What is 'narrative structure'?

What is Narrative Structure? 

Narrative structure is really about two things: the content of a story (i.e. what a story is about) and the form used to tell a story (i.e. how a story is told). 

Two common ways to describe these two parts of narrative structure are: story and plot.

Story refers to the raw materials of dramatic action as they might be described in chronological order in a film. 

Plot refers to the form of storytelling, or the structure the story follows. 

An example may be helpful.

If we want to analyze narrative structure, we can use Who? What? and Where? questions to look at the story or content of a movie.  ‘How?’  questions are used to examine plot structure. So, to describe the story in Star Wars, for example, we would need to answer the following questions:

·         Where is the story set?

·         What event begins the story?

·         Who are the main characters?

·         What conflict(s) do they face?

·         What happens to the characters as they face this conflict?

·         Who wins the conflict?

·         What rewards do they receive?

To describe the plot structure of the movie, we would need to answer these questions:

·         How is the major conflict in the story set up?

·         How are the main characters introduced?

·         How is the story moved along so that the characters must inevitably face the film’s central conflict?

·         How is the dramatic confrontation set up as the film draws to its close?

·         How does the film resolve most of the major conflicts set up at the outset?

From the audiences’ perspective, story and plot refer to the different ways movies construct meaning for spectators. Story is about trying to determine the key conflicts, main characters, setting, and events in a movie. Plot is about determining the stages at which key conflicts are set up and resolved. What’s interesting about most of the movies made in Hollywood is that, while the stories may change, the plot structure is virtually identical in most of the movies made by Hollywood.  

According to Bordwell and Thompson, the plot is what we explicitly see and hear while the story includes information that is inferred (suggested) to the viewer.

H O L LYWOOD AND THE CLASSICAL NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

The most common narrative structure in mainstream films is called the Classical Narrative Structure.

The Classical Narrative Structure

The Classical Narrative Structure is called this because it is the way most movies are made in Hollywood. It’s not classic because it is the oldest structure of storytelling or the best, but the most common. It is the storytelling structure in Star Wars, Buster KeatonÕs The General (1926), The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 1999), and any number of other films we might think of.  It’s based on a three-act format that organizes the story in the following way.

Act I  The Setup

Here, we are introduced to the main characters in the story, their goals, and the obstacles they are likely to face to achieve their objectives. The main conflict in the story is introduced, as well as the major antagonist (the villain) who will stand in the way of the protagonist’s (the hero’s) objectives.

We can call Act I in a movie the Hook. It sets up the story so that the film engages the attention of the audience and suggests the story’s likely development. Act I generally takes up about one quarter of a film’s total length.

Act II  The Development

Here plot complications are added to the story. An increasing sense of urgency is created when the main characters encounter obstacles that stand in the way of their journey. The second act generally occupies the middle two-quarters of the film and it often includes a false resolution to the main conflict set up in Act I. Once the false resolution has been encountered, the action in the movie generally points inevitably toward a necessary climax.

Throughout Act II, Cause-Effect Relationships propel the main characters along. Cause-effect rela- tionships involve actions that force a reaction on the part of some character, leading to a new action and reaction, and so on.

Act III  The Resolution
In the final segment of the film, the results of the story’s main conflict come to dramatic con- frontation. This is called the Climax. It is the point where key struggles are waged and an eventual victor is determined. In Hollywood films, needless to say, the eventual victor is usually our hero.

Following the climax, Closure is introduced into the story, which simply means that all the major conflicts, issues, or ideas in the story are resolved. The so-called Hollywood ending is the most popular kind of closure in the classical narrative structure. Films with this kind of conclusion usually close with a sense that the protagonists in the film live happily ever after.