David van der Tang At School

Introduction

Narrative in film is similar to traditional modes of story telling and has a number of characteristics in common with print based narratives such as novels and short stories. As such, you can draw on all your experiences of discussing narrative structure when talking about film but you must also keep in mind narrative elements that are specific to film.

Narrative Elements in Film

1. Films are narrative dependent.
2. They include the following traditional elements of narrative:
   • Setting
   • Character
   • Conflict
   • Resolution
3. They include the following elements which arise out of film’s form:
   • Montage
   • Controlling time & space
4. Film’s language also shapes narrative in film through the following codes and conventions:
   • Technical (framing, camera angles, camera movement, lighting, special effects)
   • Symbolic (tends to arise out how the director chooses to construct his/her film)
   • Audio (music, dialogue, sound effects)
   • Written (titles, credits, text used in the telliing of the story)
5. All the narrative elements of film work together to create diegetic effect or compelling narrative.