l4 s4 narrative

7/28/2019 L4 S4 Narrative

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Lecture 4Narrative

Practice:

Plot segmentation

offilm narrative


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Viktor Shklowsky (Russian formalist)

STORY /vs./ PLOT(story, what happened) /vs./ (narrative, how it is told)

Situation A(lack, equilibrium)

changes to

(disequilibrium)Situation B

(restoration of equilibrium)

PLOT the driving force of a narrative (movement from A to B)

ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE CONSTRUCTION


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Film narrative

Shots scenes sequencesDistinct events that occur

within same place, same time

plot


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Vladimir Propps analysisapplied tofilm narrative structure

(especially in linear narratives) .

Regardless of differences in point of plot / characters / settingsmost narrative share common structural features:

a) seven character funct ions :

the villain

the donorOFFERS GIFTS with magic properties

the helper the princess

the father

the dispatchersend hero on mission

the hero

the false hero

b) th ir ty-one narrat ive units(see below).


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Preparation:l. One of the members of a family absents himself from home. 2. An interdiction (ban) is addressed

to the hero. 3. The interdiction is violated. 4. The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance. 5.

The villain receives information about his victim. 6. The villain attempts to deceive his victim by

using persuasion, magic, or deception. 7. The victim submits to deception and thereby unwittingly

helps his enemy. (Hero sleeps.)Villainy / Lack (Plot set in motion):8. The villain causes harm or injury to a member of a family. 8a. One member of a family either

lacks something or desires to have something. 9. Misfortune or lack is made known: the hero is

approached with a request or command; he is allowed to go or he is dispatched. 10. The seeker

(hero) agrees to or decides upon counteractions. 11. The hero leaves home. 12. The hero is

tested, interrogated, attacked, etc. which prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent

or helper. (The donor usually enters the story here.) 13. The hero reacts to the actions of thefuture donor. 14. The hero acquires the use of a magical agent. 15. The hero is transferred,

delivered, or led to the whereabouts of an object of search.

Path A: Struggle and Victory over Villain; End of Lack and Return:16. The hero and villain join in direct combat. 17. The hero is branded. 18. The villain is defeated.

19. The initial misfortune or lack is liquidated. 20. The hero returns. 21. The hero is pursued. 22.

The hero is rescued from pursuit.

Path B: Unrecognized Arrival, Task, Recognition, Punishment, Wedding:23. The hero, unrecognized, arrives home or in another country. 24. A false hero presents

unfounded claims. 25. A difficult task is proposed to the hero. (Trial by drink, fire, riddle, test of

strength.) 26. The task is resolved or accomplished. 27. The hero is recognized, often by a mark

or an object. 28. The false hero or villain is exposed. 29. The hero is given a new appearance. 30.

The villain is punished. 31. The hero is married and ascends the throne.


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Mode of address

= the voice who addresses the audience in

a written piece of fiction, in a film,

advertisement, etc

Modes:

-voice-over

-the enigma code (Roland Barthes): who did what

-the action code: a narative deviceresolution is effected bymeans of action


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Watch Hard TimesCoca Cola commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnUKurl7Fog

What is the structure of the narrative, stages of the plot?

conflict, character, event, narrator? Which are the character types that become distinguishable

in the advertisement (the hero, false hero, the donor, the helper, thefather, the princess, the dispatcher)?

Notice and comment upon narrative devices like theenigma

code and the action code. Identify intertextual elements in the narrative. Why do you

think these are used? What is the effect?

Class task
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnUKurl7Foghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnUKurl7Foghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnUKurl7Foghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnUKurl7Fog


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TaskWatch Pulp Fict ion(Quentin Tarantino, 1994).1. Following the pattern given in P.Rayner & P. Wall, Media Studies, p.53,

provide the plot segmentationof the films narrative [organize the plot

into sequences, identify the flaskbacks]2. Identify stages of the plot: exhibition, crisis, climax, resolution.

3. How many flashbacks does the film include? What is their function?

4. Identify types of characters, according to Vladimir Propps division

[p.55]: the hero, the false hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher,the helper, the princess

5. Analyze how the plot is set into motion: which is the disruptive elementthat triggers the crisis?

beginning middle endinitial balance balance broken balance restored

6.Does the film have an enigma code? What about an action code?

[Roland Barthes narrative functions through a series of codes that areused to control the way in which information if given to the audience:a) enigma code [a riddle, a puzzle the audience has to decipher]; theaction code [a denoument is achieved through action]

l4 s4 narrative

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