The parameters and processes within Narrative Production
Everyone tells stories on a day to day basis. Whether it be a story about the past, present or future, it is still a story about a particular subject, character or event. I have learnt that different people have different perceptions of stories and films as they have there own opinions on it. Male and Female are the biggest differences as men and women see and process information differently as there brain malfunctions in a different way. This means that every filmmaker tells their stories in their own unique way as after all, it is there story they are telling so they can take it any direction they want to in order to make sense of the world they are in or have created.
A Narrator is most commonly found in fictional films in the most basic types and genres as most action, adventure or family films use mainly dialogue which makes the audience build a relationship with the main characters over the entire time they are watching the film. Narrative audio is mainly used for short productions as you want the audience to pick up the story quickly as there is not enough time for the audience to build relations to the characters.
What expectations do we have in films?
As the viewers, we expect to have a beginning point of the story, in which the story is being told from. This may not be the very beginning of which everything had happened but it is the point in which we as an audience get to know the story and characters where we could imply the past or future.
We then expect to have a middle point to the film, in which is where there are problems within the characters and goals of the film which sets the story a little off path.
We finally, expect to have an ending to the film. This may not be the ending point of the story as the story may live on forever but as a director, it is our job to end the film for the audience to imply what may happen within the future. The ending should include some sort of resolution and potentially happiness where the audience may be able to make sense of the film and the story behind it.
As the viewers of the film, we take in the information that we see visually and verbally and process it in order for it to make sense. We do this whether we realise it or not as it is our brain asking the rhetorical questions in order for us to make sense of what is happening within the film. We pick up on eye contact, which in a drama or romance is key to knowing whether their is any romantic feelings within the characters. We may pick up on recall information, the behaviour of the characters or even cues and positions of the characters which may lead to different type of body languages. With these cues, it tells us what to anticipate next.
After the film finishes we as the viewers, realise that the film has either followed along with our expectations of what was about to happen, or it did not. Most commonly, we as an audience would have the right expectations as the director usually leaves hints and guidelines along the journey of the film. However saying this, once the film suddenly hits the climax, the film is again free to go in whichever direction in leads. It may be that the film comes to an ending to spark a new beginning in which sets the expectations that the viewers might have into a whole new light.
On page 60 of the Bordwell and Thompson; 'Film Art: An Introduction' book, states; "We can consider a narrative to be a chain of events in cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space." This book was published in 2001 and was found great help to me as I believe that this quote has a deep and meaningful context behind it. I believe this quote is teaching that the narrator is definitely a key concept to consider as the narrative directs the audience into what the director wants them to think, feel, where they should look and the links between each chain of events in the story.
Even though we as the viewers do not see every chain event during the film, it does not mean we do not know what is happening or about to happen. As I had said earlier, the audience infer the actions and events that are not explicitly presented by the actions that are.
The plot and story are two very different things. The story, also known as Film Diegesis which is greek for recounted story, is where you see every little detail in full to make up the story as a whole. The story is told right from where the film begins and right to where it ends, the events and assumptions are connected and you see the relationship builds throughout the story. The story is also the implications of what happened before and after the film.
The plot is the brief of the story. It what you see on screen but with no implications of the before and after story or what will happen later on.
As filmmakers, we focus on the story instead of the public as we look in more detail at every point of the story, characters, lighting, positions and the mise-en-scene.
For example, the story are the presumed and inferred events in the film such as what has happened before the start of the film and what will happen after the film has come to an end. The film or clip does not show every minute of what happens because that is too boring, it shows what is necessary for the audience to know. If the actor was going to get a drink in the kitchen from the living room where he is standing, it is the director's job to visually keep the audience's attention so instead of showing his every movement to the kitchen, the director might do many cuts, takes and clips to show different angles and perspectives of the actor to give the audience more depth into what that character may be thinking or feeling.
Another example of what the story and plot is within the film is the layouts of what happens within a crime film. This is the layout and process of most crime films.
A - Crime conceived
B - Crime planned
C - Crime committed
D - Crime discovered
E - Detectives investigation
F - Detectives concealed
G - Non-diegetic material
The story would be from the beginning to the end of the main points in the story, going from A to G. The plot of the story would be a brief implication of what the story may be, before or after you see it so this would start from the middle of C to D to finally G. Which does not contain the whole story of what happens.
I know that a film does never start or end, it begins and finishes. This is because the film only shows the most important and interesting parts of the story. It does not need to contain every points of development as the film would go on too long and the audience would get bored. The film begins at a certain starting point within the characters lives and finishes when the majority of the action has taken place. This may not be the whole story but it is the audience's job to imply and and infer what had happened before and after the film has began. This allows the audience to be entertained by the major action and seek to arouse plenty of curiosity by the film bringing in a series of actions that have already started.
A film can explore all possibilities and ideas at the beginning but a series of causes and effects will define narrower patterns of developments until the film hits its climax where there are only 1 or 2 possible routes the film could go in. However some occasional films will define the climax by opening up plenty more possibilities to the ending of the film after hitting the climax. The ending could be a potential new beginning?
The patterns of developments could change due to:
'Change of knowledge' This is where the character may develop in knowledge and understand so they may have different views or understanding on something therefore there future may finally change for better or for worse.
'goal-orientation' where the character may have different views and opinions therefore may not have the same visions as they had before. May have grew up or changed values therefore want something else or life got in there way.
'time and space' this may be involved within flashbacks and the gain of knowledge.
As a viewer, once we understand what the desire is, we understand what the protagonist's need is. The film does not stop it ends, which again aims to lift the viewer to a higher degree of tension or suspense.
A few films are anti-climatic and are open ended where the storyline may continue or follow on in a part two or second version of the film. Here are the developments within a film.
Equilibrium - The development of the audience and the characters
Disruption - The situation or characters change where the relationship between viewer and character changes as things may not be as they seemed.
Development - where the relationship build again.
Resolution - where the story comes to an end and the whole story is revealed and resolved. Where rhetorical questions are finally answered.
Now I have a strong understanding of the audience, what they're looking for and how the story is put together and shot. It is time to understand what the narration is and how this may develop the story.
The Narrator
The narration is the process by which the plot presents the story information to the spectator. This can be restricted or un-restricted.
The narrator could be the character in the story for example, the thought or reflections. Or the narrator could be the non-character in the story. The non-character is usually found in documentaries to voice over the real-life story and information. The non-character can set the mood of the story and can be an indication for the audience to know that the story is real life. The number of possible narratives is unlimited.
Could there be any crossovers with narration?
Crossovers depends on the assumption that action will spring primarily from the individual characters as casual agents. Natural and societal causes can affect but it arrises on the characters:
Desire
The protagonist facing its opponent
Change
The viewer only seeing what you need to see
Closure
Being a narrator means you need to consider the following points in order for your film to be interesting and note worthy.
What is the story you are telling? - how will you tell the story to the viewer, why is narration a crucial part? does the narration have a twist or unsteady ending? and why may it have a unsteady ending. Could this bring tension or disguise...
How exactly are you telling the story? is the story linear? meaning in order...
What is the plot of the film? you need to know the story and script in order to know when the narrator has a crucial part
Is it necessary to have a narrator and why? who will be playing the narrator and what part is the narrator playing? eg the thought and feeling of a character for the viewer to feel inside the mind... or is the narrator telling the true events, information and real-life story?
How will you open and close as the narrator? will you be telling a story? being a spectator? or will you be commenting on crucial parts of the story's flashback and events...
How does the spectator see or not see? how does his overlook on the story or character result on the viewer's opinion?
Lastly, how does the plot develop and what do you hope to achieve as the narrator? is it that you want to create a false illusion for the audience by pretending your someone your not? or is it that you want the audience to see and develop and knew understand of a character by their inside thoughts and feelings?
It is important for the director and storyteller to know exactly what they want to achieve out of having a narrator as it may cause false rhetorical questions and thoughts in the viewer's mind if the narrator is playing an unnecessary part in the story.
Important points to consider when studying film:
Listen to the voices in you head - explore your thoughts and feelings and always right them down as the first opinions of the viewer is crucial as your implications indicate whether the film is thought out well or not. If the audience create false implications which are not the storyline's goals then maybe the film may not be well organised or overly complex.
Write down preconceptions and how or if they have been developed
How does the plot develop the story?
What are the different techniques which the filmmaker has used in order to get the story across?
To conclude, I feel that narration could potentially be a crucial part within film if the director has made the narration a very thought out process in which could change the climax of the story later on.
