What is narrative?
A narrative or story is any report of connected events, real or
imaginary, presented in a sequence of written or spoken words, and moving
images. It can be organised in a number of thematic or formal categories.
Narrative is found in all forms of human creativity, art, and entertainment.
What are the conventions of narratives in each of the
following genres:
Comedy- The setting of a comedy film really depends on the type of
comedy, the generic places of most comedy films include, bright places, towns,
cities and other well populated places. In teen comedy films they are set in
high schools and small towns and in a social comedy with a lot of people it is
normally set in a house or bar. The technical code for them is that the
camera is very natural and goes along with the characters and do include high
shots to capture the whole environment. Medium shots to catch all of the
characters expressions and then including the editing sounds to add humour. Iconography
in comedy films include bright colours, blue and yellow are often used, the
lighting is often bright and shot during day time. The character types
vary in comedy films there are the idiots that are very stupid and accident
prone, the smart people who tend to be socially awkward and then the regular
people who have accidents which occur around them, and they tend to be
sarcastic. Lastly the themes tend to be one of the following, anarchic
comedy, gross-out, parody, romantic comedy, screwball comedy and slapstick.
Horror- The settings tend to be small communities or isolated places,
urban environments, dark streets and narrow alleyways. Large cities or run down
ghost towns, almost anything that connotes isolation or being alone. The technical
codes tend to include camerawork that is very expressive and not natural.
High and low angles can connote fear and nightmares. Point of view shots (POV)
are important because they allow the audience to see the world from the
person/creature, this normally happens at the end or in the middle of a typical
horror film. Handheld shots make it difficult for the audience to make out what
is happening. Disturbing sounds are very important in a horror movie, diegetic
sounds like footsteps and non-diegetic sounds like a heartbeat are commonly
used. The editing can create unsettling tension and suspense. If the editing
hasn't been paced up in a while then you know that something very bad is about
to jump out and scare you. The Iconography often includes dark colours
like red and black which links to evil. The lighting is expressive and
non-naturalistic. Low-key lighting can help to create dark shadows and
unfamiliar shapes in the blackness. Props can help us to further identify the
genre of horror, specific props can be identified with a villain or character,
common objects include, weapons, masks, icons of supernatural, religious icons
etc. The character types in a horror closely identify as a main
protagonist often a victim or hero of the movie, a villain often a monster,
mutated freak, alien or serial killer, the stupid/immoral teenagers that always
get killed, creepy children, police officers that can be good or bad and many
more including ghosts, zombies, demons, psychopaths and stalkers. Themes
of horror films include good vs evil, depression, religion, childhood issues,
revenge, supernatural, beyond death, zombie apocalypse and nightmares.
Action- The characters in action films tend to be believable despite the
film itself being unrealistic. The main protagonist who tends to be a 'normal'
guy who discovers a hidden power or talent. The hero is always helped by a team
of innocent characters who get caught up with the action. Mortal danger arises
as a twist in the plot and the characters take it seriously. Exotic locations,
mind boggling chases and hair raising adventures keep the audience on their
seats. Technically action films use a lot of special effects so to
create a bigger impact on the audience watching. Lighting is used to show
danger; being very dark and mysterious and happiness; being very bright and
light. The camera shots used show the characters from different angles, this
can be used to create equilibrium and being very loud and sudden. These
features show how the technical effects can affect the mood of the audience
whilst watching the action film. Action films conventionally use a range of
things for iconography. They usually feature fast cars, guns, good looking
women, the police and some kind of fight, as well as other things. The narrative
in action films usually follow the life of a person, or group of people, who
are living a normal life until something changes everything and they then go on
some form of a mission to help solve the problem, usually they manage to
solve the problem, while picking up a girl and being involved in a few car
chases in the meantime. The themes that usually feature in action films usually
involve an injustice that needs to be resolved. A moral justice is normally
reached by the end of films from the action genre.
Drama- Characters are crucial to a drama as they help to create the
tension and atmosphere of the film de to the circumstances they are facing. As
well as the characters above, another typical character seen in drama films is
the friend that the main character confides in. There are many sub-genres
of drama, as the genre itself is a very very broad genre, with a wide spectrum
of different films with different ideas and approaches of cinematography, but
are essentially still classes as drama. The themes of which these films are
based upon are just about anything as long as it is realistic which generally
includes nothing supernatural. Some of the more popular themes to depict are
injustice, drug addiction, poverty, mental illness, the corruption of power and
racial prejudice. They usually link to something topical, such as politics or
poverty. All drama films are very tense, often the soundtrack/music
playing an important part in the overall feel of the films with mysterious
intense scores to provoke emotions in the spectator.
Romance- In the romance genre there are few typical props
you can expect to see throughout the film, for example you can expect to see
some sort of flowers and gifts that will be given to one of the main characters
usually by the love interest. The giving of gifts is commonly associated with
the genre as it is the reflection of romance and commonly is represented as a
relationship with giving and usually ending up with the pair being married
after the pair have some sort of disruption or disequilibrium. There will
normally always be two main characters. A male and a female, the male is
virtually always the love interest and the selling point of the film, with such
massive names playing the character. Most of the time there will be a character
that is there to disrupt the love interest and come in-between the two
characters. A typical setting for a romance film is big cities, this is
because a big city has everything that the film could possibly want, therefore
they use the big cities as the majority of people can associate with the big
cities and gain understanding of the film and begin to make a link with their
own life.
Narrative theories
Propp- Propp was essentially interested in folk tales, he noticed that often
many folk tales were similar in a variety of areas, he identified a theory
about characters and actions as narrative functions. The typical characters he
found were, the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the false hero,
the helper, the princess and her father. In the struggle scene Propp suggested
that there is a struggle between the hero and the villain, and that the hero is
branded and the villain is overcome which leads to the state of disorder being
settled. And nearing the end of the film normally at the recognition scene the
hero is recognised or the false hero or villain is unmasked from the film
genres that would include this type of character.
Todorov- He came up with the theory that narratives have a
clear three-part structure. The first of which being equilibrium, where
everything is calm and in order, which could be seen as normal. The second of
which being disruption, where all the bad things start to occur. Finally, restoration
where the equilibrium is now restored and back in order.
Barthes- Roland Barthes narrowed down the action of a text in
to Five Codes which are woven into narrative, these are, The Hermeneutic Code
(HER), The Enigma / Proairetic Code (ACT), The Symbolic Code (SYM) and the
Cultural Code (REF)
Levi-Strauss- He studied myths of tribal cultures, and examined how
stories unconsciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture. These
are usually expressed in the form of binary oppositions. Media theorists to
reveal underlying themes and symbolic oppositions in media texts have adapted
his research.
