1. Film Narrative

2. Elements of Narrative Story and Plot: - Story:
(1) Explicitly presented (diegetic) events
(2) Implied events
- Plot:
(1) Explicitly presented (diegetic) events in certain order
(2) Non-diegetic material

3. Diegesis Diegesis: The total world of the story
Diegetic elements: the events, characters, objects, settings, and sounds
Nondiegetic elements: things that we see and hear on the screen but that come from outside the world of the story (e.g. background music, titles and credits, voiceover comment from an omniscient narrator)

4. Story
Explicitly presented (diegetic)events
Implied events
Non-diegetic material
Plot

5. Order & Events Order of Plot events: Events: Hubs and Satellites
Chronological
Non-chronological
Events: Hubs and Satellites
Hubs: Major events or branching points in the plot structure that force characters to choose b/w or among alternate paths
Satellites: Minor plot events that add texture and complexity to characters and elements but are not essential elements

6. Duration Definition: length of time
Story duration: amount of time that the implied story takes to occur
Plot duration: elapsed time of those events within the story that the film explicitly presents
Screen duration: movie’s running time onscreen

7. Relationships:
Story and Plot duration: usually stable (plot event duration = story event it implies)
Story and Screen duration
Summary relationship:
screen duration < story duration
Real time relationship:
screen duration = story duration
Stretch relationship:
screen duration > story duration
Cinematic time usually  Real time

8. Suspense vs Surprise Surprise: taking unawares
Suspense: anxiety brought on by a partial uncertainty - the end is certain, but the means is uncertain (or sometimes both the results and means known)

9. Frequency
Definition: Number of times with which a story element recurs in plot
Purpose:
Symbols and Metaphors?
Memory: Flash-backs and slow-motion
Stream-of-consciousness

10. Characters Treatment:
Beings who like “real” people have discernible traits, habits, and dispositions
Formal elements that help develop the narrative (stock characters)

11. Types of Characters Complexity: Flat Characters:
one-dimensional
one or very few discernible traits
predictable behavior
Round characters: three-dimensional
three-dimensional
Several traits, sometimes contradictory
Unpredictable behavior

12. Types of Characters Roles Major characters: Minor characters
Protagonist
Antagonist
Minor characters
Marginal characters

13. Determining Character
Traits, motivations (social, economic, ethnic, racial, religious, emotional, or psychological), actions
Description by narrator or other characters
Style by which actors interpret
Natural vs. Probable

14. Setting Definition: time and space in which the story takes place.
Not only date, city, or country, but also provides the character’s social, education, and cultural backgrounds and other identifying factors vital for understanding them such as what they eat and drink
Provides implicit explanation for actions or traits normally considered eccentric by providing cultural context

15. Point of View
Physical point of view: the position or angle from which the camera or a particular narrator or character observes an event or a scene
Mental point of view: the perspective taken by a particular narrator or character in a story in seeing and hearing an even or scene, reflecting on an idea, creating a relationship between two or more things, or remembering events or dreams
Beyond camera or the characters

16. Omniscient POV
Definition: camera has complete or unlimited perception of what the cinematographer chooses for it to see (most common), however, it does not mean it has to show everything, editing always leaves out aspects of the story and plot

17. Subjective or Restricted POV
Definition: perceptual, subjective point of view of an individual character.
Direct POV: character is in the frame and we see what he or she sees
Indirect POV: like Direct POV, but is a result at least two consecutive shots achieved by such editing techniques as eyeline-match cut.
Interior Monologue

18. Scope
Definition: related to duration, setting and POV, it is the overall range, in time and place of the movie’s story