{"id":33129,"date":"2016-01-11T06:04:26","date_gmt":"2016-01-11T12:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/?p=33129"},"modified":"2016-08-09T16:01:34","modified_gmt":"2016-08-09T21:01:34","slug":"open-secrets-of-classical-storytelling-narrative-analysis-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/2016\/01\/11\/open-secrets-of-classical-storytelling-narrative-analysis-101\/","title":{"rendered":"Open secrets of classical storytelling: Narrative analysis 101"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Premium<\/a><\/p>\n

Premium Rush<\/strong> (David Koepp, 2012).<\/em><\/p>\n

DB here:<\/p>\n

After nine years, over 700 entries, and many essays and other stuff, this contraption of a website has started to intimidate us.<\/p>\n

If we’re intimidated, you might be flabbergasted. Although a set of categories sits on the\u00a0right to guide your\u00a0exploration of this tangled databank, those too loom large and discouraging.\u00a0So we’ve decided to tidy up by–how else?–adding another entry.<\/p>\n

We’ll occasionally offer a stripped-down guide to our writing on certain topics. We’ll steer you to\u00a0entries that we think represent the core of our thinking on a problem, and then add some that probe more deeply,\u00a0for those who want to go beyond the basics.\u00a0Since one of our areas is narrative theory and analysis, a good first effort, we thought, \u00a0would be to produce a sort of DIY syllabus\u00a0that systematically surveys the topic as we’ve explored\u00a0it. And since we’ve often written about classical Hollywood storytelling, and since many of our readers are interested in that…well, the syllabus sort of wrote itself.<\/p>\n

We call these ideas\u00a0open secrets<\/em>\u00a0of storytelling because by and large they\u00a0aren’t acknowledged\u00a0in the screenplay manuals that aspiring writers read. In most cases, we’ve had to devise our own concepts and terms, based on watching hundreds of movies. Yet these observations are wide\u00a0open, available\u00a0in our books and on this site.<\/p>\n

Now comes\u00a0our chance to pull them together. The result isn’t an utterly\u00a0comprehensive theory of classical Hollywood narrative, but it does give a fair sampling of the\u00a0range of questions we’ve tried to answer about it.\u00a0The topics, linked to essays and blog entries, are arranged in three layers.<\/p>\n

The most basic layer is an array of key ideas about story worlds, plot structures, and strategies of narration. These ideas are introduced in the first entry, “Understanding film narrative: The trailer.” Discussions of other basic concepts follow. Just reading the entries pegged to those topics, you could get a solid sense of what we’re aiming at. For most\u00a0of those, we also propose a film you might view to test how the ideas work.<\/p>\n

At a second level, for some topics we include some entries that dig deeper. They’re either more complex and advanced, or they provide some historical background.<\/p>\n

Finally, after we’ve reviewed the key topics, we add a batch of\u00a0case studies that use several of the tools we’ve laid out. These are usually very deep dives into particular films. They aim to show how the analytical ideas can bring out distinctive features of\u00a0particular movies. The\u00a0case studies are pretty wide-ranging, but they tend to hover around specific\u00a0problems, such as adaptation or the creation of fantasy worlds.<\/p>\n

How could you use this resource?\u00a0A teacher in high school or college could draw on it as a partial syllabus or just a thumbnail list of\u00a0supplementary material for a course. Teachers using Film Art: An Introduction<\/em> could treat\u00a0it as a supplement to our section of Chapter 3 on classical narrative. Or a student might find an idea for a paper in this vicinity.<\/p>\n

Since we’ve always tried to link film studies and filmmaking,\u00a0we hope that\u00a0practitioners might be interested too. For example, an aspiring screenwriter\u00a0could take\u00a0this as a weekly reading\/viewing agenda,\u00a0treating it as a free course in story analysis. General readers who simply want to know more about the mechanics of cinematic storytelling should find something provocative here too. For everybody: Feel free to use it\u00a0as Narrative Analysis 101.<\/p>\n

We thank our many loyal readers of this blog, as well as the many more who have just dropped by once or twice. Your continued interest has helped us keep\u00a0going.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Open Secrets of Hollywood Storytelling<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The basics<\/span><\/h3>\n

Understanding film narrative: The trailer<\/a>. Suggested viewing: The Wolf of Wall Street.<\/em><\/p>\n

Advanced: Three Dimensions of Film Narrative<\/a>: Narration, plot structure, and story worlds. Suggested viewings: The Godfather, Jezebel<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Advanced: Stories beget stories.<\/a> Suggested viewing:\u00a0American Hustle.<\/em><\/p>\n

Actions and agents<\/span><\/h3>\n

Introduction to classical plot structure<\/a>.\u00a0Suggested viewing: Many possibilities listed.<\/p>\n

Historical background: Is there a 3-act structure?<\/a><\/p>\n

Action films: Did spectacle kill classical plotting?<\/a>\u00a0Suggested viewing: Mission: Impossible 3<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Advanced: Block construction<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction<\/em>.<\/p>\n

How many protagonists?<\/a>\u00a0Suggested viewing: The Big Short<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The importance of coincidence<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Serendipity<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Narrative parallels among characters and periods<\/a>. Suggested viewing:\u00a0Julie and Julia, Enchantment.<\/em><\/p>\n

Advanced: Fine-grained parallels between scenes<\/a>. Suggested viewing: The\u00a0Prestige.<\/em><\/p>\n

Time shifts: How flashbacks work<\/a>. Suggested viewing: The Power and the Glory<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Advanced: Time shifts without flashbacks<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Exodus<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Advanced: Nested flashbacks<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Passage to Marseille, The Locket<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Historical background: Flashbacks and plot problems<\/a>. Suggested viewing:\u00a0The Great Moment, All about Eve<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Replays<\/a>. Suggested viewing:\u00a0Mildred Pierce.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Advanced: The auditory replay<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Sudden Fear<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Network narratives<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Grand Hotel.<\/em><\/p>\n

Forking-path plotting<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Source Code.<\/em><\/p>\n

Advanced: Film Futures<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Sliding Doors.<\/em><\/p>\n

Historical background: What-if narratives<\/a>. Suggested viewing:\u00a0Dangerous Corner<\/em><\/p>\n

Beginnings and endings: Molly Wanted More<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Silence of the Lambs<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Telling more or less<\/span><\/h3>\n

Visual storytelling<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Mission: Impossible<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The hook between scenes<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler<\/em>; National Treasure.<\/em><\/p>\n

Narration: omniscient versus restricted<\/a>. Suggested viewing: Cloverfield.<\/em><\/p>\n

Historical background: Hitchcock, suspense, and surprise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alignment and allegiance<\/a>. Suggested viewing: House by the River.<\/em><\/p>\n

Character subjectivity, optical and mental<\/a>. Suggested viewing: The Silence of the Lambs<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Historical background: Subjectivity and sound<\/a>. Suggested viewing:\u00a0Nightmare Alley, The Fallen Sparrow.<\/em><\/p>\n

Voice-over narration<\/a>. Suggested viewing: All about Eve.<\/em><\/p>\n

Advanced: Dead narrators<\/a>. Suggested viewing:\u00a0Laura, Confidence.<\/em><\/p>\n

Historical background: Inner monologue<\/a>. Suggested viewing:\u00a0Strange Interlude.<\/em><\/p>\n

Case studies in narrative analysis<\/span><\/h3>\n

These are exercises in film criticism that utilize several of the tools laid out above.<\/p>\n

Boyhood<\/em> and Harry Potter:<\/em> The actors’ lives as part of the narrative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Eastern Promises:<\/em> Thematic echoes in an auteur’s narratives.<\/a><\/p>\n

Gone Girl:\u00a0<\/em>Suspense and thriller conventions in fiction and film<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gravity:\u00a0 <\/em>Narrative innovation within mainstream cinema<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Inception: <\/em>\u00a0Goals and parallel construction<\/a>; managing multiple plotlines<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Moonrise Kingdom: <\/em>How to make a modern fairy tale (with some help from merchandising)<\/a>; furnishing alternative worlds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Premium Rush: <\/em>How goals and deadlines create tight construction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Side Effects<\/em> and Safe Haven: <\/em>Fragmentary flashbacks and patterns of suspense<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Slumdog Millionaire<\/em>: Adapting a novel to classical norms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Bourne Ultimatum<\/em>: Plotting across franchise installments<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo <\/em>and The Ghost Writer: <\/em>Classical structure in genre fiction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Hobbit: <\/em>Adaptation and length<\/a>; adaptation and change<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Magnificent Ambersons: <\/em>How to manipulate time without flashbacks.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Prestige<\/em>: Using sound to enrich flashback construction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Walk:<\/em> Each act a different genre.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy:<\/em> Elliptical narration: The viewer’s responsibility<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As we write more entries relevant to narrative, we’ll revisit\u00a0this DIY syllabus.<\/p>\n

\n

Needless to say, we consider these matters more closely in several of our books.\u00a0See The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960<\/em>, by Kristin, Janet Staiger, and me, and Kristin’s Storytelling in the New Hollywood<\/em> and Storytelling in Film and Television<\/em>. For my part, there’s Narration in the Fiction Film<\/em> and The Way Hollywood Tells It: Story and Style in Modern Movies<\/em>. I’m at work on a book on narrative innovations in 1940s Hollywood, the central source of much that we encounter in today’s films.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Premium Rush (David Koepp, 2012). DB here: After nine years, over 700 entries, and many essays and other stuff, this contraption of a website has started to intimidate us. If we’re intimidated, you might be flabbergasted. Although a set of categories sits on the\u00a0right to guide your\u00a0exploration of this tangled databank, those too loom large […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,54,21,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hollywood-aesthetic-traditions","category-narrative-strategies","category-narrative-suspense","category-readers-favorite-entries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33129"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34542,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33129\/revisions\/34542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}