Film Analysis - Narrative

Part 2 of our film analysis involves an integral element of any Film, Narrative and it's various Structures. Narrative is the story of a piece, and so applies to all forms of media, spoken word and storytelling in general. This makes it a important element and one Film Studies students can use to apply to texts, understanding how stories develop, how to keep the audience interested and how to build character and relationships.

With this is mind we have looked at Narrative Theorsits, the people that write theories on story telling structure. There are many examples of Theorists, all with theories on both story, themes and characters as the integral element in Narrative.

The classic theory, which can pretty much be applied to any form of storytelling is Aristotle, which simply uses a Start, Middle, End, three act sequence. There is a set up, a problem and then the problem is solved. Interestingly, Aristotle and Propp created their theories before the influence of cinema, focusing on storytelling, from theatre to folk tales.

A better example of a Narrative Theorist who looked primarily at film was Field. He wrote Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting, and developed his theories taking the work of predecessors such as Aristotle and Todorov, looking at how films used turning points, cause and effect and pinches to keep the audiences' attention and reinforce narrative development. His work and that of Todorov and Vogler had Start Middles and end's and used the idea there is equilibrium in the world of the characters, the world is then disturbed, the characters fight to return it to normal, and there is a return to equilibrium.

Other Theorists used elements other than Acts and key scenes to describe and create narrative structure. Propp, Levi-Strauss and Barthes focused on other things, Propp on character, Levi-Strauss on binary opposites and Barthes on 5 defining "codes" to be applied to scenes or full stories. These Theorists saw importance in the internal elements that gave drive to the story. Propp's character focus emphasises individual relationships with the main character as the way of charting story. Levi-Strauss' binary opposites of good and evil for example are clear in popular cinema like Star Wars. George Lucas. USA. 1977. Barthes' 5 codes of Narrative are listed below:

The Hermeneutic Code: Whereby there are unexplained, mysterious elements to the audience.

The Proairetic Code: Whereby the audience guesses what will happen next.

The Semantic Code: Whereby the audience can take more from the piece than just it's face value.

The Symbolic Code: Whereby the audience can take a deeper meaning than semantics and face value.

The Cultural Code: Whereby the piece is set on pre-existing ideas.

• Structures come in many form's but many of the principles in each different theories cross over. It is about applying the right theorists to the right film, based on it's structure. 
  
  Narratives can be open or closed. For example, Sit Coms like The Simpsons work using the Todorov structure where all issues raised in the episode are resolved by the end and are ready to be disturbed again next episode. Each episode has a closed narrative where all loose ends are tied up.
  
  Films are almost always closed narratives unless part of a series. Usually, all plot points are solved, however some films are ambiguous and open with their endings, letting the audience decide what the outcome will be be, for instance 2001: A Space Odyssey. Stanley Kubrick. UK/USA. 1968.