The Application of Conventional and Unconventional Narrative Structures

Traditional narrative theory

Commonly, the structure of a narrative follows a formula analysed by the theorist Tzvetan Todorov. Todorov's theory of equilibrium suggeststhat all narratives abide by a chronological 3-part structure (5 overall stages). This set-out direction is as follows. The equilibrium is disrupted, creating a disequilibrium. This is the typical climax of a film, which is then restored to reveal a new equilibrium where the characters in the narrative have changed in some way. In simple terms, narratives have an apparent beginning, middle and end. This conventional story arc configuration is recognised as a linear narrative. An example of a film that follows this structure is Shrek (2001).

Steps	What happens
1	The narrative starts with an equilibrium
2	An action or character disrupts the equilibrium
3	A quest to restore the equilibrium begins
4	The narrative continues to a climax
5	Resolution occurs and equilibrium is restored

- table sourced from https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zqdhrdm/revision/3

Unconventional narratives

An unconventional narrative does not always start from the beginning (chronologically) and usually jumps around the timeline of events (e.g. Kill Bill (2003)).

The structures of non-linear and circular narratives aren't straightforward. Non-linear narratives are able to move forwards and backwards in time, this is typically depicted using the flashback technique. An example of a film that uses this is 500 Days of Summer (2009). In this film, we see flashforwards and flashbacks as the story of the relationship between two characters progresses. The circular narrative can begin at the end of a story, working its way back to the start of the narrative. Commonly, the audience only clearly understands this type of narrative at the end of a film. An example of a film with a circular narrative is Slumdog Millionaire (2008). The film begins with the main character starring on 'Who Want to be a Millionaire?'. Over the course of the film, the narrative takes the audience on a journey through the character's childhood, explaining how he came to appear on the game show and how he gained the knowledge to answer questions correctly.

Barthes' theory of Narrative

Barthes theorised that texts need to be unravelled and because of this can have several meanings. Texts can be open and have many messages or be closed with only one obvious thread in the story. Barthes also speculated that an enigma code is crucial in engaging an audience in a narrative. This is created in Tick Tock (2011) through the use of sound as the short film consists of upbeat, sorrowful music with an interjecting heartbeat at the beginning and end of the piece and reversed dialogue with diegetic ticking. The audience questions the meanings behind this sound andusese it to understand the development of the narrative.

Levis Strauss' Binary Oppositions

Strauss suggested that opposites are needed to build a story (e.g. good vs evil, right vs wrong, known vs unknown etc.). This is evident in films such as Spiderman (2002) and The Conjuring (2013).

Bordwell and Thompson

These theorists believe that the narrative of a film consists of a chain of events and is the product of a cause-effect relationship. Although, sometimes films can flip the narrative using reverse chronology. Reverse chronology is a method of storytelling whereby the plot is revealed in reverse order. In a

story employing this technique, the first scene shown is actually the conclusion of the plot.

Application of Todorov's Narrative Theory

Applying Todorov's theory to the narrative of our short film, we realised that it does not follow the structure of a typical narrative as there is a disruption, yet no restoration. This adds impact to the message of the short film, emphasising the point of struggling to move past cyberbullying and magnifying the awful reality of suicide. There can be no restoration of the narrative as the protagonist is incapable of making this happen. Examples of Hollywood blockbusters and short films that also don't follow this specific structure include Pulp Fiction (1994) and Tick Tock (2011). Todorov's theory of equilibrium is not evident in the short film Tick Tock as it doesn't follow a conventional, linear story arc. Instead, a reverse chronological narrative is established through the use of editing.

The narrative of our short film has linear and non-linear qualities. There is a beginning, middle and end, however, the narrative revolves around flashbacks to tell the character's story. The short film may begin in the present but this is interrupted by images of the past. After review this sheet that my group and I had annotated (below), we realised that our short film only slightly depicts an open narrative - as the ending is ambiguous, leaving it up to the viewer to decide whether or not our character has ingested the pills and posing questions such as 'How many pills did she take?', 'Is she dead?', 'Did she decide to overcome her problems and not take the pills?' - our short film is in fact a closed text as the messages/themes of cyberbullying, emotional abuse and suicidal feelings are clearly implemented in the narrative and supported by the use of facts and figures, applying Barthes' theory.