2019

1. NARRATIVE 101
SHORT FILM

2. LAST WEEK
WHAT WERE WE LOOKING AT LAST LESSON?

3. THIS LESSON
WE’RE GOING TO LOOK AT NARRATIVE STRUCTURE.

4. BY THE END OF TODAY, YOU
 MUST UNDERSTAND WHAT A NARRATIVE IS
 SHOULD EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
LINEAR AND NON LINEAR NARRATIVES
 COULD EXPLAIN WHAT PLOT POINTS ARE

5. WHAT IS A NARRATIVE?

6. ‘NARRATIVE’ IS ANOTHER WORD FOR STORY.

7. STORYTELLING IS A TRADITION THAT
STRETCHES BACK THOUSANDS OF YEARS…

8. ARE FILM-MAKERS STORYTELLERS?

9. A NARRATIVE IS A STORY
STORIES ARE THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND A GOOD SINGLE
CAMERA PRODUCTION.
BUT, WHAT DO WE EXPECT A GOOD STORY TO HAVE?

10. GOOD NARRATIVES HAVE….
• INTERESTING & BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS
• A GOOD CONCEPT (THE IDEA)
• DRAMA!
• ACTION!
• A BEGINNING, MIDDLE & END
• EXCITING PLOT POINTS

11. NARRATIVE CONCEPTS:
ANY STORY CAN BE BROKEN DOWN INTO
ITS MOST BASIC PARTS

12. SYD FIELD
Famous American screenwriter Syd Field came
up with a way to describe a film stories
concept in its simplest form.

13. 1. ITS ABOUT A PERSON

14. 2. IN A PLACE

15. 3. DOING ‘THEIR THING’
(IE. TRYING TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING)

16. ALL FILM NARRATIVES CAN BE BROKEN
DOWN INTO THIS SIMPLE CONCEPT.

17. STORY CONCEPTING
A PERSON
A GEEKY HIGH SCHOOL LOSER

18. STORY CONCEPTS
IN A PLACE
NEW YORK CITY

19. STORY CONCEPTS
DOING HIS OR HER THING
FIGHTING CRIME AS A MASKED VIGILANTE

21. SYD FIELDS RULE
OF STORY CONCEPTING
1. A PERSON
2. IN A PLACE
3. DOING HIS OR HER THING

22. FOR EXAMPLE
A RECENTLY WIDOWED OAP
IN AMERICA
FLYING HIS HOUSE OFF ON THE
ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME

23. UP

24. A WEALTHY INDUSTRIALIST
IN AMERICA
USING HIS SUPER ARMOUR TO FIGHT
TERRORISM

26. A YOUNG FARM HAND
ON TATTOINE
TRYING TO RESCUE A PRINCESS FROM AN EVIL
EMPIRE

28. AFTER WE HAVE A GOOD STORY CONCEPT, WE
NEED TO DEVELOP THE NARRATIVE.

29. AFTER WE UNDERSTAND OUR FILM STORIES
CONCEPT, WE NEED TO STRUCTURE THE
NARRATIVE.

30. FILM NARRATIVES ARE LIKE A GOOD BURGER
THEY’RE SPLIT INTO 3 DIFFERENT PARTS.
WE CALL EACH OF THESE PARTS “ACTS”

31. FILM NARRATIVES ARE LIKE A GOOD BURGER
THEY’RE SPLIT INTO 3 DIFFERENT PARTS
The first 3rd of the
film is the setup:
Its where we meet
the characters and
find out what the
basic stories
premise is ….
30 minutes

32. FILM NARRATIVES ARE LIKE A GOOD BURGER
THEY’RE SPLIT INTO 3 DIFFERENT PARTS
The second 3rd of
the film is the
conflict:
Its where the main
character has to
fight against
increasing odds to
get what they
want….
30 - 60
minutes

33. FILM NARRATIVES ARE LIKE A GOOD BURGER
THEY’RE SPLIT INTO 3 DIFFERENT PARTS
The final 3rd of the
film is the resolution:
Its where the story
wraps up, and our
characters get to the
end of their journey
30 minutes

34. PLOT POINTS
AT THE END OF ACT 1 & ACT 2
IS A PLOT POINT.
A PLOT POINT IS AN EVENT IN
THE STORY WHICH MOVES THE
STORY FORWARD IN A NEW &
INTERESTING WAY.

35. THE BIG QUESTION
• EVERY GOOD STORY HAS A QUESTION AT ITS HEART,
A DILEMMA THE CHARACTER MUST TRY TO ANSWER.
• THIS CAN BE BEST DESCRIBED AS THE MORAL OF THE
STORY, & THE WANTS & NEEDS OF THE
CHARACTERS WILL FORCE THEM TO FIND THEIR
ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.

36. THE BIG QUESTION: TLJ
WHAT DO WE DO WHEN MAKE MISTAKES?

37. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS IN TLJ ARE FACING
UP TO THEIR MISTAKES.
• KYLO’S MISTAKE IS BEING A SERVANT TO SNOKE.
• FINN’S MISTAKE IS FLEEING FROM TYRANNY.
• POE DAMERONS MISTAKE IS BEING TOO RASH.
• REYS MISTAKE IS BELIEVING THAT OTHER PEOPLE
CAN SOLVE HER PROBLEMS.

38. THE BIG QUESTION: TLJ
• WHAT DOES LUKE WANT?
• WHAT DOES LUKE ACTUALLY NEED?

39. WANTS / NEEDS: THE LAST JEDI
• WHAT LUKE WANTS IS TO HIDE AWAY FROM THE
WORLD AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS ACTIONS.
• WHAT LUKE NEEDS IS TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS
MISTAKES AND TAKE ACTION TO SOLVE THEM.

40. LETS LOOK AT THE CONCEPT & NARRATIVE
OF BATMAN BEGINS
• PERSON
• PLACE
• DOING THEIR
THING
(TRYING TO
ACHIEVE A
GOAL)
•
•
•

41. NARRATIVE
• ACT 1: SETUP
• BRUCE’S PARENTS KILLED, BECOMES ANGRY, TRIES
TO KILL HIS PARENTS MURDERER, FLEES GOTHAM &
TRAVELS WORLD, TRAINS AS A VIOLENT VIGILANTE,
UNDER MENTOR RA’S AL GHUL.

42. NARRATIVE
• PLOT POINT 1:
• BRUCE WAYNE RETURNS HOME AND
BECOMES BATMAN

43. NARRATIVE
• ACT 2: CONFLICT
• BATMAN TRIES TO USE HIS NEW SKILLS FROM
RA’S TO RID GOTHAM OF CRIMINALS

44. NARRATIVE
• PLOT POINT 2: TWIST!
• BRUCES ‘DEAD’ MENTOR RETURNS TO DESTROY
GOTHAM & KILL ALL ITS CITIZENS, HE BURNS DOWN
BRUCE’S HOUSE, LEAVES BRUCE FOR DEAD.

45. NARRATIVE
• ACT 3
• BATMAN FIGHTS TO SAVE THE CITY FROM HIS OLD MENTOR
RA’S. HE DEFEATS RA’S BUT REFUSES TO KILL HIM.
• HE HAS FOUND A WAY TO SOLVE HIS PROBLEM: MURDER IS
ETHICALLY WRONG, AND LEADS TO CORRUPTION, CRIME &
LAWLESSNESS. BRUCE’S PRINCIPLES WILL DICTATE BATMANS
ACTIONS.

46. THE BIG QUESTION: BATMAN BEGINS
• WHAT IS THE QUESTION THAT FACES BRUCE?
• WHAT DOES BRUCE WANT?
• WHAT DOES BRUCE ACTUALLY NEED?

47. ALL STORIES HAVE A TIMELINE,
A CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
As film-makers, do we need to tell the story in the
order in which it happens?

48. AS FILM-MAKERS WE CAN EDIT IT TOGETHER
IN THE ORDER WE WANT.

49. WE CAN CHOOSE TO TELL IT
IN THE ORDER IT HAPPENS….
A LINEAR NARRATIVE

50. OR OUT OF ORDER…
A NON-LINEAR
NARRATIVE

51. TODAY
WE’RE GOING TO LOOK AT ARRIVAL.
I WANT YOU TO FILL IN THE WORK-SHEET AS YOU’RE
WATCHING:
• IDENTIFY WHAT HAPPENS IN EACH ACT
• WHAT THE PLOT POINTS ARE
• WHAT IS THE BEGINNING & THE END?

52. FILM SCREENING

53. FEEDBACK
WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT THE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE?
• IS IT LINEAR, OR NON-LINEAR?
• HOW WERE THE BEGINNING & END RELATED?
• WHAT WERE THE PLOT POINTS?