FS1: MACRO-NARRATIVE
– Filmmaking is, in its purest sense,
Storytelling. We assume that what a film is
about is its story. Very few films originate
from a concept in raw form. They mostly
originate from a treatment or a pitch that
has already developed the basics of a
storyline. It is therefore logical for us,
as spectators to expect a story when we go
to the cinema. But what are these stories
made of ? What are the building blocks that
make up a story in film terms?
Story/Plot
• The narrative of a film can be
said to have two parts: the story
and the plot. Though these may
seem like the same thing, they
represent the difference between
what the elements of a narrative
are and the ways in which we
experience them.
Story.
• The story or “fabula” is the basic succession of
events arranged in chronological order. This means
that it is the outline of the events that occur
within the timescale of the film, in the order that
they occur. The fabula is a form of narrative but
not necessarily the narrative in the sense that we
experience it. The story is what may be written on
the back of a Video box or DVD cover. This can be
very different to the experience of watching a film
in which the events do not occur chronologically, as
in films like Pulp Fiction, Usual Suspects, 25th hour
or Memento. When watching a film, as viewers we have
become used to cause and effect sequence of events.
In films that do not show events in the same order
as the story, we try to reconstruct the fabula in
our heads so as to be able to make sense of it.
Plot.
• The plot, also known as “Syuzhet” of a
narrative is the sequence in which the events
are shown to the spectator. This can often be
very different to the story itself. The film
“American beauty” begins with a shot of a young
girl accepting an offer, made by the man
filming her, to kill her father. In terms of
the fabula, this event occurs two thirds of the
way through the movie but by plotting it at the
beginning of the movie, the filmmaker imbues
the rest of the film with a sense of imminent
doom, especially when we find out that the girl
is the main character’s daughter.
Syuzhet/Fabula
• There can therefore be a distinction between the
way a story is told (Syuzhet) and the events of the
story itself (Fabula). When there is a distinction,
our desire to reconstruct the Fabula from the
information offered, by reorganising events into a
cause and effect system, is part of what keeps us
hooked. In most detective films, we follow the
detective try to reconstruct the Fabula himself, and
our often frustrated when we realise that he knows
the sequence of events as they actually occurred
before we do.
Cause and Effect and Continuity editing
• Though we will be looking it at more detail
later, it is important to know that most
mainstream filmmaking utilises a style of
editing known as Continuity editing. Without
getting into detail, it is best described as a
form of assembling different shots in a way
that makes the process invisible. Cuts between
shots seem seamless and there is a logical
progression from one scene to another. Quite
often something will happen in one scene that
will have an effect in another. Through years
of watching films and TV, we have become
accustomed to both the continuity style and the
sense of logical progression. Even if the plot
of a film is not chronological, therefore,
there remains a sense of events of things
moving forward towards a resolution.
Narrative analysis.
• Film specific narrative analysis is concerned
with the extent to which the things that we see
make sense. We instinctively assume that if a
film shows something specific, like an object
or a close-up of woman’s eye, it does so for a
reason that serves the progression of the
story. The viewer assumes that there will be a
coherence to the chain of events. The pleasure
of watching a film often derives from how we
expect and anticipate this chain. In a horror
film, viewers often shout at the screen; Don’t
go in there! The viewers know that the
character will probably meet a sticky end by
doing so, yet enjoy the anticipation of seeing
how, when and where she will be killed. The
filmmakers draw on this anticipation to create
suspense.
Cause and Effect Chain
• Event
• Cause
event
effect=cause
event
effect=cause
Tomorrow's theory of narrative
• Despite the cause and effect chain,
film narrative does operate within
larger structures. According to Tzvetan
Todorov, a narrative consists of an
initial equilibrium that is disrupted
in some way by a significant event.
This causes disequilibrium. The only
way to re-establish the balance is by
taking action against that which caused
the disruption. However, this reaction
has the effect of changing the world
for the protagonists so that the
resolution always offers a new
different equilibrium.
Todorov’s theory of Narrative
•
Initial Equilibrium
Disequilibrium
Disruption
Resolution
Climax
Propp and the role of
characters.
• Through a complex analysis of hundreds of
Russian folk tales, the Russian theorist
Vladimir Propp developed a structure for
understanding consistencies across a broad
range of narratives. He deduced two main
factors: that there were common characters
regardless of the type of story being told, and
that there were common stages that characters
must undergo. This was a fairly sophisticated
mode of analysis that resulted in one easily
graspable notion: that characters can be seen
to drive a narrative.
Propp’s character types
• Though he cam up with more than 40, here are some of
the main ones:
• The Hero: The hero must overcome barriers to achieve
resolution at the end. Having done so, he will be
rewarded with the Princess and the villain will be
defeated.
• The Princess: The reward for the hero at the
resolution. Usually has a Father figure who the hero
must convince of his valour.
• The Villain: A character who tries to prevent the
hero form restoring the equilibrium. He may have
been the cause for the disruption in the first
place, and must be defeated by the hero.
• The Donor: A character who will give the hero
something, an object or knowledge, that will enable
him to overcome the most difficult of barriers.
• The Sidekick: The hero’s companion and ally who will
accompany the hero on his journey.
Character Drives
• Though definitely useful, Proppean analysis
has become a little outmoded today. The
most important thing to understand is that
the characters, mainly the hero, can be seen
to be the agents of the logical progression
of a narrative. They can be the cause for the
effects.
Todorov and Propp together
Villain
May cause the
disruption.
.
Villain
May create
new barriers.
princess
Reward for
the hero
hero
Barriers
Hero must
Initial
Disruption overcome
equilib
barriers
-rium.
Disequilibrium
Climax
resoluti
on
Issues and Debates
• Although these theories are essential for
understanding the mechanics of film narrative,
and can be applied to the majority of
mainstream Hollywood cinema, there are problems
with applying them to some more contemporary
and original films. These theories can be
applied to conventional and linear narratives.
They do not consider the use of Subplot. A
subplot is a secondary, less important
narrative to be found within the main narrative
but that works independently from it. They also
cannot be applied to recent types of films that
involve fragmented or disjointed plotting: Pulp
Fiction and Memento are two good examples.
These are called Alternative narratives. We
will be looking at these in more detail later.
Some points to consider.
• I find it useful to consider narrative as a framing
device. Film is a form of mediation, which always
involves a process of selection and deselection.
When one takes a picture with a camera, one chooses
what to include and what to exclude. If a film is
inherently a form of storytelling, then the way in
which it reveals to the viewer a fictitious world is
through the same process. A film neither has the
time nor the ability to explore every aspect of the
world that it creates; it only exposes that which is
useful to both drive and develop the story. The
narrative is therefore a frame itself that includes
and excludes aspects of reality. The world outside
the timescale and spatial scope of the film’s
narrative is therefore as important to our
understanding. What isn’t shown can be as important
as what is.
Pleasures.
• Even though you wouldn’t have been able to
explain it, these are all things you already knew.
The act of watching thousands of film and
hundreds of hours of TV, which you have all
probably done has turned you all into experienced
viewers. The pleasure of watching a film comes in
following and anticipating chain and then having
it resolved. Subconsciously, we all desire a reality
that can tie itself up as neatly as it does in a film;
where “happily ever after” could actually happen.