NARRATIVE
Film and Media Studies
What is Narrative?
Latin –NARRE- To make Known
 Via

• Causally related events
• Connected
• Sequenced
• Logically presented
Definition 2

“Narrative is a way of organising
spatial and temporal data into a
cause and effect chain of events with
a beginning, middle and end that
embodies a judgement about the
nature of the events as well as
demonstrates how it is possible to
know, and hence to narrate, the
events. “ Brannigan E. Narrative
Comprehension and Film
Macro Features of Narrative
Structure
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Aristotle’s beginning, middle and end.
Todorov’s equilibrium>disequilibrium>re-equilibrium
Propp’s “functions”
Vogler’s “twelve steps”
2. Temporal order,temporal duration,
temporal frequency
3. Story and Plot
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Explicitly presented actions/events
Implicitly inferred ationas/events
Non diegetic material (captions/titles,drama enhancing
music etc.)
Micro Features
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1. Constructional Devices
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Cinematography
Mise- en- Scene
Editing
Sound
2. Genre Associations
Genre Codes (e.g. Iconography)
Genre Conventions
3. Narrative Codes
Levi Straus’s Binary Oppositions
Barthes Narrative Codes
Character Psychology
Semiotic Analysis
Todorov
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Initial Situation (Equilibrium)
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Disruption
(Non equilibrium)
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Restoration
(Re Equilibrium)
Propp 1928
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Morphology of the Russian Folktale
1928
Types of Characters, Specific Forms
of Action, function in the Narrative.
Thiry One Functions identified.
Specific research on narrative
• Vladimir Propp
• Russian Formalist in the 1930s
• He wanted to see if there was a finite
number of structures for narrative. He
analysied Russian folk tales and found
they could be classified into 5
categories.
• He also identified seven archetypal
characters.
Propp’s character archetypes
The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The

Villain
Donor/giver of knowledge
Helper
Princess (sought after person)
Dispatcher
Hero (or victim)
False Hero
Propp’s character archetypes
The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The
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Villain
Darth Vader
Donor
Helper
Princess (sought after person)
Dispatcher
Hero (or victim)
False Hero
Propp’s character archetypes
The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The

Villain
Darth Vader
Donor
Obi Won Kenobe
Helper
Princess
Dispatcher
Hero (or victim)
False Hero
Propp’s character archetypes
The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The

Villain
Darth Vader
Donor
Obi Won Kenobe
Helper Han Solo
Princess
Dispatcher
Hero (or victim)
False Hero
Propp’s character archetypes
The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The

Villain
Darth Vader
Donor
Obi Won Kenobe
Helper Han Solo
Princess Princess Leah
Dispatcher
Hero (or victim)
False Hero
Propp’s character archetypes
The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The

Villain
Darth Vader
Donor Obi Won Kenobe
Helper Han Solo
Princess Princess Leah
Dispatcher R2 - D2
Hero
False Hero
Propp’s character archetypes
The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The
 The

Villain
Darth Vader
Donor Obi Won Kenobe
Helper Han Solo
Princess Princess Leah
Dispatcher R2 - D2
Hero
Luke Skywalker
False Hero
Propp’s character archetypes

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The Villain
Darth Vader
The Donor Obi Won Kenobe
The Helper Han Solo
The Princess Princess Leah
The Dispatcher R2 - D2
The Hero
Luke Skywalker
The False Hero Darth Vader (Luke’s
dad)
Basic Plots
Romance: Boy meets girl / boy loses
girl / boy finds girl(or Vice versa)
 Bordwell and Thompson (1991)
define narrative as “A chain of events
in cause-effect relationship occurring
in time and space.
 The Kuleshov Effect: The linear
connections we make between shots.

Definitions from Bordwell and
Thompson (1991)
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Plot: What we see on screen. Includes
extra-narrative things.
Story: all that we know about the
narrative including seen and unseen.
Diegesis: The total world of the story.
Parallelism: Parallel development of
multiple storylines.
Cause and effect: Cause and effect.
Causes can come from a character.
Chris Vogler 1992
The Writers Journey
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Archetypes
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Hero
Mentor
Shapeshifter
Trickster
Herald
Allies
Shadow
Threshold Guardians
The Hero’s Journey
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Ordinary World
Call to Adventure
Refusal of the Call
Mentor
First Threshold
Tests, Allies, Enemies
Approach to the Inmost Cave
Ordeal
Reward (seizing the sword)
The Road Back
Resurrection
Return with the Elixir
Levi Strauss

Binary Opposites (Macro)
• Protagonist/Antagonist
• Action /Inaction
Binary Opposites (Micro)
• Good looking / Ugly
•
Witty / Humourless
Barthes

Audience Decodes
• Enigma Code (sets up a question to be
answered later)
• Semic Code (How characters, actions ,events,
settings etc. take on meaning within a culture.
• Symbolic Code - Binary Oppositions or
Psychological symbols
• Action Code - understood by cross reference to
other narratives in our culture
• Cultural Codes - understood through our
interaction with the wider world.