Category: Narrative

Posted on in Contexts, Genre, Narrative, Representation

Macro Analysis Refresher

There are three key areas to any textual analysis essay:

  • Micro Features Analysis (within your chosen 5 minute sequence)
  • Macro Features Analysis (within the whole film)
  • Cultural Context Analysis (the wider significance surrounding the film / content)

We have four lessons to review what we already know and fill any gaps in your understanding.

Essential Macro Features
  • Genre
  • Narrative
  • Representation
  • Context
The Feynman Technique

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

Resources

The class will be working in two halves and each of those halves will have one of the terms to define and apply. Follow this link to the slideshow that you will be working on.

Task 1
  • Using the Feynman Technique to define what is meant by one of these terms and how they can be used to analyse a film.
  • Define and explain the concept simply in one slide of your shared slideshow.
    • You should use the blog to help you.
Task 2
  • In pairs or threes discuss one of these ideas in relation to one of the films we have studied last year.
Posted on in Comparative Essay, Narrative

Horror Narrative

The next macro study to apply to a film is to consider the narrative as part of the genre.

Remember the basics of narrative?

Here is a development of defining act structure

Horror Narrative & Genre

What are the typical features of a horror narrative?

Consider two narratives as you complete this document:

  • A story you know well.
  • A horror story or film you know well

Upload your narrative analysis of the horror genre to your reflective journal along with a trailer for the film you studied.

Posted on in Narrative, Representation

Archetypes in Film (Heroes and Villains)

Archetypes in literature are fundamental or prototypical characters that are used in stories. They have recurred in literature and art since the earliest writing.

They personify universal patterns of human behaviour.

Film uses and reuses archetypes in various forms and with varying degrees of nuance, between realism and hyperbole.

In this exploration of Batman the Dark Knight we are exploring two archetypes, the hero and the villain.

We will explore how the context in America, especially the events of 9/11, have reshaped the superhero and super villain in order to help the audience understand the ‘new’ world they lived in and help them contextualise their fears.

I want you to explore how the superhero has become darker and the super villain has been redefined in this time of anxiety & global terrorism.

Task

Complete one slide in this slideshow with an analysis of one Superhero that you have been given.

Independent Study

Read this article from the BBC about Hollywood use of Archetypes and their roots in Greek myth. It also goes on to describe what it is about us humans that continue to retell the superhero story across the generation.

Embed the slide show into your reflective journal and also find a clip of your superhero online and reflect on how the film’s narrative at that moment conveys their heroic characteristics and/or their very human flaws.

Posted on in Narrative

Narrative in The Dark Knight

Remember Narrative? – The Study of Stories…
Narrative Revision
Task 1

In pairs or three review the previous posts on narrative; summarise for each other and then a whole class discussion.

Narrative Part 1

Narrative Part 2

Narrative Part 3

Task 2

Complete a narrative analysis of The Dark Knight

Independent Study

Watch this video essay and summarise the key points in 5 bullet points, in your reflective journal, on the nature of The Joker as the ultimate antagonist.

TASK

Complete a narrative analysis of The Dark Knight.

Take a copy of this slide show and then:

  • Explore the degree to which TDK conforms to the the hero’s journey.
  • Identify the characters with narrative function and consider to what degree they conform to or subvert expectations.
Posted on in Narrative

Narrative in Pan’s Labyrinth

Narrative Analysis of Pan’s Labyrinth.
Task:

Create a presentation (on Google slides) which analyses the narrative features in the Pan’s. Please work in pairs and use no more than four slides, one for each section listed below.

1) Structure

The film starts at the end and takes us back to the beginning – why?

Also, think about the film as a narrative of two halves. Consider the structure of the two parts to the film. Where are the parallels and over laps?

2) Characters’ Function

What roles do the characters have in the narrative and is this always clear?

3) Conflicts

Where are the conflicts located in the film? Who is struggling, against whom? What is the outcome of the struggle? How does this lead us towards the themes….

4) Themes

What is the journey of the film and how does the conflict and epiphany reveal the themes?

Reflective Journal

Embed your slideshow into your reflective journal.

Remember to:

  1. Introduce the slideshow, what is it and what does it explore?
  2. Reflect on what you have learnt about narrative in Pan’s Labyrinth and how the narrative helps communicate the messages and ideas (themes) in the film.
Posted on in Narrative

Narrative in Film (Part 3) Non Linear Narratives

Non-linear Narratives

Films have a big advantage in how they can tell stories.

  • They are not bound by the rules of normal time!

Editing can reorder screen time, which is different from reel time (the duration of the film), and this reshaping of the narrative can add to the audience’s pleasure of the film. How?

Task 1 – Exploring some Non-Linear Films

Think of a film, which plays tricks with its narrative and or characters. Try to describe what it does with the structure of the story and how that might enhance our pleasure. Some notable examples:

  • Dunkirk
  • Inception
  • Memento
  • Shutter Island
  • The Sixth Sense
  • Pulp Fiction
  • The Last Five Years
Here is a short film, which plays with narrative and uses an interesting narrative structure.

Some Video Essays on Narrative:
1) Controlling Narrative Information

2) A Narrative Analysis of a Cult Film (Memento)

Posted on in Narrative

Narrative in Film (Part 2) Character Function

Narrative Function

First off, it is important to note that we are not talking about characterisation or representation!

We are talking the role the characters have in the narrative. In other words what is their job in the story? This analysis can give us helpful clues to understand the themes and ideas, especially when we consider the ways in which the characters (ideology) conflict.

Stories typically have most, if not all, of the following characters types:

  1. The protagonist (the hero at the heart of the story)
  2. The antagonist (the villain who opposes and tries to defeat the hero)
  3. The donor (a character who gives the hero advice and sometimes a helpful object)
  4. The dispatcher (a character who sends the hero on the journey)
  5. The helper (the sidekick for the hero who helps the hero through the trials)
  6. The false hero (a traitor, close to the hero who ends up betraying the hero)
  7. The girl (the ‘reward’ for the hero)
Characters’ narrative function in Harry Potter.

Task

Consider these character roles for the stories you studied in the last lesson. Please remember that a character in a story may fulfill more than one role.

Using the film you studies yesterday develop your poster with details of the characters’ and their narrative function.

Extension – Character, Conflict and Themes (Dialects)

Posted on in Narrative

Narrative in Film (Structure)

Introduction to Narrative (The study of stories)

When we study narrative we are exploring…

  1. The structure/shape of the stories
    1. The big events that push the story forward, causing the characters to act / react.
    2. When and how important story information is revealed.
    3. How the audience is positioned in the story & when we learn important narrative information
  2. The characters & their narrative purpose.
  3. The themes/messages that the director wants to communicate.
    1. The development of the main character(s) & their epiphany
  4. The significance of setting to the story
  5. The role of the narrator in highlighting the themes (if applicable)
The 3 Act Narrative Structure

Here is a cool video about the narrative structure of films which are about the adventures of a heroic figure in a typical Hollywood adventure film.

 

Task 1 – Describe a simple narrative

Use it to think about the basic narrative structure of a film/story you know well, a fairy story like: Cinderella, Snow White, Jack & the Bean Stalk… or if you don’t know those, a Pixar movie like: Monsters Inc, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Wall-E…

Remember the story mountain? Apply this in reverse to the story that you have chosen and explain the basic structure of that narrative.

Create a timeline of your own with five stages (use screenshots from the film if possible) Identify the five key stages of the narrative:

Act 1

  1. Ordinary World

2. Disruption

Act 2

3. The journey or quest.

4. The final struggle or epiphany

Act 3

5. The restoration or return

Task 2 – The Journey and the Theme

Extension Task

Consider the last two slides in the show above. In your story, who changes, how & why? What do they realise and how does this epiphany reveal the theme of the story?

Add this to your story mountain analysis in stages 4 or 5.