Monday, 23 December 2013

Modular Narratives in Contemporary Cinema by Allen Cameron

"Articulate a sense of time as divisible and subject to manipulation"

Cameron has identified four different types of modular narratives
  1. Anachronic modular narratives 
  • Involves the use of flashbacks and/or flashforwards
  • No clear dominance between any of the narrative threads
  • Often repeat scenes directly or via a different perspective 
  • E.g Momento
     2. Forking-path narratives
  • Juxtapose alternative versions of a story
  • Show the possible that might result from small changes in a single event or group of events
  • Introduce a number of plot lines that usually contradict one another 
  • E.g Run Lola Run
     3. Episodic narratives
  • Organised as an abstract series or narrative anthology
  • Characterised by the operative of a non-narrative
  • Formal system which dictates organisation 
  • Consists of a series of shorter stories which follow different people in the film
  • E.g Love Actually
     4. Split screen narratives
  • Divided into 2 or more frames, juxtaposing events within the same visual field
  • E.g Time Code
Linear narrative - A plot moves forward in a straight line without flashbacks or digressions
Parallel narrative - 2 scenes observed as if happening at the same time by cross-cutting between them
 

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