Fish Tank & WNTTAK: Narrative Theories Continued
Fish Tank & WNTTAK: Narrative Theories Continued
Popular Narrative Theories:
Vladimir Propp:
- Russian & Soviet formalist scholar
- Analysed plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their basic narrative elements
- Looked at 100 folk tales & came to conclusion all made up of 31 plot elements, he called them functions
- Found despite large no. of character appearing in folk tales, only 8 character types
8 characters types:
- Villian
- Helper
- Princess or Prize
- Her father
- The Donor
- Hero
- False Hero
- The Dispatcher
Todorov's Theory:
- Tzevtan Todorov proposed a basic structure for all narratives
- States films & programmes begin with an equilibrium, a calm period. Then agents of disruption cause disequilibrium, a period of unsettlement & disquiet. Followed by renewed state of peace & harmony for the protagonists & new equilibrium brings chaos to an end
Todorov's Equilibrium Theory:
1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption of equilibrium by an event
3. Realisation disruption has happened
4. Attempt to repair damage or disruption
5, Restoration of equilibrium
Action + Enigma Codes: Roland Barthers
Action Codes:
- What will happen next...
- She falls over - will he catch her?
- Shes has been caught - what will he do with her?
Enigma Codes:
- Audience questions why...
- Why is there a shoe on the floor?
3 Act Structure:
- Old principle widely adhered to in storytelling today
- Can be found in plays, poetry, novels, comic books, short stories, video games & movies. Hollywood & Broadway use it well.
- Present in novels of Conan Doyle, play of Shakespeare, fables of Aesop, poetry of Aristotle & films of Hitchcock
- Older than Greek dramaturgy
- Irrefutable & bullet-proof
- Valuable weapon in arsenal of any screenwriter. There's alternatives to telling a story but 3-act structure is highly accepted & greatly successful method
3 acts are labelled as:
Act 1: Setup
Act 2: Confrontation
Act 3: Resolution
Also known as beginning, middle & end. Point of acts is to make sure story evolves & stakes get higher
(Link to 3 Act Structure image http://www.elementsofcinema.com/images/3-act.png"))
Joseph Campbell defined a classic sequene of actions that are found in many stories. Also known as the Monomyth, a term Campbell coined from James Joyce's Finnigan's Wake
I. Separation/departure
First section of story is about separation of hero from normal world. Separation has symbolic echo of infant transition away from the mother & so has a scary feel to it
1.1: Call to Adventure
1.2; Refusal or acceptance of the call
1.3: Supernatural Aid
1.4: Crossing of the First Threshold
1.5: Entering the Belly of the Whale
II. Initiation
Main part of story: hero initiated into true heroic stature by various trials/rites. Through daring & battle, the true character emerges
2.1: Road of Trials
2.2: Meeting with the Goddess
2.3: Woman as Temptress
2.4: Atonement with the Father
2.5: Apotheosis
2.6: The Ultimate Boon
III. Return
After initiation the hero can cleansed & return in triumph to deserved recognition, although this in itself may not be without its trials & tribulations
3.1: Refusal of the Return
3.2: Magic Flight
3.2: Rescue from Without
3.4: Crossing of the Return Threshold
3.5: Master of the Two Worlds
3.6: Freedom to Live
As with other frameworks, Campbell receives his fair share of criticism, typically that not all stories are like this. His much-admired & much-copied pattern has also been criticised as leading to 'safe' movie-making, in which writers use his structure as a template, thus leading to 'boring' repeats, albeit in different clothes. Same has been said about Shakespeare tho
The Hero's Journey:
http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/Workshop-stuff/Campbell-Myth-quest.gif (Link to image of the hero's journey)
The Oedipal Trajectory:
- Film theory based on Sigmund Freud's conception of the Oedipal complex & Jacques Lacan's account of the mirror stage
- Application can be used to analyse narratives of a range of different films
- Initially based on male perspectives, but has since been adapted to encapsulate female perspectives also
Oedipal Trajectory - Males - Summary:
- Male child, who first bonded with mother, imagines himself a united whole with her
- When held up to a mirror, he perceives his difference from her
- Becomes aware of illusion of unity but still desires it. Desire becomes sexual
- Comes to hate his father, as his father has 'lawful' access to the mother
- Child perceives this difference as one of castration; sees mother as castrated
- To identify with her would mean his without his genital parts - in identifying with her he becomes like her; in uniting with her, he runs risk of castration from his father (assumes father has thispower)
- Attempts to identify with father; sets about trying to find a female. Male child can now move towards social stability & continue the cycle
Oedipal Trajectory - Applications in Film Narrative:
- In cinematic narrative, the male protagonist moves towards social mobility through the resolution of crisis. Female = stationary site (passive object) to which male travels to & upon which he acts. He is therefore the active subject
- In a film that embraces Oedipal Trajectory, threat of castration dispelled & masculine role of patriarch is assumed
- Threat contained by a voyeurism & fetishism: voyeurism, with the female as passive object of male gaze, fetishisation, via a fragmentation of the female body & over-investment in parts of the female body (legs, breast etc). In this way woman becomes commodified as a whole, unified body. Body denied its difference & rendered phallic (e.g. slinky black dresses, high heels & long fingernails)
- If male subject fails to achieve social stability, a crisis of masculinity revealed (e.g. noir & femme fatale)
Oedipal Trajectory - Females:
- As with the male child, the mother is the first love object of the female child
- Since there is no perceived difference between mother & daughter, the daughter rejects her mother due to penis envy
- Mother can't provide her with a penis so she turns to her father to provide her with it in the form of a child
- To fulfil her Oedipal trajectory & enter into the social order of things, the female child must turn from the mother, even though she may still desire her - she must conform to male subjectivity. Failure to do so results in punishment - either marginalisation or death
- Independent women, in mainstream cinema, eventually 'come to their senses': they marry the guy, if it's a comedy. If it's a film noir or thriller they are are 'brought to their senses'
Fish Tank:
- Notice how the scene of Connor making the tea when he first meets Mia is shot almost entirely from Mia's perspective (via the over-the-shoulder shot)
- This renders Connor as object and Mia as subject. It's her gaze & gaze of spectator that falls on Connor. She operates as a diegetic audience through which we look at Connor, whilst simultaneously identifying with her as subject
- Mia also gazes upon her mother as she dances provocatively in her underwear. In this still, the mother is framed almost as a mirror. In an Oedipal reading, Mia is desirous of her mother, yet, knowing this to be socially taboo, turns instead to a father figure (both her 'step father' & potential mate)
Popular Narrative Theories:
Vladimir Propp:
- Russian & Soviet formalist scholar
- Analysed plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their basic narrative elements
- Looked at 100 folk tales & came to conclusion all made up of 31 plot elements, he called them functions
- Found despite large no. of character appearing in folk tales, only 8 character types
8 characters types:
- Villian
- Helper
- Princess or Prize
- Her father
- The Donor
- Hero
- False Hero
- The Dispatcher
Todorov's Theory:
- Tzevtan Todorov proposed a basic structure for all narratives
- States films & programmes begin with an equilibrium, a calm period. Then agents of disruption cause disequilibrium, a period of unsettlement & disquiet. Followed by renewed state of peace & harmony for the protagonists & new equilibrium brings chaos to an end
Todorov's Equilibrium Theory:
1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption of equilibrium by an event
3. Realisation disruption has happened
4. Attempt to repair damage or disruption
5, Restoration of equilibrium
Action + Enigma Codes: Roland Barthers
Action Codes:
- What will happen next...
- She falls over - will he catch her?
- Shes has been caught - what will he do with her?
Enigma Codes:
- Audience questions why...
- Why is there a shoe on the floor?
3 Act Structure:
- Old principle widely adhered to in storytelling today
- Can be found in plays, poetry, novels, comic books, short stories, video games & movies. Hollywood & Broadway use it well.
- Present in novels of Conan Doyle, play of Shakespeare, fables of Aesop, poetry of Aristotle & films of Hitchcock
- Older than Greek dramaturgy
- Irrefutable & bullet-proof
- Valuable weapon in arsenal of any screenwriter. There's alternatives to telling a story but 3-act structure is highly accepted & greatly successful method
3 acts are labelled as:
Act 1: Setup
Act 2: Confrontation
Act 3: Resolution
Also known as beginning, middle & end. Point of acts is to make sure story evolves & stakes get higher
(Link to 3 Act Structure image http://www.elementsofcinema.com/images/3-act.png"))
Joseph Campbell defined a classic sequene of actions that are found in many stories. Also known as the Monomyth, a term Campbell coined from James Joyce's Finnigan's Wake
I. Separation/departure
First section of story is about separation of hero from normal world. Separation has symbolic echo of infant transition away from the mother & so has a scary feel to it
1.1: Call to Adventure
1.2; Refusal or acceptance of the call
1.3: Supernatural Aid
1.4: Crossing of the First Threshold
1.5: Entering the Belly of the Whale
II. Initiation
Main part of story: hero initiated into true heroic stature by various trials/rites. Through daring & battle, the true character emerges
2.1: Road of Trials
2.2: Meeting with the Goddess
2.3: Woman as Temptress
2.4: Atonement with the Father
2.5: Apotheosis
2.6: The Ultimate Boon
III. Return
After initiation the hero can cleansed & return in triumph to deserved recognition, although this in itself may not be without its trials & tribulations
3.1: Refusal of the Return
3.2: Magic Flight
3.2: Rescue from Without
3.4: Crossing of the Return Threshold
3.5: Master of the Two Worlds
3.6: Freedom to Live
As with other frameworks, Campbell receives his fair share of criticism, typically that not all stories are like this. His much-admired & much-copied pattern has also been criticised as leading to 'safe' movie-making, in which writers use his structure as a template, thus leading to 'boring' repeats, albeit in different clothes. Same has been said about Shakespeare tho
The Hero's Journey:
http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/Workshop-stuff/Campbell-Myth-quest.gif (Link to image of the hero's journey)
The Oedipal Trajectory:
- Film theory based on Sigmund Freud's conception of the Oedipal complex & Jacques Lacan's account of the mirror stage
- Application can be used to analyse narratives of a range of different films
- Initially based on male perspectives, but has since been adapted to encapsulate female perspectives also
Oedipal Trajectory - Males - Summary:
- Male child, who first bonded with mother, imagines himself a united whole with her
- When held up to a mirror, he perceives his difference from her
- Becomes aware of illusion of unity but still desires it. Desire becomes sexual
- Comes to hate his father, as his father has 'lawful' access to the mother
- Child perceives this difference as one of castration; sees mother as castrated
- To identify with her would mean his without his genital parts - in identifying with her he becomes like her; in uniting with her, he runs risk of castration from his father (assumes father has thispower)
- Attempts to identify with father; sets about trying to find a female. Male child can now move towards social stability & continue the cycle
Oedipal Trajectory - Applications in Film Narrative:
- In cinematic narrative, the male protagonist moves towards social mobility through the resolution of crisis. Female = stationary site (passive object) to which male travels to & upon which he acts. He is therefore the active subject
- In a film that embraces Oedipal Trajectory, threat of castration dispelled & masculine role of patriarch is assumed
- Threat contained by a voyeurism & fetishism: voyeurism, with the female as passive object of male gaze, fetishisation, via a fragmentation of the female body & over-investment in parts of the female body (legs, breast etc). In this way woman becomes commodified as a whole, unified body. Body denied its difference & rendered phallic (e.g. slinky black dresses, high heels & long fingernails)
- If male subject fails to achieve social stability, a crisis of masculinity revealed (e.g. noir & femme fatale)
Oedipal Trajectory - Females:
- As with the male child, the mother is the first love object of the female child
- Since there is no perceived difference between mother & daughter, the daughter rejects her mother due to penis envy
- Mother can't provide her with a penis so she turns to her father to provide her with it in the form of a child
- To fulfil her Oedipal trajectory & enter into the social order of things, the female child must turn from the mother, even though she may still desire her - she must conform to male subjectivity. Failure to do so results in punishment - either marginalisation or death
- Independent women, in mainstream cinema, eventually 'come to their senses': they marry the guy, if it's a comedy. If it's a film noir or thriller they are are 'brought to their senses'
Fish Tank:
- Notice how the scene of Connor making the tea when he first meets Mia is shot almost entirely from Mia's perspective (via the over-the-shoulder shot)
- This renders Connor as object and Mia as subject. It's her gaze & gaze of spectator that falls on Connor. She operates as a diegetic audience through which we look at Connor, whilst simultaneously identifying with her as subject
- Mia also gazes upon her mother as she dances provocatively in her underwear. In this still, the mother is framed almost as a mirror. In an Oedipal reading, Mia is desirous of her mother, yet, knowing this to be socially taboo, turns instead to a father figure (both her 'step father' & potential mate)
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