The study of Narrative
When media students undertake the study of Narrative they are ultimately learning the skills and techniques to construct a moving image for specific audiences. Once we understand the codes and conventions behind the moving image we can develop the skill of writing for narrative.
The first place to start is identifying what media language will help you get the best marks when breaking down the Production and Story elements that underpin the narrative.
Click on the short film to the right to see an excellent example of the use of Production and Story elements to reveal a powerful narrative.
The Porcelain Unicorn
Sentence stems….
Narratives can be categorised into genres, generic hybrids or types of stories such as horror, soap opera and teen films…
Characters play a major role in advancing a narrative. As a story element, the establishment and development of characters also affects how an audience engages with a text….
Audiences have certain expectations about a film, radio or television program. Some expectations exist due to the genre of a text. Audiences can react in a variety of ways, from intense excitement during an action sequence to heartfelt sadness in response to a tragic closure….
In the closing sequence(s) of a narrative text, narrative possibilities introduced in the opening sequence(s) may be resolved. This resolution may not necessarily occur in ways that the audience expected. Other narrative possibilities may be left open and/or unresolved…
The structuring of time is a major story element in all fictional narratives. Sometimes we are aware of being taken to a different time period through the use of techniques such as flashbacks, or by references a character makes to events which happened earlier. On other occasions, the structuring of time seems to occur without our notice because we are so familiar with the way that production elements are used for this purpose…
All fictional narratives rely on characters; their goals, their desires, their strengths and their faults and the differing circumstances in which these characters are required to function…
A narrative generally begins with a situation, then a series of changes occur according to a pattern of cause and effect through time and space…
Editing, including vision and sound mixing, involves the careful coordination of images, sound effects, dialogue and music. Editing can contribute to the development of a narrative in many ways…
A narrative usually emerges from the characters, their personalities, desires and relationships….