Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Structure refers to the part of something and their arrangement. In a fictional film, the
selection and order of events help viewers comprehend the story and strongly influence
how they respond to the film. Some generalization about characters, goals, and
conflicts apply to all fictional films regardless of length.
a) FEATURE FILMS
- A fictional narrative nearly always includes at least one character who
wants something but has problems to trying get it.
- Typically the main character goals are not immediately apparent, though
one major goal becomes clear early in the film or viewer lose interest. In
the French film Ridicule (1996)
- In films with two or more major characters usually the characters, usually
the characters have different goals, at least initially; the result is conflict,
with or without humor.
Conflict with humor: It Happened One Night (1934), Bringing Up Baby
(1938), Four Wedding in Funeral (1994), and My Best Friend’s Wedding
(1997).
Conflict or problems are inevitable while pursuing goals: Jaws (1975)
- It has only one major character and normally has more than one major goal.
Rocky (1976), Top Gun (1986), The Mask (1994), and Outbreak (1995).
Plotlines may be nonchronological and form many times periods yet for all but
one of the major characters intersect at one time and place. As in The Joy Luck
Club (1993), which has eight major plotlines: for four middle-aged women bon
in China and for the American-born grown daughter of each (figure 7.11).
TIME
Present time, Flashforwards, and Flashbacks
Movies should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Most makers narrative
A Flashforward shows events that are repeated well into the film, as in The
stilts ( Los Zancos, 1984 ), My life as a Dog ( 1985), and GodFellas (1990 )
auditory; According to Marc Vernet, this technique was used in Alain Robbe –
beginning of the film even though that crash will occur later in the film”
not anticipate or are not yet even interested in, they are rarely used,
a character earlier. A Flashback may also be used at the end of the film to reveal
causes of previously puzzling events, as in Exotica (1994). Near the film the
scenes they are shown an even earlier stage in her relationship to the troubled
main character.
Flashforwards, as in They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969). That film opens
with five brief flashback alternating with consecutive short scenes from the
present.
Both a plot and its corresponding fabula contain the same events, but the non-
– sometimes considerably.
In the fabula, he does not appear in the last two major sections, though for many
The nonchronological plot of pulp fiction makes possible a more exciting, more
audience, and for some viewers the film complex structure is both a challenge
and a pleasure, though the plot is so intricate that few viewers could completely
different attentive and thoughtful viewers will disagree if certain actions are
Structure
Time
Style
A fictional film may be rendered in one or more styles, such as black comedy
or surrealism. If viewers know nothing about a films style and cannot figure it
out quickly or if they refuse to accept a style know about, they will likely fail
to become engaged by the film.