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Narrative (Q1B)

Regarding our A2 production doesn't particularly consist of a narrative; I will most likely discuss my AS product in my exam! :)

Introduction 

What is the narrative structure of your production? Which specific parts of your production relate to this structure?

We chose to use a circular structure/ open structure as part of our 'thriller' opening sequence. From inspiration of 'thriller' non-linear structured movies such as 'The life of David Gale' (2003) and 'Pulp Fiction' (1994) which has the opening sequence started at the 'middle' of the movie (which in general was the climax) in which audience are then reversed back to the beginning again in order to annotate how the climax initialized. We chose to use this structure since it is a common convention which has been placed in multiple 'thriller' openings. I also stated that the film has an 'open' structure, in consideration to the opening of our sequence being left unresolved, equilibrium has yet to be solved, furthermore audiences are still unaware of the villains intentions for attacking the main protagonist in the opening. Furthermore initializing Levi Strauss 'binary opposites' theory. Strauss states that binary opposites such as good vs evil are imperative to include in narratives, in order for audiences to be easily identify the current situation. Propp's narrative theory also engages in the similar type of concept, suggesting that all narrative texts must include a particular set of characters in order for the story-line to develop. Prime character examples include having an 'hero', 'villain', 'donar' and an 'princess'. Propp's believes that without the use of any of these characters, the hero/ villain of the plot cannot be sustained, furthermore every story must contain consist of an character to break the 'equilibrium' as well as an characte

Does the production adhere to or subvert narrative conventions?

We followed typical narrative conventions in our own production such as fast, choppy editing and various angles in order to emphasis tension and perhaps confusion to the audience regarding what is about to take place. We also subverted the typical gender roles for the 'hero' and 'princess' roles (Propp's narrative theory) by presenting a female as the film's protagonist instead of a male. In consideration to most thriller films often cast males as the leading protagonist we wanted to challenge this by subverting the role to a female instead. Furthermore, we done this in order to originate our production and stir controversial debates to traditional narrative structures in film.

Consider: How does the narrative support the establishment of your chosen genre of your production?

How have narrative techniques been used?
  • Enigma
  • Non-linear
  • Restricted
Useful quotes - "Narrative is a way of organising data into a cause and effect chain of events with a beginning, middle and end" - Edward Branigan

Discuss in regards to narrative -
- Camera
- Editing
- Sound
- Mise-en-scene

Theorists:
  • Todorov
  • Levi Strauss
  • Vladimir Propp
  • Allan Cameron
Conclusion


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