• Each story will have a macro-setting, the space and time covered by the entire story
– This can be centuries and wide ranges of solar systems, galaxies, etc.
• Micro-settings: Individual scenes, episodes, etc. occur within much more limited time and space constraints
– A given evening at an office
– A crime scene
– A child’s bedroom at bedtime

• Audience members expect certain things to be true about the narrative context when they are made aware of the setting
• Time and place determine weather, technology, social structure, culture, major events, social etiquette, etc.

• Consider:
– Egypt, 1375 B.C.
– Pearl Harbor in December 1941
– Contemporary Louisville
– Contemporary Paris
– Los Angeles, 2030

• Realistic settings either are, or follow the rules of, actual physical places and times where real people could be found
• Historical events may be a significant part of the narrative
• Characters may not be realistic, though

• The depth of detail provided and the accuracy of that detail affects the audience experience of realism
– Some directors/art directors are obsessed with providing realistic presentations of historic or contemporary settings
• 1945 Japanese submarine toilet seat

• Real places far removed from audience experience can seem fantastic
• Rwanda
• Middle Ages
• Audiences must learn the crucial rules of the setting to understand the plot and characters

• Fantastic settings are those that do not follow the laws of physics, etc. as we understand them
• They are often, but not always, inhabited by fantastic characters
– Magic
– Science unknown to us (future advances)

• Even if magic is possible, dragons exist, etc. there must be rules that define how events can happen, what characters exist, etc.
– The rules cannot be contradictory to each other
– Once set, the narrative is bound by the rules
• Fantastic settings, carefully drawn and with compelling rules, can seem ‘realistic’

• The more psychologically ‘distant’ from the audience the setting is, the more exposition will be needed to allow the audience member to follow the narrative
– Germany during the Dark Ages may well demand more exposition for a contemporary audience than does the surface of the Moon

• “a setting delimits the possible actions in a narrative. As such, the setting is connected to the
plot”
• (Talib, Narrative Theory)
– Actions and events that generate protagonist motivations (plague outbreak)
– Available choices to satisfy motivations (no guns)
– Consequences of various actions (explosion breaks dike)
– Chance factors (tornadoes, traffic accidents)

• The most significant requirement is that rules must be consistent
– Magic must have limits and magical powers must follow rules
– Too much magic, fantasy, etc. will strain the audience’s acceptance even of a fantastic setting

• Certain characters are appropriate for certain settings
– Character types that are ‘naturally’ found in one setting would be out of place in another
• Behavior that is appropriate in one setting would be unacceptable in another
• Features of the setting may provide clues to the character personality

• Social rules of custom and ethics determine what the characters can do and say without social sanction
– Victorian novels often are based on class conflicts and appropriate behaviors

• CSI, CSI: New York, CSI: Miami
• Metropolis v. Gotham City
• The Shining
• Gladiator
• Heroes
• Brothers and Sisters
• ER
• A History of Violence

• Common, stylized settings are typical for some genres
– Western saloon
– Hospital emergency room
– Battlefield
– Haunted house
– Fraternity house

• Characters exist in, and move through, time and space
– Discourse time and space v. story time and space
– Time and place prior to, and after, the main narrative
• Flashbacks and flashforwards
• Backstory and epilogue

• Setting information is conveyed both visually and aurally
• Establishing shot
• VO Narration
• Dialogue
• Discourse time is usually much shorter than story time so conventions must be used to indicate time passage to the audience
• When locations change, means to indicate new locations must be provided to the audience