Setting and Narrative Info

1. Setting and Narrative Info

2. Digetic vs. Non-digetic • -diegetic information—materials related to the story • -non-diegetic—not related to the story—elements used to tell the story that doesn’t that is not pertain to the world of the story (I.e. credits, music, etc)

3. Chronology • -linear chronology—actions proceed one after another through a forward movement in time—usually follows a a central character’s motivation • -Linear narratives usually have a beginning, middle, and an end. • -deadline structure—action moves toward a fixed end—I.e. something must be accomplished by a specific time, like Speed, My Best Friends Wedding, The Hangover • -Parallel plots-implied simultaneity between 2 different plot lines • -Nonlinear plot- the flashback is a good example

4. Plot Elements • -retrospective plot­—tells past from the perspective of the present or future • -narrative duration-refers to the length of time an event or action is presented in a plot • -narrative frequency-describes how often plot elements are repeatedly shown • -narrative space-stories and their characters explore these spaces, contrast them, conquer them, inhabit them, leave them, build on them, and transform them • -refers not only to formal shape of space but also their cultural and social significance and connotations

5. Plot Elements • -ideological location-describes the spaces and places inscribed with distinctive social values or ideologies • -psychological location-suggests an important correlation between a character’s state of mind and the place they inhabits at that moment in the story • -symbolic space- is space transformed through spiritual or other abstract means related to the narrative. • -first person narrator-has some relation to the story he or she is telling

6. Narration • -narrative frame-describes a context or person positioned outside the story to bracket the film’s narrative in a way that helps define its terms and meaning • -omniscient narration- a version of third person narration in which all elements of the plot are presented from many or all potential angles (knows all) • -restricted narration-organizes stories by focusing on one or two characters • -reflexive narration-describes movies that call attention to the narrative point of view of the story in order to complicate or subvert their own narrative authority as a consistent perspective on the world

7. Narration • -unreliable narrations-raise at some point in the narrative, crucial questions about the very truth of the story being told (I.e. Fight Club) • -multiple narrations-are found in films that use several different narrative perspectives for a single story or for different stories in a movie that loosely fits these perspectives together. • -Significance of narratives-engage viewers in ways that make time meaningful; organize human experience through moving images and sounds in order to describe how individuals and communities change with time