Use of Narration

What is a narrative?

Julian McDougall believes that "Narrative is the art of storytelling, something we all do everyday. It is an important part of our lives and something we view highly, if you consider the amount of time we all spend in front of the television and cinema screens recieving narratives."

The English Dictionary defines narrative as "any account of connected events, presented to a reader or listener in a sequence of written or spoken words, or in a sequence of (moving) pictures".

Use of narratives in short films:

Loop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVGzK5M967Q

In this short film, there is no use of dialogue so entire narrative is through emotions portrayed through the main character (only character in this case). We see her expressing fear, anxiety and confusion.

THE APOCALYPSE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdtDU8Ww7mA (warning: shows animation of people blowing up)

In this short film, which is professionally made, dialogue of the characters is what carries the story, especially as we are unaware of when a character is going to blow up, there are no hints as to who it will be or when just a build up of tension when there is silence.

Alone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT2tdplhKAY

In this short film, the narration is told through the little dialogue of the little girl and through mise-en-scene; for example the littered newspaper. The plot itself is also told through camera angles and editing. We see the next night the little girl presumably dying and clever editing and use of sunlight to demonstrate the stereotype of Heaven.

Use in My Short Film:

In our short film, we have chosen to have a traditional narrative, where the story expands in order as the film goes on. There will be verbal flashbacks, for example the main character's dad explaining why his son has an obsession with the sockmonster.