Narrative Structures and Development

Narrative Development

The rules mentioned here are not meant as a limitation, more as a checklist or guide, they exist as a direction and advice for developing good stories and visuals, and so, starting with the idea development stage and the pre-production, the filmmaker should: 

– have a clear understanding of the events and be able to summarise and explain (in short) what is happening,

– have established the challenges and obstacles, how they are defeated and how they develop the protagonist that deals with them,

– have developed and designed unique and intriguing ways of resolving the issue at hand, to make sure the images grab and hold the attention of the viewer,

– have prepared and thought through a strong, resolved ending, that answers all questions but ideally, leaves the audience hungry for more (allowing the success of possible further development). This should be done before the realisation and production stages, to ensure smooth workflow and that all the parts of the movie have an ending to work their way towards,

– understand and plan all the aspects of the production process and the technical limitations and costs it can carry (timelines, tools, skills, budget, production demands etc.) 

– understand the effects all the elements can induce in the viewer, this is to allow you to break or bend any of the rules, in terms of fully realising your creative ideas (often in unconventional ways, through the connotation, the effect of your choice carries). 

Steps underpinning the narrative development 

– research, gathering sources, planning, designing accordingly to the references (especially within historically/culturally/socially accurate films of settings) to ensure a deep understanding of what is actually being portrayed. Furthermore, knowing how other directors or artists depicted a similar topic as well as having an idea of the intended audience can provide an inspiration and context to the work. 

– designing the Challenge, Struggle and Resolution 

– designing stuff the right way (relying on observation), if an object we see every day has design flows preventing it from functioning the way we are accustomed to, the audience will pick it up and the shot will in turn loose the illusion of reality, causing decrease in identification. 

– considering a structure, directing every aspect towards one coherent end. 

– designing any possible subplots or additional lines of action to support and lead towards the main narrative and objective. 

Strategies for realising the narrative in an engaging and fulfilling way. 

– Being able to handle the medium fully (no mistakes that were overlooked i.e., mic in the scene), while presenting a coherent chain of events that build up an engaging story and concludes logically and entirely (no loose ends that aren’t resolved). 

– Character based narrative, needs a convincing actor, to convey the meaning of the narrative fully. 

– Being able to design and extract the intended performance of the shot elements (mainly actors, but also using the props and environments in a way that efficiently aids the performance and story).