Narrative

Narrative, in simple terms, is storytelling. In film, narrative form is used all the time, as without it, the story would have no structure, and therefore wouldn't make sense. For example, narrative form could be used in a short sequence - if there was a wide shot of a building, a close up of a person looking up at it, and then a panning shot of the same person walking inside a (not necessarily the same) building, the audience would automatically assume that it's the same place, due to narrative structure. This is because the sequences in that order make sense - they tell a story of a person looking at and entering a building, and although they could be on opposite sides of the world, the narrative form putting them in that order makes sense.

In horror, the narrative structure tends to go like this:
- (1) Introduction to the main characters, shown in a normal location
- (2) Characters venture into a strange/threatening setting
- (3) Something bad happens - someone gets injured, killed or a monster is revealed
- (4) The surviving characters fight back, putting them at greater risk
- (5) The film climaxes with a dramatic showdown between the main characters and the monster
- (6) Either the monster or the main character(s) survives
- (7) Order is either restored or the audience is left in suspense wondering what will happen next

An example of this narrative being used in a horror film is in Woman in Black (2012). In this film, the main character is grieving the loss of his wife (1), when he goes to an old, empty estate previously owned by an old woman (2). The villagers want him to leave as they are keeping a secret - the house is haunted by a woman dressed in black. The woman in black then appears - killing a child (3). Then, the main character decides to try and stop her, by pulling her dead son out of the marshes where he drowned, in the hope that she would stop taking revenge on the people of the town (4). The climax comes when the main character puts her sons body in a room, and she enters it, screaming at him (5). This is film is slightly different in terms of narrative structure in the ending - before the 'monster' dies, order is restored (7) when the main character returns home, but she claims her final victim when she kills the main character's son on the journey home (6). This twist at the end is quite a good use of unusual narrative - it doesn't make the audience confused as to the genre, but it provides one lasts sense of horror right at the end, when they are expecting nothing.

In a comedy, the narrative structure is fairly similar to that of a horror, but with a few key differences. The narrative structure of a comedy usually goes like this:
- (1) Introduction to the main character(s)
- (2) Something happens which disrupts the normality/happiness
- (3) The characters try and fix it (usually in a humorous way)
- (4) The problem is made worse by the character's actions**
- (5) The problem is fixed
- (6) Everyone is happy again, and normality is restored
**This doesn't always happen in comedies - however, it does sometimes as it's a good plot twist

A comedy which follows this structure is Finding Dory (2016). In the beginning, we are introduced to the main characters, in normal settings (1). Then, when Dory begins to remember her parents, she ends up getting captured and taken to a marine life centre - unable to escape (2). Then, enlisting the help of an octopus also trapped in the centre, Dory begins her plot to escape (3), but as soon as she does, finding her parents along the way, Marlon and Nemo get trapped in a truck (4). However, they manage to escape again, with the help of some of their friends, (5), and the film ends with everyone returning home, and continuing their lives with their new friends/the family that they have found (6).

In action films, the narrative structure usually goes like this:
- (1) Introduction to the protagonist - in some cases, our knowledge of their special abilities is made clear
- (2) Something goes wrong, and the protagonist is made aware they need to fix it (to either save themselves or other people)
- (3) The protagonist tries to solve the problem
- (4) The climax comes when the protagonist is in the middle of fixing things - usually involving car chases, explosions or fighting
- (5) Everything is sorted - the protagonist wins, the bad force is defeated and peace is restored

The Karate Kid (2010) is an action film. It mainly follows the above narrative structure for an action movie - first, we are introduced to Dre, and we learn that he has moved to China (1). After meeting a girl, and realising he likes her, he begins to get bullied by a boy at his school (2), and so takes up kung-fu in order to defend himself (3). After training really hard, and becoming good at it, he enters a tournament, and after being injured very badly, he ends up having to fight the boy who has been beating him up (4). Ultimately, he wins, and earns the respect of both the bully and the rest of his classmates (5).

The narrative structure of a drama film tends to go like this:
- (1) Introduction to the protagonist
- (2) We find out their problem/a problem is created
- (3) They try to solve their problem/their problem is almost fixed
- (4) There is a climax where we don't know the outcome, and then the problem is either is fixed or everything is destroyed completely**
- (5) Peace is restored
**Given the conventions of the drama genre, sometimes it's not always a happy ending - the main character could die, or their goal could be ruined.

The narrative structure of a drama film is followed in Finding Nemo (2003). A clown fish named Marlin lives in the Great Barrier Reef, with his son, Nemo (1). Nemo ends up getting lost after he ventures into the open sea, and he ends up being abducted by a boat (2). Marlin goes looking for Nemo, meeting a variety of different fish along the way (3), and ends up finding him with the help of his new friends (4), and they go back to the reef where they live (5).

The narrative structure of romance films is fairly similar even throughout the different subgenres - it usually goes like this:
- (1) Introduction to the main character
- (2) Introduction to their love interest, and we find out why they can't/won't be together
- (3) They begin to realise they like each other
- (4) Something happens which keeps them apart (climax)
- (5) The problem is overcome and they are able to be together/there is a tragedy and they can't be together

In the romance film, West Side Story (1961), this narrative structure is shown. Firstly, we are introduced to the main characters in each gang (1), and we learn their gangs are rivals (2). We then see them fall in love across a crowded room at a party (3), but soon after, following the death of someone, their two gangs get in a big fight (4). In a Romeo and Juliet style ending, someone tells one of the pair that the other is dead, and so they promptly take their own life (5).

However, despite the differences between the structure in each genre, the conventions of narrative throughout can be simplified to this:

- Opening: establishes the setting and introduces the main character(s).

- Build up: relationships between major characters are created. These characters, their backgrounds and relationships with each other are developed.

- Problem: a dilemma or some complications. The main characters are faced with problems to overcome, puzzles to solve or bad forces to defeat.

- Events: a series of events/actions as characters try to overcome an obstacle, solve a problem, or discover the truth (etc.).  Other problems, which are shorter and usually easy to solve may arise in the process.

- Resolution: the protagonists win, problems are solved, and/or the truth is revealed.

- Ending: characters reflect on the events that happened, they reinstate relationships and look forward.

This narrative structure is very important because it helps the audience engage with both the characters and the plot - whatever the genre, a connection with or interest in the main character(s) is vital, as it means you care what happens to them. This is what the opening and build up do - you get a sense of their normal life through the setting and their relationships with other characters, and in many cases, if you are their target audience, you may relate to them, connecting with them more. After this relationship between you and the main character(s) has built up, the problem is revealed. This is a great way of making someone want to keep watching, instead of tuning out half way through, as they already care and empathise a great deal with the main character(s), and so when something goes wrong, they would want to keep watching to see the problem solved. This is exactly what happens next - a series of events occur in which the characters solve their problems. This also keeps the audience watching, as it's often either tense, fast paced or action filled, and during this time, smaller problems can be created, which makes the outcome unpredictable. This keeps people watching, as when they think the problem is solved, or when they can see a predictable way of solving the dilemma, something else goes wrong, which makes them unsure of what will happen. Finally, the resolution and the ending take place. In the resolution, the problem is solved, and in the ending, the characters reconcile and everything that went wrong is sorted out. The ending of a film is in some ways, the most important part, as it shows the ideal situation in terms of what you wanted for the characters from the start - e.g. the criminal being defeated, two people falling in love and getting together, or something really good happening to the main character. Overall, narrative structure is vital to making a successful film, as it is what keeps people interested and caring about the characters and the plot.

Todorov's narrative theory states that most stories follow the same 5 step pattern/path. The first step of Todorov's theory is equilibrium. This is when the majority of characters are happy, content and getting along. There isn't anything bad happening, and everything is as it should be. Then, Todorov states that there is normally a disruption. This is the first part of the problem - something bad happens, which will disrupt the happiness and peace between the characters.The realisation then happens, which is when the full effects of the disruption unfold. The characters realise the extent of the problem, and it's chaos. However, this doesn't last long - Todorov's next step is restored order. Restored order is when the characters attempt to resolve the problem and repare the damage. The final part of a story's plot is again, equilibrium. This is when again, everything is good as the characters have solved the problems.

Todorov's narrative theory is applied in many films, such as the film Pride, which was released in 2014. The equlibrium in this film is at the start - when the main character attends a pride parade in London.  Everything is good at this point, as he meets a group of friends whom he likes, and they accept him for who he is (unlike his parents). With this group of friends, they decide to start raising money to help the families affected by the British miner's strike of 1984. However, the disruption comes when the National Union of Mineworkers reject the groups support due to the nature of society at that time, and the reluctance to be associated with a gay group. The realisation is centered around this too, when the group, now named LGSM (Lesbians and Gay men Support the Miners), struggle to find people to support. Next, the film moves on to restored order - LGSM's support is accepted by a small mining village in Wales, and then the equilibrium happens when the alliance made between the two groups of people is accepted and assisted by wider society.

Vladimir Propp's narrative theory was created in the early twentieth Century. It involved the analysis of Russian folk tales, breaking them down into their simplest narrative forms. After analysing hundreds of folk tales, he discovered that all of the main characters could be categorised into 8 types:

- The Villain - Struggles against the Hero.

- The Dispatcher - Character who informs the Hero and sends him on his quest.

- The Helper - Helps Hero during quest.

- The Princess/Prize - Hero deserves to marry her, but cannot throughout the film because of the villain, often the quest is ended with the Hero and the Princess getting married.- Her Father - Gives Hero task and identifies False Hero- The Donor - Prepares the Hero- The Hero - Reacts to the donor and gets married to the Princess.- False Hero - In order to marry the Princess, he takes credit for the Heroes actions to impress her.

According to Propp, once a character had been identified and categorized as one of these 8 types, it is very predictable what they are going to do next - each character has a 'sphere of action'. 

Roland Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician (study of cultural signs and symbols). He came up with 5 codes which he said were woven into any narrative. These are:

- The Hermeneutic Code is the 'voice of truth'. It's the way a story avoids telling the truth or revealing all the facts, in order to drop clues throughout to help create mystery.

- The Semantic Code is a code which suggests an additional meaning by way of connotations in the story.

- The Symbolic Code is very similar to the Semantic code, but it acts on a wider level - organising Semantic meanings into broader and more deep sets of meaning.

- The Cultural Code is exactly as it's name suggests - it looks at and acknowledges an audience's wider cultural knowledge, morality and ideology.

- The Proairetic Code is the way that tension is built up, leaving the audience to guess what is going to happen next.

Claude Levi-Strauss was a social Anthropologist (meaning he studied people). In particular, he was interested in studying myths of tribe culture - he explored how stories subconsciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture. He named the difference between a word and it's opposite the 'binary opposition' - realising that words were just a symbol for society's ideas, and to understand the meaning of a word, you just had to know it's opposite. Modern media theorists have adapted his narrative theory to reveal underlying themes and symbols in media texts.