Quick Representation and Narrative Revision – Section 1b

REPRESENTATION

David Gauntlett

•“identities are not ‘given’ but are constructed and negotiated.”

•“Identity is complicated. Everybody thinks they’ve got one. Artists play with the idea of identity in modern society.”

John Berger

“Men act and women appear”. “Men look at women.

Women watch themselves being looked at”.

“Women are aware of being seen by a male spectator”

Julian McDougall

•‘In a media saturated world, the distinction between reality and media representations becomes blurred or invisible to us.’

Jib Fowles

•“in advertising, males gaze and females are gazed at”.

Paul Messaris

• “female models addressed to women....appear to imply a male point of view”.

NARRATIVE

Edward Branigan

“narrative is a way of organising...data into

acause and effect chain of events with a

beginning,

middle and end…”

Kruger, Rayner and Wall

“narrative is an important source

of reassurance in a hostileuniverse.”

Some narrative techniques• Enigma – a puzzle, a narrative technique designed to

intrigue the viewer and encourage them to watch further.

• Retardation – Holding back key information from the audience so they are unsure what is happening and likely to watch further to find out.

 • Ellipsis - a basic narrative technique used in classical

continuity editing which sees time compressed in order for the narrative to progress more quickly (editing out the boring bits!)

• Twist – an unexpected turn of events designed to shock the audience.

Classic Hollywood Narrative•This is a typical Hollywood narrative

structure, whereby the story is driven by the protagonist (main character) and there is a strong sense of closure: all enigmas that are raised are resolved at the end. You need to be aware of this traditional structure so you can comment when a film does not do this, e.g. it leaves some loose ends or leaves the audience in suspense. Examples are The Italian Job or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Causality

•This is the term given to the relationship between two events. It is what makes a narrative. For example, the king dying and then his wife dying is not a narrative. There has to be some kind of cause and effect. Therefore, the king dying and the queen dying of grief is a narrative. If you find this hard to remember, just try to remember that narratives are made up of cause and effect and you won’t go far wrong.