Narrative Structure
(http://www.primary-film-focus.co.uk/narrative.html)
When you sit down to watch a film the narrative structure help defines the story. It needs to be
structured to help the viewer understand the message contained within, giving the film meaning
throughout. However you need to keep in mind that the narrative structure only applies to the way
in which a story is told not the story itself.....meaning the narrative structure is the chronological
stages or steps that progress from one to the other throughout the story
The conventional narrative structure pointed out by Tzvetan Todorov as a rule has five stages
though this can be rudimentary broken down to three stages, a beginning (state of equilibrium),
middle (disruption to the equilibrium) and end (reinstate the equilibrium). What do I mean by
equilibrium its simply just a state of balance, normality in which the characters find them selves at
the beginning
Below is Tzvetan Todorov conventional narrative structure complete with five stages
Stage 1
A state of equilibrium is defined.
Stage 2
Disruption to the equilibrium by some action or crisis
Stage3
The Character(s) recognition that there has been a disruption, setting goals to resolve problem.
Stage4 The Character(s) attempt to repair the disruption, obstacles need to be overcome to restore
order
Stage5
Reinstatment to the equilibrium. Situation is resolved, a conclusion is announced
With the five stage layout the narrative becomes more comprehensive. However its essential to
remember films need to be seamless as the chain of events unfold, with all the questions raised
answered and all the loose ends tied up unless you want to break the conventions, induce a cliff
hangar, intentionally create doubt in the minds of the audience and leave them questioning.
Even though these stages are presented here as a linear structure there is no golden rule
that it has to be this way, especially if you wish to create a non-linear structure. Should
you wish to you can always muddle up the chronological order and have the end at the
beginning. Remember a film should have clear goals and believable characters if its to
remain a sense of credibility and to help keep the audiences captivated.
Dealing with Characters / Spheres of Action
Vladimir Propp states there are seven 'spheres of action' which characters can be well ....
characterized to. These spheres are categorised as the hero, villain, donor, helper, princess (though
this can be exchanged for a prince), dispatcher and false hero. Not all spheres of action are needed
to be addressed for a film as its also well to note characters can portray more than one sphere and
vice versa, spheres can be composed of several characters.
Vladimir Propp seven spheres of action:
Hero: Individual(s) who's quest is to restore the equilibrium.
Villain: Individual(s) who's task is to disrupt the equilibrium.
Helper: Individual(s) who aids the hero(s) with their set task.
Dispatcher: Individual(s) who send the hero(s) on their quest.
Fasle Hero: Individual(s) who set out to undermine the hero's quest by pretending to aid them.
Often unmasked at the end of the film.
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
Closed Narrative
‘Tight’ reading involved with
audience aware it’s watching a
two-hour story and therefore
reading with the likely end in
mind.
Relatively few central characters;
huge range of ‘depth’ of
audience knowledge, even
interior voice-overs giving
characters’ thoughts,
hallucinations etc
Character’s arranged in a
‘heirarchy’ (central, cameo,
supporting roles, extras etc).
Often with audience invited to
make ‘verdicts’ on them,
identifying narrative roles as in
Propp – hero, donor, villain.
Time usually very compressed:
two hours of screen time
constructs events as happening
over months, years, sometimes
centuries
Time and events are usually
special to this particular story
and need have no resemblance
to the viewer’s world. Flashbacks
and even flash-forwards are
possible.
Reader or viewer usually has
evidence about the characters
only from this single text, plus
star, publicity and genre
expectations.
The same audience can be
assumed to watch the film from
beginning to end.
Often elaborate visual image and music
as integral part of the narrative
Open Narrative
Casual reading, without the
sense of an ending. For example,
soaps proceed as though they
could go on for ever.
Many more characters,
naturalistically represented and
producing amulti- strand plot.
Characters not usually in a
marked hierarchy but shift in and
out of prominence.
Characters shift also in and out
of narrative function. Today’s
villain may be next week’s
helper.
Time usually corresponds to ‘real
world time’ within the segments
of each episode though across it
time is compressed as in cinema.
Flashbacks are rare.
The difference between time in
the serial and outside it are
blurred. Episodes may make
reference to real-life events
going on at the same time, such
as elections, Christmas etc.
Audiences are assumed to have
different kinds of memory and
knowledge of a long running
soap. Magazines and the press
often speculate about the fate of
actors’ contracts and thus the
characters they represent. Many
different kinds of reading are
therefore available.
The same audience can be
assumed to watch the film from
beginning to end.
Each episode has to try and
address both experienced and
new viewers.
Relatively rare use of music, especially in
British soaps, and
relatively simple visual image.
Narrative Theory
Every moving image product (or text) is constructed around the demands of narrative
and all moving image products can be classified and understood in terms of genre.
The concept of narrative in moving image texts is best understood as the
presented and inferred events told through the actions of characters. Usually,
these actions take the form of a linear cause and effect structure (something happens,
causing something else to happen and so on). At the most simplistic level, a narrative is
the way in which a story is told in both fictional and non-fictional texts. Narratives
can vary in length: a music video is often a narrative lasting approximately three
minutes; a soap opera becomes a complicated narrative drawn out over many years. We
experience some narratives in our everyday lives and interactions with other people,
some through the process of education, but most through the mass media.
Originally, narrative as we now know it emerged out of the folktale tradition.
Novels, magazines and newspapers adapted the content and structure of stories from
oral and face-to-face traditions to more continually reproducible formats. Modern
technology and the advent of film, television and video, as well as the Internet, have
allowed storytelling to reach wider and more varied audiences. The larger the audiences
these technologies can reach, the more similar and familiar the narratives and their
structures have to be. We can talk of a universal narrative structure that people can
understand regardless of language or their moving image literacy.
The creation of meaning in moving image products is not the result of a random
process; the text is constructed deliberately (encoding) and then read by an audience
(decoding). Narrative structures are the organisation of plot into coherent sequences
that convey meaning. The way the plot is organised creates entertainment or fascination
for the audience.
Orson Welles’ classic film Citizen Kane has a simple plot: a boy inherits a
fortune, runs a newspaper empire, becomes a recluse and dies. The non-linear narrative
is more complex: the film begins with Kane’s death and then, through shifts in time and
space (editing), explains his life and the events that lead up to his unhappy existence
before his demise.
Narrative structures
Narrative structures can be single strand, focusing on a single central character, such
as Spiderman, Becker or Bruce Almighty. Narrative structures can also be multi-strand
where several characters form the focus of the narrative, for example in X Men, Friends
or Heroes. Narrative structures can be linear: events progressing in chronological order
with one following another. Narratives can also be non-linear, for example when stories
use flashback sequences or seem to digress from the main plot – the best example is
probably Lost.

Denouement – the final unravelling of a plot, e.g. when Fred, Daphne and Velma
pull away the mask (I would’ve gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for those
pesky kids…)
The standard Hollywood narrative structure


single diegesis (one main storyline)
logical chain of events



chain of events governed by the actions of central character(s)
audience empathises with actions of the central character(s)
pattern of enigma (mystery/ problem) and resolution (closed not open endings)

dominated by
(imitation of reality e.g. editing used to
construct space/ time)

some films’ techniques of production consciously draw attention to
themselves such as the mise-en-scène created in The Blair Witch Project
verisimilitude
Classical Greek Theatre
Classical Greek theatre is usually seen as the origin of modern drama. It was usually
organised into three acts: opening (beginning) conflict (middle) and resolution (end).