Narrative

The narrative is the plot of a film and the order of which the events in the film occur. A traditional narrative follows the order of start middle end where as a disrupted narrative contains flashbacks or may start at the end.

Conventions of narratives in the following genres:
Romance:
In a romance film it normally starts at the start because it normally wouldn't be as effective if the film started in the middle. However, it could start with a flashback, which would then be more effective for the type of film
Comedy:
The Narrative could start anywhere it could be in the middle like, The hangover, this would be effective. However film likes this can start at the beginning because they are known to start at the beginning not a flashback because it's more likely to start not at the beginning in a drama or an action.
Horror:
A horror film could start anywhere, it could start a few years before so then it could have the titles 5 years later and then the same horror events occur. It could start in the middle showing what will happen to the victims in the film. It could also start with a flashback or a flash-forward for example, Final Destination starts with a flash-forward showing what will happen.
Action:
An action film is most likely starts at the beginning but it could start in a different part to show the action that might unfold later in the film, this happens in films like James Bond. Also, it could start with showing the hero tied up and being caught then having titles saying 12 hours earlier.
Drama:
A drama film is most likely to start anywhere but the beginning because dramas can be very mysterious and it would be more effective to start as a flashback or flash-forward. Subtitles coming up saying 7 years earlier or later would be effective for this type of film. However some can be more effective to start at the beginning.



Narrative Theory:
Propp:
Vladimir Propp said that characters had a narrative function; they provide structure for the text. He also identified 8 key character roles; the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the false hero, the helper, the princess and her father.
Todorov:
Todorov stated that most films and story lines follow the same pattern or path. He identified 5 steps in this pattern.

 

Barthes:

Roland Barthes said that texts can be open or closed. He said that every text or narrative can be unravelled to see the deeper meaning behind it. He also stated that every narrative has a range of meanings and can be viewed in multiple ways. Barthes narrowed down the action of a text into 5 codes which are woven into any narrative.

Levi-Strauss:

Levi-Strauss said that conflict in a narrative is based around binary opposites and that the binary opposites are the central climax of a narrative structure. Some examples of these binary opposites are:

• Good vs evil
• Boy vs girl
• Peace vs war
• Young vs old
• Strong vs weak
• Democracy vs dictatorship