The Three Act Structure

The Three Act Structure is a typical and frequently-used narrative structuring template. According to Field, screenplays follow a three-act structure, meaning the standard screenplay can be divided into three parts: Setup, Confrontation, and Resolution.

 A classic example of a thriller genre is the Coen Brothers ' No Country For Old Men '.

Act I comprises the first quarter of the screenplay.

Exposition-- In this film only one character is introduced at the start of the film, focusing all the attention on the psychopath that is Javier Bardem

Dramatic premise-- Hunter Llewelyn Moss discovers the remains of several drug runners who have all battled each other in an exchange gone horribly wrong. Rather than report the discovery to the police, Moss decides to simply take the two million dollars for himself. This puts the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh, on his trail as he carelessly murders nearly every rival, bystander and even employer in his pursuit of the money.

Act II comprises the next two quarters of the film.

Obstacles-- Within No Country For Old Men, there are many obstacles along the way, including the inevitable meeting between the Hunter and its prey. In this case, the two battle over a case with over 2 million dollars in and with the help of some ruthless weapons, only one prevails.
Midpoint-- The mid-point in this film features a battle between the hunter and its prey and is a clear benchmark as to how close the two are together in terms of the famous 'hide and seek' theme. In this case, the prey swiftly makes an escape but does not go unharmed with a shotgun shell wedged between the hip of the victim. This can also be linked in with the First Culmination as this is a obstacle within the film where the main character believes they are close to achieving a goal but does not at first succeed.   
 

Act III comprises the final quarter of the film.

Climax (Second Culmination)-- The Climax in the film is when the two encounter for the second time and this time only one comes out alive. It is a harsh reality for the audience but the inevitability of it happening was always in the mind of the audience.
Denouement-- The part in this film begins as soon as the prey has been eliminated and is free to return with the casket containing the 2 million dollars

 

 

Narritve Devices

Levi Strauss

Claude Levi-Strauss' built upon philosopher Aristotle statement that all drama is conflict with this theory of binary opposition. Strauss said that all stories are accelerated forward by conflict which is caused by opposing characters or events.

Opposites in a storyline are extremely important in a successful story, as drawing two different words or characters together inspires conflict and interesting narrative.

Therefore, the present of binary opposition in films is an important one, as the differences within the world of the story collide and create a disturbance for which a solution must be found. It also helps to create and distinguish between character roles, for there cannot be a hero without a villain.

Barthes Narrative Devices

Roland Bathes proposes that there are codes within film which serve to engage audiences;

The Enigma Code generates and controls what information a viewer is aware of within a narrative and holds their interest throughout the film. It introduces problems or puzzles which must be solved as well as mysteries which must be uncovered.

The Action Code refers to events which occur that the viewer immediately can identify as being significant to the development of the narrative. Resolution may be achieved through action also.

Todorov Narrative Devices

Tsventan Todorov presented us with his theory, which based on his study of folk tales, that implies all mainstream film follows a similar narrative structure to each other. It consists of five stages and is known as Torodov's Theory of Narrative.





Propp Narrative Devices

- Vladimir Propp also proposes a narrative structure which is similar to Todorov's, but slighty more detailed and complex.

Preparation - Introduction
Complication - Keys or clues to the direction of the story
Transference - The donor events
Struggle - Dealing with the complications
Return - Back to 'home' however there are still issues remaining
Recognition - Loose ends are tied up

This ties in directly with Propp's Character Theory, which identifies more character roles than the previously obvious protagonist and antagonist. He states the importance of 'spheres of action' for each character as opposed to rigid character types, with one character having the ability to assume more than one role. Propps identifies seven main roles:

- The Villain
- The Donor - Prepares the hero or gives them a magical object
- The (magical) helper - Helps the hero throughout the quest
- The princess - Object of the heroes desire, sought for during the narrative
- The princesses father - Rewards the hero
- The dispatcher - Character to send the hero off
- The hero ( victim/seeker) - Reacts to the donor, weds the princes, completes the task
- The false hero, usurper or anti hero

Hybrid Genre

Hybrid Genre

A hybrid is a combination of two or more genres. Hybrids can have larger audiences due to appealing to more people through their multiple genres. This would be more lucrative for the film companies. Some people consider them more exciting and creative.

As horror movies are perennially popular, film makers might start with a set horror paradigms to guarantee audiences interest there are many different horror hybrids such as:


- Horror Romance (twilight)
- Horror War (R-point dead snow)
- Horror historical drama (pride and prejudice and zombies)
- Horror rom-com (Shaun of the dead)


''Genres are not static, but evolve. Therefore, their common attributes change over time. Most films are hybrid genre, since they possess the common attributes of more than one genre'' - Warren Buckland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-genre - Hybrid Genre information

Hybrid Theory’s can also be referred to as cross media due to two different genres combining together, for example a romantic genre and a comedy genre combining together this means that there will be romantic scenes available in the film as well as comedy scenes which would attract more people to watch a film due to having two genres in one film.  This could also mean more value for money due to two genres in one film as mainly you may only be getting one genre i.e. a horror genre etc.

Examples of hybrid genres:

• Rom-Com (romantic comedy) Genres involved - Romantic, Comedy

• Action Adventure, Genres involved - Action, Adventure

• Horror Com, Genres involved - Horror, Comedy

Narrative

Narrative

• The structure and organisation of media texts e.g story
• Narrative chain of cause and effect - the plotlines in a story that are triggered by action and enigma codes ( something happens that causes something else to happen)
• Narrative is correlated with genre - some genres have typical storylines

In Media Studies, it is important to tell the difference between narrative and story;

Story = a sequence of events, known correctly as the plot

Narrative = the way those events are put together to be presented to an audience

Once we move beyond seeing film and television programmes as transparent representations of the world we need to consider some of the ways in which media texts mediate the world to us. One of the most important of these is through the codes and conventions of NARRATIVE.

Narrative Enigmas

Theses are codes that limit the audience to information, it lets them have to figure what is going off in the story. They have to figure out the puzzle, things the audience should think about are who,what,when,where,how?

This keeps the audience attention to what they are watching. They are interested/curious with what is going to happen next so they are going to watch it till the end so they know the final outcome.

Narratives Themes

Narrative contains different elements, such characterization, plot and setting, that all work together to create the narrative’s theme. The theme is the main meaning of a narrative. It tells the reader what the work is about. The theme is devised through what the characters say, do and think and through the actions that take place within the story. The theme also is revealed in how the plot and setting of the narrative are constructed and presented.

Narrative Structure and Theory

Russian theorist, Tzvetan Todorov, suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure. They begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored.

The structure and format of the storyline e.g. closed/open, three act structure,four act structure, linear/non linear, asynchronous, single stranded/multi-stranded

Examples of films where time in manipulated in narrative

- Flashbacks

- Dream Sequence

- Repetition

- Different characters POW

- Flash Forwards

- Real time interlude's

Comprehending Time

Very few screen stories take place in real time. Whole lives can be dealt with in the 90 minutes of a feature film, an 8 month siege be compassed within a 60 minuet TV documentary's. There are many conventions to denote time passing from, the time/day to type up each new scene on X FILES.  

Sub-Genre

Sub-Genre
 
Sub-genres are identifiable sub-classes, almost like a sub-heading within the larger film genre, with their own distinctive subject matter, style, formulas, and iconography.

A sub genre is like subdivisions of an encompassing term. Like if you say you saw a movie labelled -drama- could you watch it and see if it was a romantic drama?
Its taking groups like comedies, mysteries, poems, and making the thinking narrower.

Numerous genres have been added since, and the list of subject matter continues to grow. Due to the amount of artistic material in the world today, sub-categories of major topics make searching material easier because it is a well-organized format.

 For example in action/adventure films such as James Bond, there would be sub themes such as:
- Spy
-Espionage
-Political Thrillers
-Martial arts films
-Race against time

Another example includes Dance, there would be sub genres such as:
-Drum and Bass
-Hip-hop
-Pop
-Rap







Comedy is also included with many sub genres, such as:
- Comedy Thrillers
- Parodies
- Dumb Comedy's
- Family Comedy's

 Crime and Gangster have a few sub genres including:

- Cops and robbers

                                      -  Law and order

                                      -  Detective films

                                      -  Suspense Thrillers

 





Lesson on Genre

Lesson on Genre


Genre

Genre function according to sets of rules and conventions, which govern their capacity and range. They respond to these rules and conventions by developing formulas and patterns. Overtime, these formulas and pattern may acquire not only typical, but even archetypal force, dominating ways of seeing and of representing the world around us.

The importance of genre for audiences and producers?

Audiences select texts on basis of genre, often because texts are arranged at retail outlets by genre. Also, certain genres are considered appropriate to certain ages/genders in society, and choices are made accordingly e.g. teen movie 'chick flicks' have systems of expectations about the context and style of a text, according to its genre

Why do we categorise films?

As far as TV and films is concerned, this commercial idea of genre with the evolution of the film industry, but was particularly developed in Hollywood in the 1920/30s when the major studios were being established. Film producers wanted ways of attracting audiences to their films to create profit. The obvious solution was to establish what kinds of films people liked and produced them in large numbers. Marketers' could then give films a label so that the audience know what to expect.

Paradigm

The overall pattern created by a film that helps us to categorise it.

http://www.paradigmedia.com/

Conventions

The individual elements which help specify what genre a film belongs to

http://media-studies.tki.org.nz/Teaching-media-studies/Media-concepts/Codes-and-conventions

Iconography

The visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconography

Genre

Genre defined in media studies does not simply describe what's in a media text but also the way it is constructed. This is important as it distinguishes between, for example, a comedy based title and a horror type text. Genre showcases a base about what the title will be about, targeting specific audiences depending on the text or film, as well as proving little background insight about what will be featured in the context. For example, in a comedy film, it is fairly inevitable that the film will be subject to a lively and up-beat environment, including specific actors and actresses renowned for their involvement in comical films. On the contry, horror based films would feature a more hostile environment involving more Gothic related conversions such as the stereotypical blood and death.

Comedy

The genre 'comedy' uses humour as its foundational base with an focus on inflicting a optimistic environment and a feel-good-factor amongst its targeted audience. Comedy texts or media are renowned for its positive or commonly known as 'fairy tale' endings, inspired by many previously fiction, now factual stories. Many comedy films seek success via the starts in cooperated in their films. Stars such as Vince Vaughn, Adam Sandler, Simon Pegg and Jim Carey are all very well known for their Multi-Oscar winning performances between them and all have a tendency to feature in comical related films such as 'Dodgeball' and 'Ted'.

                                       Horror

The genre 'Horror' uses fear to devise panic and tension amongst its audience, and is well known for portraying frightful phobias which the viewers despise of, leaving many stricken and pumped with adrenaline even after the film is finished. Many horror films centre around the presence of evil, whether that by via an even spirit or the very common theme of 'possesion' or even a supernatural presence. A lot of horror films include mythical creatures such as 'zombies' or 'vampire's' which introduce a new approach with the ideology that these creatures could potentially enter the human world, which of course is physically impossible. They also traditionally include a lot of blood and gore, which include connotations with death and harm.

 

Romantic

The 'Romantic' genre is based around the idea of love. The plot is mainly centred around the theme of love and how two people seemly become one in a normally complex and entertaining fashion, predominantly including many tearful scenes which leave the audience highly emotional and often shedding a tear or two. Fantasy is another genre which is highly linked with the romantic theme, as fiction tales such as 'Romeo and Juliet' are highly regarded as a romantic title and feature the traditional love related events such as the 'first kiss' and the idea of 'love at first sight'. Unlike comical films, romantic films do not always have a tendency to end in a happy fashion, as there are countless films which include the idea of death also provoking a emotional response from the audience.

 

Action

The 'Action' genre focuses its main aspect of the title on physical action. This creates a rather quick paced film that includes many high-tec stunts and features, such as explosions, car chases and of course the famous shoot-outs. These features leave the audience hung on the edge of their seat, frantically waiting for the next move or unbearably watching a tense gun fighting scene. Action films tend to include a love-able hero who's task is to traditionally 'save the world', some of these hero's include Daniel Craig, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis and Wentworth Miller