Key Aspect: Narrative
Learning Intention
To gain an insight into the theory behind
narrative
 To apply narrative theory to films you have
seen.
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Story? Narrative? Plot?
What is narrative?
 While the term ‘narrative’ certainly is not
used as commonly as ‘story’, most people
know that it refers, in some way, to stories;
in fact stories are endemic to our lives.
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Task 1: Where do we see/hear
stories on a day to day basis?
TV Programmes
 Novels or short stories
 Films
 Advertisements
 News is papers or on TV and radio
 Via the internet
 Through talk, ‘gossip’ and chat.
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Tsvetan Todorov
Narrative Structure
Todorov felt that all stories start in a state of
equilibrium (normality/order), which is then
disrupted, setting in a motion a chain of
events.
 The resolution of the story results in the
creation of a new/different equilibrium
(normality/order).
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Write a short summary of
Todorov’s 4 stages for this classic.
How is their a new (different)
equilibrium in Jaws?
Brody returns to normal life and family
having saved town from Jaws.
 Small town of Amity is now famous
because of the Shark Attacks
 Tourists flock to the beach
 People more cautious (edgy) because of
attacks.
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Can you apply this theory to a film you
have watched:
Todorov Stage
Equilibrium
Disruption to
Equilibrium
Climax/
Resolution
New
Equilibrium
Explanation
Narrative Structure and Little
Miss Sunshine
Todorov’s Narrative Structure and “Little
Miss Sunshine”
Todorov Stage
Explanation
Equilibrium
Family disunited and
dysfunctional
Disruption to
Equilibrium
Olive gets into LMS
competition and family
have to travel together
Family dance with Olive
on stage in show of unity
Climax/
Resolution
New
Equilibrium
Family return home united and
with a new found sense of
togetherness. Each member of
Narrative Structure Cont.
Linear Narrative: follows a cause and
effect model – Begins at a point, there is a
chain of events and the film ends at another
point.
 Easy for the audience to follow:
E.g – Frank can’t be left alone so he must
come on the trip.
The clutch breaks on the van so the family
must push it together.
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Closed Narrative: Family situation is
resolved within the time frame of the
film.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
All strands of the narrative are resolved too:
Dwayne begins to communicate with family
again
Richard realises he is a success because he has
his family.
Olive gets to perform her moves
Cheryl has the family she wants
Frank rebuilds his self esteem from helping
Dwayne
Grampa dies from overdose
Media Language Activity –
Opening Scene
You are going to watch the opening scene
and take notes on the technical and cultural
codes.
 How can we see the state of equilibrium
(normality/order) that we have previously
identified emphasised in this scene?
Opening Scene –
Equilibrium(Normality/Order)
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Characters are all introduced individually in turn
and separately
Characters are all in different
places/buildings/rooms.
Characters are engaged in private/secretive
activity:
Olive secretly copying beauty queens privately in her
room
Dwayne training and reading privately in his room
Grampa snorting cocaine locked in the bathroom
Cheryl lies about smoking to Richard
Group Task – You are now going
to watch the scene again and:
Group 1 –Focus on the camera shots and
camera angles and what they reveal about
the characters.
 Group 2 - Focus on the lighting, sound and
editing (cuts) and what they reveal about the
characters.
 Group 3 – Focus on the setting,
objects/props, costumes and performance
and what they reveal about the characters.
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Media Language Activity – You
are now going to watch another key
scene and take similar notes:
Write down any way in which the lack of
unity in the Hoover Family is emphasised in
the “dinner scene”
(Focus on character interaction and dialogue)
Narrative Codes
Narrative Codes
Symbolic Codes
 Enigmatic Codes
 Referencial Codes
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Symbolic Code
Levi-Strauss- Binary Oppositions.
Meanings, including narrative, depend on binary oppositions
 Eg: Titanic
 Rich/Poor
 Artistic/Materialistic
 Brave/Cowardly
 Irish/English
 Wet / Dry (only kidding)
Can you apply this theory to 2-3 films you
have watched
The name of the How it applies to Levifilm
Strauss theory
Binary Opposites - Character
To help an audience understand the plot
more clearly, film makers will often use
BINARY OPPOSITES
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These exact opposites will emphasise any
feature of a character the director may wish
to highlight for the purposes of the plot
The usual example of a binary opposite in a
film will normally be the Hero and the
Villain
Activity
How many films (TV shows) can you think
of with clear binary opposite characters.
Hero and Villain for one point but
any other binary opposites for two points
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Winners Vs Losers
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The filmmakers use binary opposite
characters to challenge the dominant
ideology that society is divided into winners
Vs Losers
Winners Vs Losers
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In fact – Michael Arndt (The director) was
inspired to write the film because he heard
Arnold Schwarzenegger say in a political
speech ,
“If there is one thing in life I hate it is
loooooooooooosers!”
Binary Opposites in “Little Miss
Sunshine”
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Who are the obvious binary opposites in
Little Miss Sunshine again?
Binary Opposites – How are they
opposites?
Reference Codes
Reference Codes – Points of cultural
reference.
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How many cultural references can you think
of in “Little Miss Sunshine” Big
Nietzsche
Proust
Brother
Nietzsche in a Nutshell
Human behaviour is caused by the will to
power (urge to order the course of one's
experiences)
 All living beings strive for a higher order of
their living condition to overcome their
present state's limitations
 Will to power: an extension of
Schopenhauer's will to live.
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Philosophy, art and history have an infinite scope
Science has a finite scope
Science is interpretation/exegesis of the world
There are no facts, only interpretations
Truth is an illusion
Knowledge is an illusion
Truth and knowledge are only relative to how
useful they are to our "will to power"
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Morality is a device invented by the weak to assert their
will to power over the strong
Christian values are a "slave morality", a morality of the
weak ones
Christian values are obsolete ("God is dead")
Christianity is an expression of the will the power, but only
the will to power of the weak who are full of resentment
The new morality is the morality of the "uebermensch"
("superman/ overman"), who is above the masses and is
interested in solving the problems of this world, not of the
otherworld
Why do you think Dwayne would
worship Nietzsche?
Friedrich Nietzsche
Proust
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One of the greatest novelists of all time
Would often sleep during the day and sleep at night
A modernist thinker, who despised the industrialisation of
society.
Concerned with nature and the arts
He felt isolated and misunderstood
Very close to his mother
Proust, who was a closeted (although obvious)
homosexual,5 was one of the first European novelists to
mention homosexuality openly.
Big Brother – Watch the following
trailer carefully? Why would
Dwayne wear an image of B.B.
Enigmatic Codes
Once upon a time…
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Many of us experience our first story at a very
young age, possibly beginning with the
immortal phrase of countless fairy tales, ‘Once
upon a time…’
What does this phrase really mean to us?
“Once” =
“Once” invites us into the narrative world
which is set in the past; indeed, most narratives
are recounted in the past tense.
“upon a time” =
Situates us in a world we know is different to
our own, in a time that is not now.
Once upon a time…
Write down quickly what story you expect
to happen after the line below.
 ‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the
clocks were striking thirteen.’
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Openings
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Openings are important. They are usually
intended to grab and hold the attention of the
receiver of the text. People will walk out of the
cinema, turn over the TV station and abandon a
novel if it doesn’t capture the attention
immediately.
The extract is from George Orwell’s Nineteen
Eighty-four. What makes this sentence
intriguing is that the clocks strike ‘thirteen’.
This immediately sets up a puzzle or an
ENIGMA CODE as Barthes would call it.
We would probably expect a science fiction
style narrative (the novel was written in 1949
and is an alarming vision of a time and place
where the world has different rules.)
Openings
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In media studies, the opening of any film/TV show has to
orientate the audience quickly, giving them unambiguous
signs about such things as:
Who is the hero and the villain (using realistic or
believable characters or ‘types’ of characters)
A recognisable setting
A recognisable genre and theme
A conventional narrative structure which includes causeeffect motivation.#
To maintain the interest of the audience the show must also
create enigmas (puzzles to be solved)
How are these elements established in the pre-credit
sequence of the 20th Century Fox drama 24?
Activity – Watch the first episode of
24 carefully
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Group 1 – You will be taking notes on the genre.
What clues are there that this is a spy/crime genre
with the theme of espionage?
Group 2 – How is intrigue created in the
characters interactions and relationships
Group 3 – What enigmas (puzzles to be solved)
are established in this opening episode for future
episodes?
24
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Enigma Codes (puzzles we want solved)
are established through:
The policewoman – where is she going?
Who is she chasing?
The teenage boys – who are they, what
are their motives?
The burning plane – why has it been
blown up?
Why is someone targeting David
Palmer? (the Senator)
Who is the woman on the plane? Who is
the man asking her for information?
24
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The close-up of the woman burying
something in the sand creates fear and
mystery – what is she hiding? Who is
she endangering?
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The flickering digital 24 in the middle of
the screen reminds the audience of the
temporal time of the narrative and plot
duration. 24 signifies the day – will
good triumph over evil within this time
frame?
24 – Season 1, Episode 1
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Theme of Espionage/Spying
This is established through:
The digital clock – suggests technology and a digital age.
The use of satellites – as a surveillance device.
The code-card device that Jack suggests contains secret
data – threatening tone.
Helicopter over a familiar city landscape ‘eyes in the
sky’.High angled, establishing shot.
Images of CTU (Crime Terrorist Unit)
Agents – image of man wearing black tie/suit.
The contrast is established between the ‘agents’ and ‘the
villains’.
Image of the spot light from the surveillance helicopter
sweeping down into the ‘shadowed’ streets where
unknown activity is taking place.
The streaking fuselage of a plane across the sky –
reminiscent of 9/11.
24
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Intrigue in the characters is established through:
The foreboding relationship between the agent in the suit
and tie and Jack. The tone of his voice suggests
impending destruction.
The policewoman holding the gun in the darkened street
– unknown danger
The family unit – is all as it seems?
The split screen depicting various characters and their
activities during this 1 hour in the life of…
The senator’s security man on the phone with Mrs.
Palmer and David Palmer in the background – sense of
foreboding created through the telephone conversation.
Kim and her friend being chased by two teenagers – what
is their motive?
The mystery woman and mystery man – who are they?
Are they baddies?
The seemingly beautiful man on the plane - who is he?
Watch the climactic Dance
Scene:
How is the unity of the family emphasised
here through:
A. Technical Codes (camera angles, camera
shots, lighting, sound and editing)
B. Cultural Codes (settings, objects, costumes
and performances)