narrative demands that the audience witness
events outside Wilson’s experience, the narration
temporarily shifts into omniscient mode.
The deeper you look, the more complex and
expressive cinema gets. But the general concepts
at the foundation of cinematic storytelling are
pretty straightforward. Just remember: the narra-
tiveis the story; narrationis the act of telling the
story; the narratoris who or what tells the story.
In other words: the narratordelivers the narration
that conveys the narrative.
Characters
Whether it’s a pregnant teenager trying to find
suitable parents to adopt her baby or a hobbit seek-
ing to destroy an all-powerful ring, virtually every
film narrative depends upon two essential ele-
ments: a characterpursuing a goal.
The nature of that pursuit depends on the char-
acter’s background, position, personality, attitudes,
and beliefs. These traits govern how the character
reacts to opportunities and problems, makes deci-
sions, acts upon those decisions, and deals with the
consequences of those actions. The allies and
adversaries (all of whom have traits of their own)
that the character attracts are influenced by these
traits, as are all interactions between these other
various characters. And that pursuit, and all the
decisions, actions, consequences, relationships,
and interactions that intersect and influence it, is
the story.
Imagine how different the story of the original
Star Wars series would have been if Luke Sky-
walker had been cautious, devoutly religious, and
privileged, instead of the reckless orphaned farm
boy skeptic who stumbles upon Princess Leia’s
holographic rescue plea? Or in the case of the
Harry Potter series, what if Ron Weasley, the inse-
cure and unrefined product of a large rambunc-
tious wizard family, had been the boy who lived,
instead of the instinctive and strong-willed neg-
lected orphan Harry Potter? Better still, what if the
earnest, intelligent, overachieving child-of-muggles
Hermione was the girlwho lived? Even if the goal
remained the same in each of these hypothetical
narratives, the character’s traits would inspire
choices and behavior that would lead them to a dif-
ferent path, and thus tell a different story.
The profound effect characters have on narra-
tive comes in handy. After all, there are only so
many stories in the world—consider how many
movies sound interchangeable when reduced to a
short description—but character traits may be
assembled in infinite combinations. Each new char-
acter makes possible a different take on the same
old story. Think of all the love stories or murder
mysteries you’ve watched. The individual personal-
ities falling in love and/or solving (and committing)
crimes play a large part in keeping those arche-
typal narrative approaches fresh. The directors,
actors, cinematographers, and designers responsi-
ble for putting the characters and their story on-
screen build upon the characterizations in the
screenplay to develop how exactly each character
looks, speaks, and behaves in the movie.
Of course, some characters are more compli-
cated than others. In literature, complex characters
are known as round characters. They may possess
numerous subtle, repressed, or even contradictory
traits, which can change significantly over the
course of the story—sometimes surprisingly so.
Because they display the complexity we associate
with our own personalities, we tend to see round
characters as more life-like. In contrast, relativelyRestricted narration in Black SwanRestricted
narration makes watching Black Swanboth excruciating and
ultimately cathartic. The audience must endure every
moment of the story locked inside the increasingly unreliable
perspective of Nina (Natalie Portman), a prima ballerina, as
the pressures of her role drive her insane. For many viewers,
the ultimate experience of sharing Nina’s transcendent final
performance makes enduring her breakdown worthwhile.
WHAT IS NARRATIVE? 127