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Narrative Structures
The way the story is told is through the narrative which is split into many
different structures and ideas, building the bones for the order of the events of
the narrative to be viewed by the audience. What I mean by this is that a films
story can be shown in many different aspects i.e. start middle and end which is
define by the narrative structure. A films story could start the other way around
or follow many different characters.
Restricted narration is presented by one character in particular and the audience
views what is happening to them through their eyes somewhat. Mystery or
surprise may be the effect of this form of narration making the audience
unaware of what will happen next - suggesting that it is used a lot in crime as we
follow the character piecing clue together and creating a conclusion to the crime.
We often see things before other characters but not before the character we
follow. This is often used in the early Poirot films where we followed Poirot as he
uncovered facts and clues about the suspects. He would often over hear what
others were saying, meaning that we did too. This structure if often used by film
directors as it is the simplistic to write and the narrative is easy to be viewed by
the audience meaning they are more likely to watch it. It also allows for audience
to become somewhat attached to the character and understanding what they
are feeling emotional. However this type of film does indeed restrict the freedom
of viewing for the audience. It is mostly to be featured in a family film as children
would find it easier to follow. An example of this is Alice in Wonderland, as we
view the events through Alice's eyes. It can be used through out the film or in
one part i.e. the director could decide to follow the eyes of one character and
change it to another half way through the film or use a film style called found
footage.
Omniscient Narration is presented through a number of characters or at least not
limited to the main character in turn means the audience knows more than any
one character. Its often suggested to be used more than restricted as it gives
the filmmaker and the audience freedom to look over everything. Film makers
will use this in their films as it keeps the film at a steady pace, engaging the
audience and keeping them interested, focusing on a different characters.
Suspense may be the effect. A well known example of this is the animation
Finding Nemo in which the story is told from Nemo and Nemo's dad. The
This is an image from The Grand Budapest Hotel where the colours all beautifully
match. The soft colours of the costumes standout from the hard colours of the
set, actually working together visually, pleasing to the eyes of the audience. Also
It is argued that the auteur theory (being an auteurist), which the whole idea is
based on the personal styles/ contributions of film makers, is a better approach
than genre theory as genres are constructed out of conventions. Many follow
auteur theory as it allows the audience to know what to expect when they go to
see a certain filmmakers film as it will feature certain styles they know they will
enjoy. Film makers use this to gain recognition and to be different from other
filmmakers who use the genre theory. Genre theory is what audiences judge
films on before they go and see it, depend on genre i.e. a musical film linking
the CCs discussed earlier. Single genres can be quite vague with sub-genres
giving the audience a more hands down idea i.e. musical adventure would
feature CCs such as singing and a macguffin. Here is the argument. Film noir
suggests that the film maker should be creative with mirror shots and steep
overhead camera angles but every director can do this differently. The director
builds on that suggestion but using his own personal touch as well. For
example, Anthony Mann Desperate (1947) and Robert Siodmak Criss Cross
(1949) use steep overhead angles, however each sequence is very different
mixing the genre theory CCs of steep overhead angles with their own creative
auteur design. It can be argued that you need both to make a film work as they
both support each other but it somewhat how the director see it which is really
be the end result.
Representation
Representation of different groups of people can have a positive and negative
impact on the audience. The female group often struggles to have a positive
presentence in film, as suggested by the Feminist Film Theory by Laura Mulvey:
"The Male Gaze." She argues that films are largely made completely by man
therefore is constructed by their views and preferences for female characters
.i.e. sex objects or need saving. Females began with small roles and would simply
be supporting or for decoration. Sometimes even being removed for the main
events of the film. Film such as Sound of Music and Alien tried to allow women to
break free, giving the female characters leading strong roles instead of the weak
delicate ones. However Sound of Music ended with leading female marrying and
looking after children (seen as what women should do) and Alien ended with her
in her underwear (male fantasy) therefore they really did not help with improving
the views of women. In my opinion I believe that it did present a strong women
at the time of its release, however now I feel it is a weak example of positive
representation, arguable making women seem pathetic and limited. Truth to be
said in the James Bond series which James (the male) is presented as the hero,
tough and has the say. He saves the women in these films and she falls in love
with him. In the film Hanna however the leading role is female who is able to
fight and be independent, not needing to be saved by men or used as a sex
object but instead fights and kills men. This shows the women can be strong,
however this film was only released a few years ago, meaning that strong female
leads are just starting to appear.
Black/African groups also have a negative representation in films. One example
of negative representation of black/African people is in The Green Mile. This film
i Tim Dirks. (Unknown). Main Film Genres. Available: http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html. Last accessed
Nov 2014.
v ALLY SINYARD. (2010). Top 10. Available: http://thescriptlab.com/features/the-lists/971-top-10-bestnonlinear-films?showall=1. Last accessed Nov 2014.
viiiThomas Mental. (2014). 7 Modern Directors and Their Distinctive Visual Styles. Available:
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/7-modern-directors-and-their-distinctive-visual-styles.html/?
a=viewall#ixzz3FrBsS7pK. Last accessed Nov 2014.
ix Tim Dirks. (Unknown). Main Film Genres. Available: http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html. Last accessed
Nov 2014.
xii The Grio. (2012). 15 films that hurt black America. Available:
http://thegrio.com/2012/02/25/slideshows-films-that-made-the-worst-impact-on-african-americans/. Last
accessed Nov 2014.