An Introduction to Film

plot concerns only those portions of his journey
necessary to effectively convey the Ivy League set-
ting and the narrative idea of Mark’s hurrying
faster and faster the closer he gets to the sanctuary
of his dorm room.
But the plot provides more than simply this par-
ticular arrangement of these specific events. Plot
also includes nondiegetic elements: those things
that we see and hear on the screen that come from
outside the world of the story, such as score music
(music not originating from the world of the story),
titles and credits (words superimposed over the
images on-screen), and voice-over comments from
a third-person voice-over narrator.
For example: back in the bar, moments after
Erica storms out, music begins to play over the shot
of Mark alone at the table. This music is different
than the White Stripes song we heard in the back-
ground earlier in the scene. Whereas that diegetic
music came from a jukebox from within the world
of the story, this new music is nondiegeticscore
music that the filmmakers have imposed onto
the movie in order to add narrative meaning to the
sequence. The music begins as lilting piano notes
that help convey the sadness Mark feels after get-
ting unexpectedly dumped. Deeper, darker notes
join the score as the music continues over Mark’s
journey home, allowing us to sense the thoughts of
vengeance intruding on Mark’s hurt feelings. As he

trots up the steps to his dorm, a title announces the

time and place of our story: Harvard University Fall

2003. These nondiegetic elements—score music

and titles—are not part of the story. But they are an

important piece of the plot: the deliberate selection

and arrangement of specific events and elements

the filmmakers employ to deliver the narrative.

A new sequence begins when Mark arrives

home and cracks open a beer and his laptop. The

FIGURE 4.2 Story and Plot

Story

Plot

Implied

Events

Nondiegetic

material

Explicitly

presented

events

DVDLearn more about diegetic and

nondiegetic elements in this tutorial.

ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE 141