Film narrative

Theorist Tzvetan Todorov’s idea of narrative has been attractive to film academics. He suggests that there are three fundamental stages in every narrative:

1. The story begins with equilibrium (the world in a state of balance and harmony)
2. It then progresses through a period of disequilibrium (the world is temporarily disrupted and chaotic)…
3. …before reaching the third and final stage of a new equilibrium

The classic narrative

A more useful narrative is one linked more explicitly to Hollywood film-the classic narrative. Although it is largely a convention developed during the Hollywood studio system (1930’s-1950’s), Todorov’s three stages are a key feature. It should be emphasised however that it is still a term used by academics and not people working in the industry.

The key features are as follows:

• The world portrayed is similar to our own in some way.
• The story begins in a state of equilibrium; a state of disequilibrium is created, until a final new equilibrium is established. These are sometimes referred to as ‘the three acts’.
• Events are organised into a cause and effect relationship.
• Events are caused by characters.
• There is a strong sense of narrative closure at the end.

Diegesis

Diegesis comes from the Greek word meaning ‘recounted story’. In most film narratives, the world of the story is presented to us as a self-contained reality. Characters in this world do not acknowledge the presence of a watching audience. This world is known as a diegetic reality. As an audience there are some breaks with diegesis that we have grown accustomed to, and we accept these without feeling that the realism of the film has been compromised. The most important of these are non-diegetic sounds, especially soundtrack music or voiceover.

Time

The two most common aspects to consider are the order of events and duration. In a classic narrative, the order of event is usually linear or chronological, but a film might also use flashbacks to piece together the story.

The duration of events in the film itself are also important. The passing of time can be conveyed to an audience through codes which we have come to accept such as different light levels (night/day), meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) or even costume (pyjamas, work clothes, evening dress etc.). Alternatively, the passing of longer periods of time might be signalled by calendars or changes in the seasons; or longer still, the aging of the characters body.