Narration

*Art Cinema vs. Avant-garde*

Art- designed for niche appeal, not mass market; made for aesthetic reasons, not commercial plot; middle of spectrum from Hollywood to Avant Garde; RUN LOLA RUN = EXAMPLE Avant Garde- far end of spectrum, no rhyme or reason; EYE MYTH (Stan Brakhage) = EXAMPLE

Objective

a POV that does not associate the perspective of the camera with that of a specific character

Subjective

a POV that recreates the perspective of a character

Narrative Form

a chain of events in cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space

Cause and Effect

a relationship in which change in one variable causes change in another

Postmodern Narration

attempts to subvert the mainstream conventions of narrative structure, characterization and destroys (or, at least, toys with) the audience's suspension of disbelief

Unself-Concious

audience asked to forget that all the elements of the plot are carefully arranged, edited, choreographed to convey story information

Self-Concious

audience is reminded of story being told

Classical Hollywood Narrative

dominant form of classical film narrative associated with the Hollywood studio system (end of 1910s-1950s)

Motivation

every detail of information and style is meaningful within the overall narrative system; reason for doing something (Hitchcock salary quote)

Broad Suspense

impure; delay; uncommunicative, restrictive narration; keeps the audience in the dark (viewer in a state of "anxious uncertainty"); EX: spy plot/romance plot

Non-Diegetic Narration

insert that is neither taking place in the world of the film, nor is seen, imagined, or thought by a character

Surprise

not what is expected as plot moves along and characters develop; typically at ending

Unrestricted

omniscient; audience knows what is going on

Chronological Order

order according to which shots or scenes convey the temporal sequence of the story's events

Goal-Oriented Plot

plot in which character takes steps to achieve a desired object or state of affairs

Restricted

plot withholds information

Local Suspense

pure; deadlines, acceleration; highly communicative narration; keeps the audience informed (viewer in a state of alert attentiveness); EX: Hitchcock!

Character Traits

the qualities that make up a character's personality

"Invisible" Narration

typically a voiceover narration; not seen

Plot

what a filmmaker makes out of a story; what you see--first to last scene

Story

what the viewer reconstructs from a plot; not linear or fixed, mental construct using clues

Communicative

where the plot appears to share information about the story freely

Uncommunicative

where the plot appears to withhold information about the story

Diegesis

world of the film's story (characters, places, events) of what is shown and implied