Notes on narrative

www.aber.ac.uk/media

Information isnt just controlled by signs but also being organised into 'Narrative devices' which can be use to control how the information is revealed to the audience and to who and when. One form of narrative device is shifting in time, which includes flashbacks , flashforwards , notions of the present, , repetition of a sequence, dream sequences , hallucinations, premonitions and supernatural projection.

An example of this is a flashback can include signs that will after the meaning of the signs in the present time frame and vise versa. In saving private ryan, which is almost entierly in flashaback revelas the identity of the person whos memories have been viewed , which also reveals a shift in narrative point of view which had until the return to the notional present been concealed.

the second type of narrative device is shifting of the narrative point of view. Most commonly the sharing of knowledge between the main characters and the audience reveals the story information. However there are other methods of information disclosure that rely on gaps of knowledge between different groups or individuals.

We could use this sort of narrative in our film as we are doing it about dremas so that we could use lots of flash backs , flash forwards and the obvious deram sequences that will dominate our trailer.

Technique used in films 'effect'
Flash back
flashforward: The information revealed in one time frame will alter the understanding that the
present audience has of another time frame eg. Saving private ryan and citizen caine.

Repetition: Information can be revealed by increasing the duration of a repeated incident or by changing the narrative point of view of the incident eg Memento.

Dream : Dreams can be used to mislead the audience by making them belive that some events are actually taking place but in reality are only dreams eg. Mullholland drive, Jacobs ladder.

Hallucinations: Again hallucinations can mislead the audience and situates them with the character in terms of thier knowledge eg. a beautiful mind.

Premonitions : premonitions set upm expectations about what is to occur in the narrative, but these expectations can be subverted eg Dont look now/

Voice over : Voice- over discrepancies can create humour or be used to show decit between characters. Further they delimit the terms of narrative disclosure between the characters.