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Setting

Setting. Setting. Each story will have a macro-setting, the space and time covered by the entire story This can be centuries and wide ranges of solar systems, galaxies, etc. Micro-settings: Individual scenes, episodes, etc. occur within much more limited time and space constraints

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Setting

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  1. Setting

  2. Setting • Each story will have a macro-setting, the space and time covered by the entire story • This can be centuries and wide ranges of solar systems, galaxies, etc. • Micro-settings: Individual scenes, episodes, etc. occur within much more limited time and space constraints • A given evening at an office • A crime scene • A child’s bedroom at bedtime

  3. Law and Order

  4. Conditions • Audience members expect certain things to be true about the narrative context when they are made aware of the setting • Time and place determine weather, technology, social structure, culture, major events, social etiquette, etc.

  5. Consider: • Egypt, 1375 B.C. • Pearl Harbor in December 1941 • Contemporary Louisville • Contemporary Paris • Los Angeles, 2030

  6. Realistic v. fantastic settings • Realistic settings either are, or follow the rules of, actual physical places and times where real people could be found • Historical events may be a significant part of the narrative • Characters may not be realistic, though

  7. Realistic settings • The depth of detail provided and the accuracy of that detail affects the audience experience of realism • Some directors/art directors are obsessed with providing realistic presentations of historic or contemporary settings • 1945 Japanese submarine toilet seat

  8. Exotic settings • Real places far removed from audience experience can seem fantastic • Rwanda • Middle Ages • Audiences must learn the crucial rules of the setting to understand the plot and characters

  9. Fantastic settings • Fantastic settings are those that do not follow the laws of physics, etc. as we understand them • They are often, but not always, inhabited by fantastic characters • Magic • Science unknown to us (future advances)

  10. Rules for fantastic settings • Even if magic is possible, dragons exist, etc. there must be rules that define how events can happen, what characters exist, etc. • The rules cannot be contradictory to each other • Once set, the narrative is bound by the rules • Fantastic settings, carefully drawn and with compelling rules, can seem ‘realistic’

  11. Setting and exposition • The more psychologically ‘distant’ from the audience the setting is, the more exposition will be needed to allow the audience member to follow the narrative • Germany during the Dark Ages may well demand more exposition for a contemporary audience than does the surface of the Moon

  12. Setting and plot • “a setting delimits the possible actions in a narrative. As such, the setting is connected to the plot” • (Talib, Narrative Theory) • Actions and events that generate protagonist motivations (plague outbreak) • Available choices to satisfy motivations (no guns) • Consequences of various actions (explosion breaks dike) • Chance factors (tornadoes, traffic accidents)

  13. The most significant requirement is that rules must be consistent • Magic must have limits and magical powers must follow rules • Too much magic, fantasy, etc. will strain the audience’s acceptance even of a fantastic setting

  14. Setting and character • Certain characters are appropriate for certain settings • Character types that are ‘naturally’ found in one setting would be out of place in another • Behavior that is appropriate in one setting would be unacceptable in another • Features of the setting may provide clues to the character personality

  15. Social rules of custom and ethics determine what the characters can do and say without social sanction • Victorian novels often are based on class conflicts and appropriate behaviors

  16. Settings may determine the tone of the narrative • CSI, CSI: New York, CSI: Miami • Metropolis v. Gotham City • The Shining • Gladiator • Heroes • Brothers and Sisters • ER • A History of Violence

  17. Stereotypical settings • Common, stylized settings are typical for some genres • Western saloon • Hospital emergency room • Battlefield • Haunted house • Fraternity house

  18. Time and space • Characters exist in, and move through, time and space • Discourse time and space v. story time and space • Time and place prior to, and after, the main narrative • Flashbacks and flashforwards • Backstory and epilogue

  19. Representing time and space • Setting information is conveyed both visually and aurally • Establishing shot • VO Narration • Dialogue • Discourse time is usually much shorter than story time so conventions must be used to indicate time passage to the audience • When locations change, means to indicate new locations must be provided to the audience

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