IM1 – Week Three Reading.

So this weeks reading was a bit of a long one…31 pages, but who’s counting, right?

Oh wait, me.
But it’s okay, for the most part it was a pretty interesting reading. Actually, the enjoyable part of this year, not just in integrated media, but in most of my classes, is that I’m finally starting to see the link – especially in the readings. I’m a person who’s motivated by the end result. I like to see what I’m working for and towards, to know what I need to aim for. So now that I’m seeing the links (I always knew they were there…some were just more hidden than others), I really think I’m getting more out of them.

This weeks reading was Film Art: An Introduction, from David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson. Found here for anyone interested. The document covers, in quite a lengthy amount of detail, the basic elements of a narrative (cause & effect, plot &story, Time, Space, etc), before moving on to discuss different forms of film, including Documentary, experimental and animated films.

I’ve promised myself that each week I will write a post documenting my thoughts and newfound info i’ve acquired through completing the reading. Which, is exactly what I am going to do. Heads up here, it’s probably going to be a long one.

Bordwell and Thompson (for now i’m going to refer to them as B&T) consider a “…narrative to be a chain of events in cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space. A narrative is what (is usually meant) by the term story” (75). I’ve taken this quote straight as it is because it sets us up perfectly. Obviously, we’ve gathered what a narrative is.
But story v plot? This is where I’m still getting stuck. Apparently, it can sometimes be referred to as story and discourse. Interesting….
Okay, so honestly, I’m still so confused about this, and the only way for me to put this in a comprehendible manner, is to simply quote B&T (if anyone can put it in terms simpler, please comment!!!)
“The set of all the events in a narrative, both the ones explicitly presented and those the viewer infers, constitutes the story…The term plot is used to describe everything vividly and audibly present in the film before us. The plot includes, first, all the story events that are directly depicted” (76)
Luckily for me however, B&T have included a helpful little diagram; (page 77)

So that helps a lot…

But moving onto cause and effect – a narrative doesn’t exist without it. This part of the reading related to a lecture Jasmine gave us, especially the explanation of how the cause and effects can be triggered characters (how they cause and react to events…they make things happen remember) or events can set the cause-effect in motion (the day after tomorrow people?!). But as B&T suggest, after the initial disastrous events, it’s usually the characters development and decision making that takes over the cause-effect motion.
Within the cause and effect segment, the most interesting piece was regarding “The mystery tale”. According to B&T, “The mystery tale depends strongly on curiosity – on our desire to know events that have occurred before the events that the plot presents to us” (79). Hmmm… that remind me of …. every crime show, ever? But, in continuing on with the story v plot situation, B&T offer another diagram to help out (page 79).

I do like these diagrams…

Space. B&T didn’t have a whole lot to say on this topic, but they do stress that it is important. Usually, the plot and space are intertwined, as the ‘space’ or locale, is a factor that cannot be overlooked.. (Once upon a time in Wonderland guys… Wonderland is a crazy space…makes for a crazy plot).
However, B&T introduce the idea of cinema employing screen space, which is “the visible space within the frame” (86). An interesting note that B&T address comes at the end of the Space segment;
“For now, it’s enough to say that, just as screen duration selects certain plot spans for presentation, so screen space selects portions of plot space” (86).

Time.
Okay so if anyone has some simpler definitions, I’m all ears… or eyes, whatever. Help a sister out.
From what I was able to gather, the cause and effect plot has to take place in time. obviously. However, while the film is constructing a story out of it’s plot, “…the viewer is engaged in trying to put events in chronological order and to assign them some duration and frequency” (80).
Breaking it down here – obviously, the order is the sequence in which events occurred. The plot is developed by the sequence of events. B&T use the alphabet to explain themselves.
“If story events can be thought of as ABCD, then the plot that uses flashback presents something like BACD” (80) similar, a plot that uses a flash forward, could be seen as ABDC.
      Duration: How much screen time is given to certain events? An event in real life could take days to unfold, but in screen time it could be given just minutes.
      Frequency: How many times do we see a story event throughout the film? Most of the time it is only once, but occasionally we can see it multiple times. Think of a flash forward at the beginning of a movie. As we discover more about the plot, we eventually are taken back to those events leading up to the flash forward, until finally we see for a second time that same scene, though usually in better context. This is also the same for when multiple characters are seen as the protagonist – they each show their own version and take on what happened.

(all quotes and diagrams taken from http://vogmae.dropmark.com/163186/2953582)