Task 3 Narrative Structures

TASK 3 – Narrative Structure

·        Linear (Sequential) Narrative

These are stories in which events happen in chronological order from the start to finish. There are no flashback or flash forwards. A good example of this is Of Mice and Men.

·        Non-linear (Non-sequential) Narrative

Nonlinear narrative is a disjointed narrative or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique. These sometimes are used in things like literature, film, hypertext websites and other types of narratives where events are portrayed. An example of chronological order is where the narrative does not follow the direct causality pattern of the events shown. They never ever run in order and is quite mixed up. 500 Days Of Summer is a film that use Non – Linear Narrative. This is a type of film that may jump to different parts, In this film it may flash forwards and backwards and it flickers through the 500 days of the stories

·        Flashback

This basically flashbacks to from the current point to where the story has reached. They have also been able to use special effects o that the viewer does not get confused when the story jumps back to different parts of the film. Perks of being a wallflower is a good example of this as it flashes back to his memories and past of when he was a boy.

·        Realist Narrative

Realist narratives are story lines that are believable by the audience because it is based on a true story that has happened in the past. They are often used within horror stories and are filmed using often a held hand cameras. The Blair Witch Project is a good example of a realist narrative as it is filmed using a hand held camera once again. It appears to be real life like dramas.

·        Anti-Realist Narrative

These are things that don’t happen in real life. For example things that are anti-realist. Things such like Monsters ink are very farfetched and could never possibly be real. Fantasy things like Lord of the Rings are good examples of this.

·        Open Narrative

These are often used in crime dramas and soap operas for examples in things where they are not going to end any time soon. They are used to keep the viewer’s coming back and by the end of the episode or film the story hasn’t quite finished. The soaps are good exmaples of these for example Emerdale and Coronation street, even criminal mindd and CSI are good exmaples of this.

·        Closed Narrative

This is a story that is the opposite to an open ending. It has an ending and often the characters are in a hierarchy to how important they are. You always know the main plot and how its resolved and always wraps things up by the end of the film. Kevin and Perry go large is a good example of this as the film is basically them going on holiday and there will never be another one made.  

Task 2 Moving Image Formats

I have done some research into different moving image formats and have put it into a powerpoint.

Single Camera VS Multi Camera

Single Camera

Single camera set-ups are often used for things like films. It is a lot more expensive to do and is a lot more time consuming then using multi cameras. It is basically using one camera to shoot one shot and moving the single camera around after every shot. It takes a lot longer to complete and when unlike editing single camera use you have to wait until the end of filming to edit it. Films that I know have used the single camera technique are Skyfall and Batman. For example when a big part of the film is done they don’t want to have to do over and over again because it costs so much money so if they use the one single camera they can capture everything they want to the first time and then they don’t have to re shoot everything and waste time, money and effort. When using the single camera it can capture the most important things needed and the only things that are needed within the scene. For example when using the single camera technique often the director can just focus on the things that he wants in the scene. This still means more editing and more time because things may need to be changed and re done of the person in the scene was to do something wrong.

 Multi Camera

Multi camera techniques are mostly used for things like live shows and sitcoms. Some examples of these are things like Jeremy Kyle and the big bang theory. With the shows like The Big Bang Theory they don’t want to spend a lot of money or time filming them so if they use multi cameras things can be done much quicker and can be edited as its happening. This is much cheaper and easier option than single camera use. They would set up around 3 or 4 cameras in front of the actors and film the whole thing like that. With shows like Jeremy Kyle they like to film that as if it’s live. This is because it’s a reality TV show and a lot of the time people argue on it and move around a lot. With the one camera it would be too much and would take far too long to keep moving around all of the time when everyone moved. Its important to capture everything that happens. Also with this show having an audience they wouldn’t find it as interesting if they were to just keep stopping everything for the cameras. This way with having a range of cameras in front of the people on stage they can just let the show run smoothly and have some cameras focus on certain people and have one or two others vary their view so that you can always see what’s happening. However when doing sitcoms you have to depend on everyone in the scene at that time to get their lines right and if that doesn’t happen then they would have to do pick up shots to correct the mistakes.