Understanding Narrative

Jeremy Orlebar | Tuesday December 01, 2009

Categories: Key Concepts, Narrative, Understanding Media, Understanding Key Concepts

Narrative is the media term for story telling. Narrative is the way the different elements in a story are organised to
make a meaningful story. Some of these elements can be facts as in a documentary, or characters and action as
in a drama.

Narrative, or telling stories, is our way of making sense of the world about us and trying to put some meaning into
that world.

Because we live in a world that is organised by time hours of the day, days of the month, the years, so story
telling starts off as being linear.

We tell a story as a line of events. Then she did this, then he did that, then they got married.

All cultures in all countries tell stories; theorists recognise that story telling is an important part of being human.

When we look at narrative we see that stories throughout the media share certain characteristics. This often links
them to genre.
Different media tell stories in a variety of different ways.

The key areas concerned with narrative are:

Narrative structure is the way the story or plot unfolds. Is the story an open or closed structure. A closed
structure means the story ends satisfactorily as in most films this is known as closure, with the girl getting the
boy or the hero saving the planet.
An open ending means there is no final conclusion to the story a television soap has no final ending, it just has
minor endings ( a character gets killed). The audience may be are asked to decide how an open story ends.

Some texts have an interactive structure where the audience is asked to be involved in deciding the outcome of
a programme. Reality television series such as Big Brother and X Factor rely on the audiences vote to continue
the series.

A multi-strand structure means there are several narratives running at the same time. This is very common in
television and radio soaps and ongoing drama series, such as Holby City, and The Bill.

Other narrative structures include point of view (POV). The narrative can take the POV of the first person as in
Bridget Jones Diary where Bridget narrates the story, or the third person where a narrator uses voice over to
tell the story.

In documentaries a particular point of view may be put forward by an on-screen presenter e.g. Michael Moore
and Morgan Spurlock. An unseen presenter can progress the narrative with commentary written to explain the
story behind the pictures.

A popular narrative device is the enigma. The plot constructs a puzzle that the audience is asked to solve while
the characters act out the story. An enigma may end with a surprising twist as in The Usual Suspects (1995)
where the hero is redefined.

Narrative is informed by character, action, and location.

Characters have functions such as heroes or villains, or someone who assists the hero or villain as a helper or
messenger.

The location of a film or television programme is an important ingredient in how the story unfolds. A horror film
about Dracula must have a castle.

A hospital soap must be set in a hospital which becomes a tool that helps in the story telling. Albert Square itself
becomes a vital element in the stories in Eastenders and helps them unfold in a realistic way.
Narrative is delivered to the audience by expectation, suspense, tension and closure. The audience is led to
expect certain things to happen which leads to tension and excitement. We are shown the arch villain preparing
to attack the hero in Spiderman - the excitement is about how Spiderman will overcome the threat.

Expectation, suspense and tension are created by the use of Media Language such as editing and shot
selection, sound and music, framing and mis-en-scne.

Directors and producers use many techniques to get a story to an audience in an involving, interesting, exciting
and entertaining way. Our job as media students is to find out what these techniques are, and see where and
how they are used and what they mean in media texts. This is known as Textual Analysis.

When considering a text you need to ask questions about the narrative structure.

For example an interesting multi or hybrid genre postmodern film such as RUN LOLA RUN (1998) ask:

1. How is the narrative organised?

The two main characters are a young man, Manni and his girlfriend Lola. The story is deceptively simple. Manni
is working for a criminal boss, and has to deliver a bag loaded with a lot of money, to an accomplice of the boss,
or he loses his life.

Unfortunately he leaves the bag and the money on a train. He calls his girlfriend Lola for help. She overcomes
various setbacks to help him in three different ways.

The plot shows the startlingly red haired Lola acting out three different paths, each lasting for 20 minutes. Her
quest is to get hold of the same amount of money for her boyfriend and therefore save his life. Each path is
different and involves a lot of running and even a hold up.
To answer how the narrative is organised in this film means explaining how the basic story is worked out in three
different ways. This is a European film and is more likely to experiment with plot structure than a film from
Hollywood which invariably goes for a closed narrative structure.

2 What is the audiences role in relation to the narrative?

The audience is always on the side of Lola and is sometimes exasperated at her feckless boyfriend. The
postmodern slant of the film means that realism is suspended at certain times one section of the film shows
Lola as an animation. The audience is asked to choose an ending it thinks is right. It might conclude that life is a
variety of pathways that we may or may not have control over.

3 How are the characters used in the narrative?

Are there any heroes and villains and what do they do. Yes, Lola is a sort of modern day hero, but Manni is more
of a victim. The unseen boss is a villain or perhaps society itself is a villain how heroic is Lola? How does she
compare to a more obvious heroine such as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. Or the eponymous heroine of Electra
(2005) who is known as the last thing that stands between good and evil.

4 What techniques of identification and alienation are used in the text?

In a horror film it is usually obvious who the zombies are by what they look like, but many villains and antagonists
look like normal people until they do something that identifies them as bad. We have to look for any traits of
character, defining features, or behaviour that identifies a villain.

Heroes are usually identified by their ability to get out of difficult or impossible situations think of James Bond,
Superman, Spiderman, Charlies Angels or Shrek

5 What else does the filmmaker do to engage our attention and tell the story?

The sound track is vital. Modern films use music to heighten the emotional level of a scene and to progress the
plot by anticipating the forthcoming action. So an exciting chase sequence will have rhythmic, up tempo,
percussive music that increases in tempo as the chase reaches its climax. This involves the audience in following
the action, see The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) .
Mis-en-scne involves everything that is put in the scene by the director to give meaning to the audience. Music,
iconography, genre, editing techniques and everything you can see in the scene from costume to camera angle,
from props to lighting, and to a certain extent the characters and acting.

These elements can all have a direct effect on the narrative try to work out what effect does the mis-en-scne
have on a film like Run Lola Run. (tip - all that running in the street makes the film very realistic and identifies
Lola with the young urban target audience, and keeps up the pace of the narrative).

6 What are the major themes of the narrative and what values and ideology are evident?

Good versus evil is a common narrative thread, and a value as well. Getting the girl/boy is a traditional narrative
theme of any rom- com. Adventure films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series or the Star Wars films
have values of good versus evil, and themes of a character on a quest.

Activity
Choose a film that you know and like from any genre. Under the headings of character, action and plot write
down or discuss how the narrative is affected by:

The characters who are they and what are they like what values do they have, and the action - what happens
in the film.

The plot how is the story organised in the film what happens when is it a closed structure or an open
structure.

Try this activity with an unusual and most intriguing film about the power of an illusionist called The Prestige
(2006).

Theory 1
There are many theoretical ways of studying narrative. One of the most famous theorists to do with fictional
narrative is Tzvetan Todorov.

Todorovs theory has three main parts:

1. The text begins with a sate of equilibrium everything appears to be normal or calm see the beginning of
Halloween(1978) where the suburban setting is exaggerated in its normalness.

2. There is some kind of disruption or disequalibrium this is often a threat to the normal situation or it could
be just a setback.

3. A new equilibrium is produced to end the narrative. In the best narratives there is some kind of change for the
better perhaps in the main characters behaviour or outlook on life.

This is the bare bones of the theory, which is more complex.

Todorov suggests there are five stages to how the narrative progresses:

1. The equilibrium has to be carefully shown (otherwise the disruption may not be dramatic enough to create a
strong plot)

2. There is a disruption

3. There is a recognition that a disruption has happened.

4. There is an attempt to repair the damage done by the disruption.

5. A new equilibrium is achieved.

This is not a linear organisation of the material, it is a circular structure. The narrative is driven by the
characters attempts to restore the equilibrium, although the end result is not quite the same as the beginning.
Todorov argues that a good narrative involves transformation think Cinderella. The characters or the
situations are transformed because of the disruptions.

The disruption often occurs outside the normal framework of the social situation. A town is threatened by an
outside force such as guerrillas or insurgents so the threat is unravelled by The Magnificent Seven, but there
are many set backs.

There may be a murder which shocks the community or a character knows too much and needs to be taken out
in order for the state to continue its covert operations The Bourne Identity. Here the narrative is closed
because Matt Dilon escapes, but it leaves the way open for another film as do the Pirates of the Caribbean
series. This is a narrative convention that we as an audience accept and actually enjoy we look forward to the
sequel.

In a fantasy film the narrative is often a sophisticated quest as in the Lord of the Rings trilogy with many set
backs and threats. Remember it begins with the peaceful, normal world of the Hobbits. It ends three films later
with civilisation returned to a peaceful existence the Hobbits have learned about good and evil.
Activity

Todorovs theory can be seen to be working in many films and television dramas. Watch a drama of your choice
on television such as Robin Hood.

Identify the equilibrium in any episode followed by the disequalibrium and the eventual restoration of equilibrium.
Has there been a transformation?

If so what is the scale of the transformation compare this TV transformation to a major movie narrative.

Theory 2
Another important theorist is Vladimir Propp (1895- 1970). He studied folk tales and found fairy tales shared
basic narrative elements. He proposed ways of grouping characters and their actions into eight broad character
types or spheres of action. You can see how these work by their title:

1. the VILLAIN known to scriptwriters as the antagonist because he seeks to stop what the HERO wants to
do.

2. the HERO known as the protagonist who has to fulfil his destiny in the story. This may be a quest for fame
and fortune, or true love or the search for a lost parent or a quest to put right a former injustice or save the planet.

3. the DONOR is the character who provides a special device so that the hero can fulfil his or her mission.
James Bond has gadgets. A donor can give a magical device such as a sword Excalibur in King Arthur or be
a fairy godmother providing the means for the heroine to reach the prince.

4. the HELPER the hero has to have a side-kick who helps the hero in the quest.

5. the PRINCESS remember that Propp had studied fairy tales so he uses terms that are familiar in traditional
stories. The princess is the reward for the hero and often the desire of the antagonist who seeks to involve her in
his schemes to out wit the hero.

6. Her FATHER the person who rewards the hero for his achievements and also can provide a moral safeguard
for the hero to be measured against. Think of the importance of the king in Shrek.

7. the DISPATCHER the character who sees that something needs to be done and sets up the heros quest
and sends him out into the world to fulfil his task.

8. the FALSE HERO the character who also lays claim to the princess but is unsuitable and causes
complications. These character types can be shared by one or more characters. The dispatcher may also be the
donor who gives the magical ring or sword. M dispatches James Bond and allows him to have the gadgets he
needs to achieve the mission.

Activity

Watch Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of The Ring (2001-3).

See how things are resolved in the Two Towers and Return of The King.

Name the characters who fulfil the Proppian types.

Who is the dispatcher in the first film?

Some thing to consider about Narrative

In a television or radio programme or a film the narrative can be linear, but often it is circular or
even a mixture of the two as in Run Lola Run.

There are usually a number of disruptions that vary in intensity often depending on genre

The disruption can transgress normal culture, events, customs and values

There is always some form of transformation

Research
If you would like to study more about narrative theories look up the work of Roland Barthes who has written
about narrative codes including the enigma code.

Lvi-Strauss studied narrative and meaning in texts in terms of binary oppositions.

If you are interested in myth, folk tales and symbols then the work of Joseph Campbell (1904- 1987) in his book
The Hero with a Thousand Faces is essential reading.

Further Reading
Branston and Stafford (2006 4th edition) The Media Students Book, London, Routledge

Bignell & Orlebar (2005) The Television Handbook, London, Routledge

Barthes, Roland (1977) Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives. London, Fontana

Campbell, Joseph (1949) The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Myrkos,(reprint) 1972