Article Title:
New Temporal Structures in Film: An Approach to Network Narrative
Writers:
Shahabeddin Adel؛ Hosein Heidari؛ Behnam Hosseiny
Abstract:
New temporal structure, especially in two recent decades, is a method to articulate the narration of film story, in which storytelling uses game or manipulates in film temporal structure, challenges or interacts with film audiences to participate in film remaking in their mind or final interpretation. Actually, directors, of these films present complex stories or create complication in time to tend especial intellectual spectator and create a kind of thoughtful pondering cinema. One of these films, New temporal structure, named Network Narrative in which director intends to present single or multiple stories from the point of view of multiple characters telling through the film, represented different conception of reality or similarities of an event of multiple stories from the POV of multiple characters via these differences or similarities accomplishes to make culture on the issue of globalization of human worlds. On the other hands, this is a kind of extension of human knowledge to the outer space, makes, thus, network of humans have the similar destinies. Actually, another film of this kind, new temporal structure, named puzzle or mind-game complex narrative films. This extension of human
thought is to the inner space of human mind to represent their dreams, hallucinations, memories, and thoughts. New temporal structure, is an answer to the millennium films in two recent decades or a reaction against the extreme extension of human relations in the realm of knowledge, culture, science, economy, etc. therefore, at the beginning of new millennium, a group similar destiny for human beings have been created. Theoretical approach to this research is on the base of thoughts of two famous theoricians of narrative discourse, Gerard Genette & David Bordwell.
The former debates on the strategy of narrative discourse to the focalization of narrative in which he means visual concepts and even total conceptions of the concept every time and focalizes area of narrative information to one of the fiction characters, whereas the latter’s approach is more constructive or structural. He debates
about it in the Poetics of Cinema’s and analyses Network Narrative and historical basis of creation in movies. In an essay called Mutual Friends and Chronologies of Chance of Poetics of Cinema, he has explained the kinds of Network Narrative, and has exemplified and analyzed some of the important movies made by NN. He believes that ‘Narration Makes Networks’. Narration of each film, in coaxing us to build the story world a particular way, must expose the relationships among the characters. In a network tale, the narration does this with an elaborateness seldom seen in the more ordinary movie. The narrations should often reveal connections, anticipate and conceal them too. More evidently, the narration of a movie must show how characters are separated by a few links. Network Narrative film as a New Temporal Structure can reveal and anticipate connections by employing unrestricted narration, skipping and back and forth among people and places. On the other hands, method of research in this essay is surveying on the base of other masters and theoricians in this field and the related ones, in which each one of courses is accomplished to the special subjects and analysis of instance film made
by Network Narrative.
Keywords:
New Temporal Structure, Network Narrative of Film, Time of Narrative, Narrative of film, POV, Line of Fiction
Reference Article:
Article Title:
Study of Narrative Genres in Visual Anthropology
Writers:
Seyyed Mostafa Mokhtabad؛ Shahabaldin Adel؛ Fariba Rostami Jalilian
Abstract:
Study of narrative genres in documentary depends on narrotology and theories of narration in cinema. However, it seems what differentiates documentary from other genres of cinema, is immediate reference to the events occurred in the historical world. Hence, this inseparable connection of documentary to the issue of reality has led to lots of controversies in analysis of this type of cinema, efforts made to study narrative genres have only resulted in enumeration of its diverse forms. But the documentary position relative to reality must be investigated in order to expound the main traditional and new narrative approaches, since the belief of the present time which considers reality as manipulated reality has brought a new strike to body of the traditional conventions and had opened a new chapter in the field of documentary analysis, On the other hand, one of the oldest documentary forms is ethnology or ethnography documentary, or in new terms, visual anthropology which in direct relation to the science of anthropology by posing question in the nature and origin of customs and institutions, and the way culture is applied to humans’ life looks for contemplation in the meaning of cultural and social differences. In the traditional view, anthropology includes two observational and participative narrative approaches in which subject-filmmaker viewed native people as an external and wisely factor.
However, in the present time, influenced by new methods appeared in documentary which have a kind of self-reflection as well as the belief of post-modern in existence of manipulated realities, visual anthropology has been led to a new path. In the area of neo-documentary, anthropology interprets the real fact by two reflexive and per formative methods in which subject-filmmaker takes a new stand versus object so as an inter-mental position between subject, object and audience is obtained. At any rate, it seems that the narrative genres in visual anthropology ought to be investigated by emphasis on the position of subject-filmmaker versus object.
Keywords:
documentary, ethnography, ethnology, Anthropology, visual anthropology
Reference Article:
Article Title:
Ending sequence structure in Modern cinema
Writers:
Shahabeddin Adel؛ Pedram Sadraei
Assistant Prof., Cinema & Theatre Faculty. University of Arts
M.A. Cinema, University of Arts
Abstract:
No matter on what narratology they are based, movies of the modern cinema will eventually reach an ending point. There might remain, however, a lot of questions unanswered in the audience mind. Unlike the classical era, modern directors were not required to observe a set of strict rules and regulations to finish their movies. Consequently, there can be seen in the current era various closing scenes in terms of narratology and découpage settings. In contrast to the classical cinema, the modern version of movies never followed a specific formula for closure. We may suggest, however, to a few innovative models for ending sequences derived from the works of famous directors in the current era. Ending plan in modern cinema was influenced by movie content. Directors of this era address different themes about human inner worlds and interpersonal relationships. The modern cinema often intended to challenge the audience in the ending of movies through ambiguity, suspense and other similar techniques, which later turned out to the most fascinating moments of such works.
The decoupage structure of the ending sequence of modern movies attempts to bring about a kind of preawareness of the end of the movie in the audience’s mind with the aid of bracketing and ending codes.
Bracketing serves to maintain the cyclic uniformity of the movie narration through the repetition of scenes from the opening sequence of the movie or using acoustic techniques, and sets the beginning and the end of the movie within one framework. The ending codes in the final plan of such works indicate the ending point of the movie in a way, and they announce the end of the movie using decoupage and camera motions.
From a narrative viewpoint, modern movies with open ending in movie closure leave some questions, which are posed in the audience’s mind during narration, unanswered in order to encourage them to get mentally entangled with the work and to ponder over it. A number of the directors of the modern cinema prefer to give a close ending to the narration of their works similar to the classical cinema; however, most of them select open ending as the narrative pattern of their works. Open ending adds to the ambiguity of these works in the ending sequence, by means of providing no answer to the cause and effect relationships, created during narration. By creating contradictions in time, place and narration, the ambiguity strategy in the ending sequence leads to the emergence of a challenge inducing a state of undecidedness in the audience’s mind which eventually results in a sense of uncertainty at the end of these works. This state of affairs makes any interpretation and definite conclusion difficult and at times impossible.
Keywords:
Modern Cinema, Ending Sequence, Bracketing, Open Ending
Reference Article:
Article Title:
Theories of Montage by Sergey Eisenstein and Slavko Vorkapich
Writers:
Shahabeddin Adel؛
Assistant Prof., Cinema & Theatre Faculty. University of Arts
Abstract:
The art of montage in film history appeared in the years between 1900 and 1907. According to many film historians, montage was first used by American filmmaker Edwin S. Porter. However, montage theory and aesthetics of montage developed after the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 by the great filmmakers and theorists of the era such as Lev Kuleshov, and particularly Sergey Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin. Slavko Vorkapich, filmmaker, editor and cinema lecturer was another key theorist of montage in the history of cinema who worked on the theorization of montage at the same time, yet his contribution despite being significant is not regarded as highly as that of the Russian masters. The impact of his thoughts and work on American cinema in the 1920s and 1930s is undisputable. The notion of “Kine-aesthetics” and its value in cinema and the issue of interconnectedness and the chain of integration of shots in the art of montage, as opposed to Eisenstein’s cinematic views and the theory of “collision”, is notable. This article attempts to examine the ideas of these two theorists of montage and the similarities and divergences of their views.
Keywords:
Montage, Sergey Eisenstein, Slavko Vorkapich, kine-aesthetics, Collision
Reference Article: