Narrative

In films and TV, the way in which the story is told and how the events are put together and presented to the audience is called the 'narrative'. This is different from the story line, which is just what exactly happens in the film. This means that when analysing a narrative, you analyse the construction of the story, and how it has been put together, rather than the actual story itself. Also the story should be taken into account in basic terms, such as the theme of the story such as love, war, fate etc.

When it comes to analysing a narrative, certain things need to be taken into account. Firstly technical codes. This involves all the aspects of the narrative construction that use technical decision making, such as camera angles and movement, lighting, editing, sounds shot framing and so on. These features can help give meaning such as shooting from a low angle shot to make it look like the subject is more powerful. Another thing is verbal codes. This involves the use of language- written and spoken- and signs contained in graphics for example. The best considered narratives show rather than tell, leaving the audience to draw their own interpretations and conclusion is better for them. Symbolic codes come under the same feature, such as a person in a film wearing an expensive suit and tie, can suggest they are a rich character who has importance.

A Russian theorist called Tzvetan Tdorov suggested that all narratives follow a three part structure. They start with an equilibrium, where the film so far is all balanced, everything is at peace. Followed by something to disrupt this balance, the dis-equilibrium, and then finally it will reach a resolution to become the new equilibrium. This simple idea can be applied to all narratives. Such as in an action film, everything is balanced until the villain(s) come along and ruin the balance, then its up to the protagonist to resolve the issue and make everything okay again. Such as Spider man films with the green goblin.