Introduction to Narrative

What is narrative?

• The structure or chain of events in which a story is told.
• The narrative structure is carefully considered when writing the screenplay for a drama.
• It is usually achieved through the editing of different shots together.

Why is narrative important?

• The narrative structure chosen directly affects how the audience experiences the story.
• The way a 'story' is told can provide certain messages and values about who we see and what is being said about the character, group of people or events represented in the drama.
• The narrative structure can affect the audience involvement with an enjoyment of a drama.
• The narrative structure used in the long form TV drama is considered to be complex.

Narrative Structure Types

Linear Narrative:

• Has a clear beginning, middle and end.
• They follow a chronological timeframe.
• Action A leads to Action B leads to Action C etc.

Fragmented Narrative:

• Fragmented narratives are also called non-linear, disrupted or disjointed narratives.
• They do not have a clear beginning, middle, end.
• Events or actions  may be shown out of chronological order and not in order they would naturally occur in, so C might happen before A for example.
• It is a narrative technique that can help to show parallel stories, a story within a story, dreams and so on within the same episode or series.

Narrative Types 

Restricted Narrative:

• We experience the story through the senses and thoughts of just one character.
• There is almost always a main character
• The narrative cannot tell the audience things that the main character does not know, we find things out in the story at the same time as the character.

Omnipresent Narrative:

• Not just one characters point of view.
• Provides the point of view of many characters and their experience and feelings within the story, from a number of contexts.
• Used for telling stories in which the context, views and feelings

Narrative Endings

Closed Endings:

• TV dramas traditionally feature one characters story or point of view in an episode, which comes to a resolution at the end of an episode.
• The characters story can exist as one unique story in one episode.

Open endings:

• When an episode, or season, ends on a cliff-hanger.
• A story telling technique
• In films, open endings can be unsatisfying for audiences.
• In long form TV drama, open endings indicate there will be a contradiction of the 'story', or possibly a resolution, in the next episode.