Narrative in Films
Almost all human speech appears to use narrative as a tool for learning, gathering, and organising information as well as for conveying and sharing that information to others. This means that narrative serves as a tool for both gaining and expressing knowledge. Moreover , narrative functions as an instrument for information processing and transmission. Narrative gets us to feel, think and experience. It is a work of visual art used to recreate experiences that communicate ideas, stories and perception, feelings and beauty through the use of moving images and sound.
According to Christian Metz (1991), a story is a collection of events that need to be arranged in a specific order . He also argued that a narrative is a closed series of events in which the event serves as the fundamental building block. He implies that narrative is the product of a sequence of images in order. Each writer might have different order of how to place these. We refer to a set of images as a sequence because it is a familiar aspect of the language of film, which is why we all interpret the images to tell the same tale. Sequences where two characters alternate and we are expected to draw connections between them are common. In addition, sequences which are joined together into a structure to form a type of pattern is called casuality. This term leads one thing to another in order for the audience to develop a deeper understanding of the plot and watch a structure evolve from events which lead to others throughout the film.
The elements of film narrative are the story and the plot. The story includes the explicitly(diegetic) presented events and the implied events. While the plot reflects the explicitly presented (diegetic) in certain order. However, the plot also includes the non-diegetic material. Diegesis is the total world of the story. It represents the events, characters, objects, setting and last but not least sound. Whereas, nondiegetic elements are things which are seen or heard only from the outside world of the story(the audience). Such examples of non diegetic elements are background music, titles, credits, and a voiceover comment from a narrator). To illustrate this, one can see this in the movie 'American Psycho'.
When watching a movie, there is always a structure which goes through a series of steps. Every movie should have a type of structure which allows the plot to be as smooth and coherent as possible. such structures are broken down into three acts. The First act- setup(20-30%), is the most significant in a lot of ways. Act one includes the setting Setting (time and place), the main characters (protagonist), details in order to understand a story (exposition), foreshadowing , status quo, micro climax etc. It's the part of the story where the character decides to do something.The first ten minutes of a film are crucial for the audience to decide their enjoyment, as they will be unwilling to change their minds later. The rest of the thirty minutes should focus on the main character, the hero's problem, and style. The second act- confrontation(60-70%), The film's longest act features the main character facing extreme problem situations, often struggling to turn things around. At plot point two, they realise their current approach isn't working and are ready for change.(problem->solution->problem->solution). The Mid point climax is the point of no return and the final climax is the showdown. The third act-resolution(>10%). The hero will ultimately take control of their problems, often confronting the enemy on their home territory, and achieve a decisive victory.
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