Todays lectorial focussed on the idea of “narrative” in relation to media. It revolved around the idea that “Everything is Story. Story is Everything.”

I think the opening scene from The Princess Bride, where the Grandpa states ‘in my day television was called books’, was the perfect way to discuss the idea of narrative. It demonstrates that despite the various forms and ways it may be told, narrative essentially remains narrative.
I found it interesting when it was stated that the idea of narrative pervades everything we do in life. It may be overlooked, but narrative truly is all around us in the way we live our lives. This was stated in the lectorial that this wouldn’t be possible without cause and effect, seen as a logical progression from one event to the next. For example, someone wouldn’t be in a car crash that led them to having a broken neck and meeting the girl of the dreams in the hospital if they hadn’t of wanted to go to the Tab leading them to get in the car in the first place.

I think one of the things that made this lectorial so successful was the use of contemporary examples, there were a large number of them but my favourites are as follows.

Frank Underwood

 

The lead character from House of Cards was used as an example of character development being essential to plot. Characters are often placed into scenarios, in which the way they react allows the audience to understand who that character is based upon their actions.

 

The opening scene of House of Cards Season 1 Episode 1 is a fantastic example of this, where as Frank kills the dog, we see that he is defined by his pragmatism and strength. If he had not have killed the dog, we would have viewed him as lacking in courage and idealistic as opposed to pragmatic. When the audience watches this scene, they understand the character and begin to know what to expect in each scenario of the series.

Star Wars (1977)

I talk about Star Wars a lot, not only because of its absolute inarguable perfection (inarguable!), but this week because of how closely it follows the “quest” section of a typical narrative. Christopher Booker’s Seven Essential Plots details 7 story archetypes, that, so far, the majority of Hollywood films have managed to follow. Star Wars follows Luke Skywalker taken out of his comfort zone, only to encounter an obstacle and seemly destroy that obstacle in the Death Star trench run, forming a resolution. A quest, in Booker’s eyes, follows a character from going from point A to point B, and I think Star Wars follows that.

 

There was also a discussion of whether “non-narrative” exists, revolving around the presentation of the brilliant short film We Have Decided Not to Die. The discussion around this was quite extensive, so I will post it in the next blog.

Overall an engaging and interesting lecture, I hope the others don’t stray to far from this format in the future.