Narrative

We talked about narrative this week (a set of events). There are 2 parts to narrative; the plot (series of events/setting, characters etc) and the story (putting the plot together). For example the beginning of Final Fantasy 13 [2010,Motomu Toriyama,Square Enix], Plot~ A train is speeding into a tunnel, in the train are many people with hoods. A armed solider is guarding the people. One of the people take off there hood and attack the solider. The story~ Lightening and her friend have infiltrated Cocoon to find her sister who is turning into a l'Cie.
We also talked about Todorov’s theory of equilibrium, where a story has a Equilibrium, disruption and a resolve. In Groundhog day [1993,directed by Harold Ramis,Columbia Pictures] a man and his new team do the same story on the ground hog every year resulting in the same way (equilibrium), He grown tired and irritated at this, he goes to bed and wakes up to find that its February 2nd again…the day has looped (Disruption). He continues to relive the same day everyday, he does things like suicide, rob banks, sleep with women etc etc to try and break the loop. He finally tries to help the people of the city and give an amazing report on Groundhog day, this, works and the loop is broken (resolve).
When There is no completion of the Equilibrium (also known as a cliff hanger) it makes the viewer curious and wanting to see the resolve. This method is typically used in soup operas and television series to make the viewer watch the next episode.
Another way to show the process of narrative is Freytag’s triangle. It starts with the “risky action” moves up to the “climax and crisis” and then slowly moves down to the “unwinding”. Soap Operas end halfway through this triangle. Some films such as Memento [2000, directed by Christopher Nolan,Newmarket Capital Group] and Pulp Fiction [1994, directed by Quentin Tarantino, Miramax Films] start at different points of the triangle. These films have a mixed up plot which makes you have to think about the story more.
Propps morphology is the common characters in fairy tales. Typical characters you would find are; Villain, donor, helper, princess/father, dispatcher, hero/victim, and the false hero. If you look at most stories you will find at least one of these characters within it. Example in Zelda Ocarina of time [1998,Shigeru Miyamoto,Nintendo] ; the hero is link, the princess is Zelda, the help is navi, the dispatcher is probably the Duka tree,  and the Villain is Gannon.
The last thing we discussed was Ergodic, which is working along a story and making choices. There are 3 parts to this term;
Agency -This is when you make choices and see the results of them example of this type of game is Fall Out New Vegas [2010,Obsidian Entertainment,Bethesda Game Studios]. This game gives you many choices and decisions you have to make that effects the outcome of the story. There are usually 3 different outcomes to each quest and also many ways you can go about completing them. A main decision in this game is deciding which group of people you will fight for. Choosing say “the Legion” will completely change the story, you will  follow the Legion and kill many people brutally, where as, if you were to join the NCR group the story and missions would change and you would be fighting against the Legion. Making all these decision will effect the end to your story in game. Something else that might effect the story is the morality system. In Red Dead Redemption [2010 Rockstar Games], Though out the game you get choices that don’t really effect the story, but effect your reputation, and there for effect the way people will react to you. His though, does not change the main story or the ending.
Aporia /epiphany- This is when you come to a road block, something you don’t understand that prevents you from continuing the story. When epiphany comes into play, it’s the realisation of overcoming the problem and the satisfaction of finally being able to continue. This only happens in games not film.
Tmesis- This is when you skip a problem because its not understood, and choose a way around the problem. This leaves you with the lingering thought of what you might have missed. This sort of thing mainly happens with games that contain side quests. For example in Oblivion [2006,Bethesda Game Studios,2K Games], there are side quests that ask you to search the Oblivion gates, if you complete the main quest, these  Oblivion gates disappear and prevent you from continuing that part of the story. This means you may miss out on items that can be found in that part of the game.