My Narrativre Structure relating to Modular Narratives 2

This is my narrative shown as a forking-path narrative.


With this narrative technique I could play with time lines and show the plot repeating but each time a different outcome is produced, The Mob Boss would still exit his home and see the prisoner but each time the prisoner is different to exaggereate his son's troubles. I could show the Mob Boss killing the prisoner and reverting back to his old ways and is eventually caught by the police or is killed himself to juxtapose his whole intention of justice, and in an alternative outcome would show him releasing the prisoner and being able to get on with his life. To make it more interesting with the alternate timelines I could show them in a split screen view and the audience could see the different outcomes unfold at the same time.

My Narrativre Structure relating to Modular Narratives 1

This is my narrative changed to a anachronic narrative:

The two main characters remain the same with the Mob boss still holding his son's killer captive but in homage to films such as Pulp Fiction and Memento I would show events out of order this then will ceate tension and an enigma for the audience as they have to piece together the events and put them in order themselves. This conforms to typical short film conventions as it shows experimentation and questions the audience.

The events I would show are the Mob Boss exiting his house with him then opening his garage to show his son's killer/prisoner. Then the narrative would fall back to show his son's killing and then switch back to the Mob Boss interrogating his prisoner, I would proceed this to show the killer trying to hide the evidence and finally show the relase of the prisoner.

Research and Planning: Narrative Structure for My Short Film

Exposition- The main character is introduced through objects within his home and reveled to be an ex Mob boss whose son is recently deceased. 

Development- The main character leaves his house to enter his garage where his son's killer is held prisoner. 

Complication- After the prisoner has pleaded and presented his story the main character becomes sympathetic with him. 

Climax- The main character enters into a monologue on actions of people and the consequences of those actions and how society has become a joke.

Resolution- The main character releases his son's killer realizing if he kills him he will have reverted back to his old ways but satisfied the prisoner has learnt from this experience he retreats back to his life clutching a photograph of his son.  

This is my first initial idea which follows Tzvetan Todorov's theory of narrative as the events that unfold create a disequilibrium and therefore creates a new state of equilibrium. I now need to take these events and deconstruct them to compare them with other critical theorists' theories as I think Todorov is too simplistic, my teacher showed me an interesting powerpoint on semiotics for beginners: 

Semioticsforbeginnersaslevel 111012150554-phpapp02 from Elaine Humpleby

 

Using this powerpoint I have identified that the use of my red arrows symbolises blood, violence and crime which fits my genre of crime itself. 

Research and Planning: Critical Theories of Narrative

Vladimir Propp's theory of events are as follows: 

Characters as Function-

• The Hero- who is the character who seeks something.
• The Villain- who opposes or block's the hero's quest.
• The Donor- who provides an object which has some magic property.
• The Dispatcher- who sends the hero on his way by providing a message. 
• The False Hero- who disrupts the hero's hope of reward by pressing false claims.
• The Helper- who aids the hero.
• The Princess- who acts as reward for the hero and as object of the villain's scheming.
• Her Father- who acts to reward the hero for his efforts

Actions as Function- 

• Preparation- A community, Kingdom, family; an ordered state of being
• Complication- A state of disorder 
• Transference 
• Struggle
• Return
• Recognition

Tzvetan Todorov's theory is as follows:

• A state of EQUILIBRIUM (all is in order)
• A disruption of the ordered state by an event
• A recognition that a disruption has taken place 
• An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption 
• A return to some kind of Equilibrium

Branigan's Categories of Information:

• Introduction of setting and characters 
• Explanation of a state of affairs (Expedition)
• Initiating event (Hook) 
• Emotional response or statement of a goal by the protagonist 
• Complicating actions (Plot)
• Outcome 
• Reactions to the outcome ('Happy endings', Equilibrium or Someone dies) 

I agree with Propp and Todorov's views on narrative as they clearly list the theories behind narrative whereas I do agree with some of  Branigan's points his views are from a psychoanalysis view. 

Research and Planning: Conventions Within My Sweded Film

Kill Bill Swede 001 from Lewis Watson on Vimeo.

My swede production was filmed but most of the data was corrupted so the beginning of my film is missing, but the conventions that can be met of an OTS within my own swede is that my characters are introduced to the audience one by one, then the narrative follows as a fight ensues and it is clear to my audience that the film being sweded is Kill Bill. Similar to the OTS of 'Seven' my swede opens with shots of my main characters eyes which asks the audience who is this person and it is soon revealed he is the protagonist of the piece.

Research and Planning: What is Narrative?

Narrative is defined as "a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time" (Bordwell & Thompson, Film Art 1980)

Narrative is categorized into these sub categories: 

Diegesis

The internal world created by the story that the characters themselves experience

and encounter.

Story and plot

Story – all events referenced both explicitly in a narrative and inferred (including

backstory as well as those projected beyond the action)

Plot – the events directly incorporated into the action of the text and the order in

which they are presented

Narrative Range

Unrestricted narration – A narrative which has no limits to the information that is

presented i.e. a news bulletin.

Restricted narration – only offers minimal information regarding the narrative i.e.

Thrillers

Narrative Depth

Subjective character identification – the viewer is given unique access to what a range of characters see and do

Objective character identification – the viewer is given unique access to a

character’s point of view such as seeing things from the character’s mind, dreams,

fantasies or memories

then it can be more complex:

Modular Narratives “articulate a sense of time as divisible and subject to manipulation”.

Cameron has identified four different types of modular narrative:

• Anachronic

• Forking Paths

• Episodic

• Split Screen

Anachronic modular narratives involve the use of flashbacks and/or flash forwards, with no clear dominance between any of the narrative threads. These narratives also often repeat scenes directly or via a different perspective. Examples of this narrative include films like: 

Pulp Fiction 

This is a good example of anachronic narratives as the plot within the film is spread out into 7 stories that show characters in different forms of importance: 

1. "Prologue—The Diner" (i)
2. Prelude to "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
3. "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
4. Prelude to "The Gold Watch" (a—flashback, b—present)
5. "The Gold Watch"
6. "The Bonnie Situation"
7. "Epilogue—The Diner" (ii)

The sequences are all shown in non chronological order so the audience is left to piece together the events. This is a running style within Quentin Tarantino's other works. 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Another example of this narrative technique is shown in the Jim Carrey film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

The plot is quite simplistic as it uses the romantic comedy formula but twists it with how the events are shown. The audience is shown the back-story of the romance between the leads through flashbacks that take place in memories in non chronological order as they are being deleted. The audience again have to piece the events together. 

In similar terms this method could be described as mixing up time within the film, this could be done with flashbacks/forwards. 

Forking-path narratives juxtapose alternative versions of a story, showing the possible outcomes that might result from small changes in a single event or group of events. The forking-path narrative introduces a number of plot lines that usually contradict one another. 

A good example of this narrative is shown in the Bill Murray comedy film Groundhog Day.

In the film Bill Murray's character finds himself stuck within a time loop repeating the same day again and again. After indulging numerous suicide attempts he begins to re-evaluate his life.

The events that play out are the same but each time there is a different outcome which changes the events and outlook of the character significantly.

In similar terms this method could be described as showing different versions of an event. 

Episodic narratives are organised as an abstract series or narrative anthology.Abstract series type of modular narrative is characterized by the operation of a non-narrative formal system which appears to dictate (or at least overlay) the organization of narrative elements such as a sequence of numbers or the alphabet. Anthology consists of a series of shorter tales which are apparently disconnected but share a random similarity, such as all ‘episodes’ being survivors of a shipwreck.

An example of this narrative could be the film:

Sin City 

This could be seen as an example of episodic narrative as the story is told from many perspectives with other main characters seen in other sequences, such as one main character dies early in the film is then seen in a new sequence looking at another main character. 

Sin City can also be used as an example for anachronic narrative. 

A scene from the Quentin Tarantino film Death Proof I found is a good example of this narrative as it shows the antagonist killing 4 women but the deaths are shown from each point of view:  

In similar terms this method can be done by starting from a central point and then show it from a different perspective (broken into bits).

Split screen narratives are different from the other types of modular narrative discussed here, because their modularity is articulated along spatial rather than temporal lines. These films divide the screen into two or more frames, juxtaposing events within the same visual field, in a sustained fashion. Examples include the expectations and reality scene in the film 500 Days of Summer: 

This shows the audience the playing of events but shown from two possible versions of the same events this can also be used as an example for forking path narratives. 

In similar terms this can be articulated through the screen.

Research and Planning: Deconstruction of Se7en OTS

Seven Opening Credits from Kieran Brooks on Vimeo.

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/se7en/

The purpose of credits within an opening title sequence (OTS) is to create awareness to the viewer on who made the film, who stars in it etc, but also to set the tone of the overall piece to let the audience guess what they are in for. The opening credits for 'Seven' meet the conventions for the thriller genre. Credits will also follow at the end of the film which is why they are named 'end credits' but if a film maker chooses to show the credits in this format it makes the credits almost pointless as many people don't bother to watch the credits so it is a very effective technique to make them within the OTS as this forces the viewer to watch them and can create awareness.

In the opening credits for 'Seven' the audience are shown a person flipping through pages of a personal scrap book of strange drawings and diagrams that look quite sinister. The lighting within the whole OTS is very dark which makes the hand of the unknown psychopath appear in a shadowy form which gives the effect of the hand looking mysterious and monstrous. This sets the tone of the piece from the off set as it gives the film the feeling of mystery and creates an enigma for the audience as they ask who is this person? What are they planning? Why has this book been made? By this point the credits have not begun which makes it seem the audience are watching an opening sequence but gradually the credits appear which informs the audience they are in fact watching the opening credits. The font is made to look as though the unidentified man with the book is creating them and is written in an almost childish fashion which signifies this person can be innocent, but in a child like way. The font switches from bold to lower case which shows an inconsistency from the character writing the book and an almost questioning of his actions, it could also signify a hesitancy as though he can't wait to perform these horrifying tasks much like a child. The font is white to make it stand out from the dim lighting used. The hands within the OTS show the person is male as they are of large structure and are unwashed and damaged something not associated to females in films. The hands being damaged in some way show that they use their hands alot and in mysterious tasks which lead to them being damaged.

The images of the hands informs the audience that this character may play a key part as the face is not visible which again creates mystery and suggests they are the antagonist of the piece. The hands also show this person performs dark actions as the images of him skinning his fingers suggests, this also shows his intelligence as by removing his skin from his fingertips the police would be unsuccessful in their investigation. When the cast appear in the credits Brad Pitt's name appears before Morgan Freeman's which suggests he is the main character but in fact they are partners and they roughly share the same amount of screen time but most importantly Kevin Spacey's name is left out of the credits all together this has been done so that the identity of the killer is not ruined or predicted. The camera then focuses on writing in the book which is shown upside down so the audience question what is being written but the most disturbing shot follows of the picture of the little boy. This is disturbing as the unidentified man is crossing out his eyes which could suggest he has done something concerning his eyes. It is then shown the man crossing out his face in pen this could signify he is completely at peace what he has done and has no guilt towards his crimes. This then makes the audience realize the book is a journal where he keeps memorabilia of his victims and admires the pictures as though they are trophies.


The editing throughout the OTS is very fast which does not leave the audience to

inspect every image in time to create the bigger aspect of mystery. The second to last image of the unidentified man are him sewing the book pages together this shows he is skilled with his hands as not many people can sew and is usually seen as a female skill. The final image is the man cutting out the word 'God' from a newspaper he is shown not picking it up with his fingers this could show he is a religious person and doesn't want to tarnish God's name with his dirty hands or he feels he is unworthy of touching the name. The most important aspect of the credits is the music as it constantly builds tension and make the audience's hearts beat faster as they are lead to believe anything bad could happen any second, this is very common within the thriller genre. The credits are followed with the opening scene of the feature.


The credits to Seven have shown me that many things can be accomplished within the opening credits and that they don't just to be writing on who created the film, etc. I hope to draw ideas from this and would like to include cryptic messages and raise questions in my own opening sequence.

Research and Planning: Codes and Conventions of an OTS

In the OTS (Opening Title Sequence) the audience expect to see the way the film will evolve and should reveal certain information, this will be done by showing the setting on where the film is located and the time period of the piece, the title of the film, the name and logos of the companies who have produced and distributed the film. Other things that could be included are the mise-en-scene to show important information such as the lighting, costumes + make up and props, there might be a soundtrack to create a certain atmosphere depending on the genre. 

http://asmediaproductionsschs2014.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/conventions-of-ots-se7en.html

In the above presentations of conventions in an OTS for feature films I feel that they have all been successful in identifying the conventions as they present/list them for people to see and offer an explanation on each one. I would say the audience for these presentations are for film students/people who are engrossed in film and people intending on making films. The purpose for these presentations are to identify, discuss and evaluate the conventions of an OTS while analyzing films to present the conventions.

I feel the formats are well suited the second slide share being the most informative and interesting by showing analysis of existing film OTS' and the third being the least interesting as it has been presented with too much writing but is detailed. But overall all of the presentations are easy to understand. Most of the presentations identified all of the conventions accurately but could have been helped with more detail into certain areas.