Directed film debuts of Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando & Meryl Streep High Noon was seen as an allegory for the atmosphere created by the Red Scare, Cold War & the Blacklist (screenwriter Foreman was blacklisted, Cooper was a friendly witness) but can also be taken as a right-leaning cry for self-defense against judges paroling criminals

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The fact that somebody shoots a gun is of no interest. What I want to know is why he shoots it and what the consequences are." Fred Zinnemann Worked with Robert Siodmak & Billy Wilder in Europe Skeptical & rational always, themes in his work are postwar questioning of authority, the struggle against external and internal pressures, individual integrity, use & abuses of power

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Gary Cooper, 1901-1961
Over 100 films from 1925 to 1961 Starred in Wings, 1927, which was the first film to win Best Picture 5 Oscar nominations, 2 wins (High Noon & Sargeant York) and an Honorary one in 1961 Born & raised in Montana, his rugged, soft-spoken demeanor made for the perfect cowboy, he moved into the charming rube character with Frank Capra Remained a leading man pretty much all his life

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Grace Kelly, 1929-1982
Born to wealthy parents, she started on Broadway in 1949 High Noon is her second film Worked with Hitchcock in Dial M for Murder, Rear Window & To Catch a Thief Oscar for The Country Girl in 1954 Last film was High Society in 1956 when she became Princess Grace Rainier after marrying the ruler of Monaco Died in a car crash in 1982