Research - Narrative in Short Film 

WHAT IS NARRATIVE? 'A spoken or written account of connected events; a story' 

The narrative conventions of short film 

  • There is usually a plot - 'the main events of a film (or novel, play etc), devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence'
Narrative depth and range 
  • Narrative depth - how complex the story is 
  • Subjective Character Identification - the audience is given unique access to what the characters see and do 
  • Objective Character Identification - the audience is given unique access to the characters POV, such as memories, feelings, thoughts etc
  • Narrative range - restricted or unrestricted 
  • Restricted - the audience only knows as much as the character who's making the film's POV. Minimal information is presented e.g. a thriller 
  • Unrestricted - provides any character's experiences and perceptions, as well as info that no character has. No limits to the info that is presented e.g. horror 
WHAT IS THE THREE ACT STRUCTURE? 'A model used in narrative fiction that divides a story into three parts (acts)'

  • After watching the set list of short films, I have noticed that the three act structure makes sure that there is change in the short film; dramatic movement - it makes the audience question what will happen next. When making my short film, I have thought about it in a different way to help me. There should be an aim, a complication, and conflict. These three words can be tackled in many different ways, it is a very flexible structure, but it is important that it exists when constructing my film. 


The dramatic qualities of a short film 


Narrative techniques which create dramatic qualities: dialogue, character development, and dramatic devices 
  • Dialogue - the conversation between two or more people 
  • In all the films on the British Short Film Set List except Over, The Arrival, and The Fly, dialogue is used as a dramatic device. The films in which I think dialogue is most effective is Tight Jeans and Operator. In Tight Jeans, the main focus of the film is more the dialogue and the comedic lines of the script, rather than the action. In Operator, a very dramatic short film, the dialogue is back and forward between the operator and the girl on the other end of the phone. The dialogue is very effective - tension is built as the audience waits to find out what happens to the woman and her child, just by listening out to what she says to the operator, and what the operator says to her.
  • Character development 
  • Most characters are developed in all of the films on the Set List. For example, in The Ellington Kid, the gang members and the kebab shop workers characters are built throughout; throughout we are revealed more and more about what / where they go / what happens next.
  • Dramatic devices 
  • Examples include close up shots, such as the close up of the knife cutting raw meat in The Ellington Kid, and conflict, such as the conflict between Connor and his girlfriend in Slap.


How narrative can convey points of view, both intended meaning and those of the spectator


Lots of things can convey POVS, such as the audience warming (or the opposite) to different characters for different reasons, or the three act structure; complication or conflict changing a POV.

An interesting example of how narrative has conveyed POV, is in the short film Over directed by Jörn Threlfall. It is filmed in reverse chronological order, so the audience has more of a detective POV, as they try to work out the cause of the crime scene.

The narrative of Slap, tells a more complex and heavy hearted story of Connor and his life, however the narrative of The Fly is more simple and the narrative is less serious - so the two films carry very different meanings, therefore an audience member's POV on Slap may be different to his/her POV on The Fly.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  




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