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Lecture/Seminar Series – Digital Narratives. Week 1 Narratology and Film Week 2 Cinematic Narrative Models Week 3 Visual Storytelling Week 4 Anti-Narrative Week 5 Student Presentations. Levi –Strauss and Binary Oppositions
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Lecture/Seminar Series – Digital Narratives Week 1 Narratology and Film Week 2 Cinematic Narrative Models Week 3 Visual Storytelling Week 4 Anti-Narrative Week 5 Student Presentations
Levi –Strauss and Binary Oppositions Our understanding of words id based on the difference between a certain word and its 'opposite' or its 'binary opposite’ (e.g. good/evil, hero/villain, society/wilderness, insider/outsider etc.). Narratives are often structured around these binaries. When studying any kind of narrative, it is worth looking for the ways in which the meanings we make from the story are guided by these 'binary oppositions'
Ways of understanding film narrative - Propp Propp in his study of folk tales discovered a number of characteristics in the structure of narratives. His ideas are also very useful when studying film. His ideas suggest that narratives contain a number of character functions (types) : The hero who is the character who seeks something The villain who opposes or blocks the hero’s quest The donor who provides an object which has a magical property The dispatcher who sends the hero on his way by providing a message The false hero who disrupts the hero’s hope The helper who aids the hero The princess who acts as a reward for the hero and as an object of the villain’s scheming The father who acts to reward the hero for his efforts
Actions / Events Preparation Complication Transference Struggle Return Recognition
http://www.gardensandmachines.com/AD30400/Downloads_S2012/AD30400_montage_continuity.pdfhttp://www.gardensandmachines.com/AD30400/Downloads_S2012/AD30400_montage_continuity.pdf
Visual Storytelling Film and television narratives use a complex system of signs (both visible and audible) in order to communicate effectively to their audiences. This system of signs helps the viewer to understand the meanings and messages of the texts as well as allowing them to focus on the narrative (and the diegesis) rather than the way in which the text is constructed. This system of signs is normally referred to as ‘cinematic codes’ Cinematic codes Cinematic codes in their most basic form can be divided into two main groups: Combinations of visual signs Combinations of audio signs In fact it is much more likely that cinematic codes will be a combination of both visual and audio signs.
There are three basic building blocks for each group of signs: Visual signs – the shot 1 The Long shot - used to establish the location or setting, or to show characters in their environment 2 The Mid shot - used to establish relationships between characters and for dialogue 3 The Close up - used to establish the emotions or motivations/reactions of the main characters Audio Signs – sound 1 Dialogue - used to explain characters motivations/reactions and to clarify events in the film 2 Sound effects - used to reinforce a sense of a particular place/setting and to add realism/ drama 3 Music - used to reinforce the mood or atmosphere of the scene or to add drama and emotion
MISE – EN – SCENE The term mise-en-scene is a french term meaning literally ‘placed in the scene’ or ‘what is put into the frame’. Establishing a convincing and believable mise-en-scene is crucial for 3 main reasons: 1 to allow the audience to focus on, and be drawn into the narrative 2 to allow the audience to identify generic conventions to help them understand 3 to communicate ideas about the characters and the events through the look of the scene The elements of mise-en-scene are as follows: the set and props lighting and colour costume, hairstyle and make-up facial expressions and body language the position of the characters in the set
The Continuity System, Spatial Awareness and Narrative Important to our experience of film is how the construction of visual narratives becomes ‘invisible’ (the techniques do not draw attention to themselves). This is so that the audiences attention is given over to the diegesis (the story, characters, events etc.) The most dominant form of visual construction, at both the level of filming and editing, is what is known as the ‘continuity system’ This system is governed by a complex set of rules about how images are framed and how they are organized into sequences Characterised by: Establishing Shot (establishing space) 180 degree axis Shot / Reverse Shots Cross cutting (between spaces in the same time) Eye-line and Graphic matches Dissolve (time gaps) Bridging sound
Montage and Symbolic Editing Montage– juxtaposing images by editing (disrupted spatial awareness and created narrative fragmentation). During the 1920s, the pioneering Russian film directors and theorists Kuleshov, Eisenstein and Vertov experimented with montage. Montage could create ideas or have an impact beyond the individual images. Two or more images edited together create a "tertium quid" (third thing) with accumulated meaning.
