Non-Narrative Forms

In last week’s reading, we were exposed to the different forms of non-narrative storytelling. Non- Narrative being, in my opinion, the absence of character growth focused around ideas rather than having a tried and true plot. This is most commonly used in documentaries where the film is focused around facts and observations more than telling a specific story. (though it is certainly not limited to documentaries).

Categorical Form: A form commonly used by documentaries in order to organize the film into taxonomies. For instance, If it’s a nature film on a specific animal the filmmaker may divide the film into parts focusing on a certain time of that animals life or a certain character trait of that animal.

Rhetorical Form: Another form used widely within documentaries. The filmmakers purpose when using his is to educate and shape the audience’s opinion on whatever the subject matter of the film is. The film may have:

• Arguments From The Source: “talking heads”, interviews with ‘experts’ on the subject, voice over.
• Subject-Centered Arguments: Showing examples that support the point the filmmaker is making, exploiting familiar patterns,
• View-Centered Arguments: An argument that appeals to emotion, or sense of patriotism/romanticism etc…

Experimental Form: “The ‘abstract’ and ‘associational’ forms are categorised as types of ‘experimental film’. In the ‘abstract form’, the documentary maker focuses on using visual attributes to convey a perspective on a topic. Bordwell and Thompson state that the ‘abstract form’ is created around
‘colours, shapes, sizes and movements in the images” (Bordwell & Thompson, 355) [1.Extract on ‘Non-Narrative Documentary’ film in D. Bordwell and K.Thompson, 2006,  Film Art: An Introduction, pp. 342-370.] Experimental Forms of Cinema are hard to pin down. One recognizes it by its attempts of self-expression and non-conformity to what we consider ‘mainstream’.