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2: Narrative Structure
Chapter 2: Narrative Structure: Television Stories
The Classical Paradigm
The Made-for-Television Film or MOW
The major difference between MOWs and theatrical films is that MOWs plan for interruption.
The Television Series
Television series include multiple protagonists and have a narrative problematic (vs. a narrative enigma).
The Television Serial
Television serials also include multiple protagonist and episodes generally lack resolution.
- Butler, Jeremy G. "Narrative Structure: Television Stories." In Television: Critical Methods and Applications, 21-50. 3rd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 2007.
Chapter Outline/Notes
The Theatrical FilmThe Classical Paradigm
- Single Protagonist
- Exposition
- Motivation
- Narrative Enigma
- Cause-effect Chain
- Climax
- Resolution
The Made-for-Television Film or MOW
The major difference between MOWs and theatrical films is that MOWs plan for interruption.
The Television Series
Television series include multiple protagonists and have a narrative problematic (vs. a narrative enigma).
The Television Serial
Television serials also include multiple protagonist and episodes generally lack resolution.
Key Terms/Concepts
- antagonist
- apeture
- cause-effect chain
- climax
- closure
- exposition
- flashback
- flashforward
- Hollywood classicism
- motivation
- MOW
- narrative enigma
- narrative problematic
- pilot
- protagonist
- resolution
- scene
- screen time
- sequence
- serial
- series
- story time
- theatrical film
Connections to Course Outcomes
- Describe and apply principles of aesthetics used in the critical analysis of a television show.(2. Aesthetics)
- description of elements of narrative
- Identify the technical elements of a TV show and explain how those elements are used to stimulate different emotional responses from the audience and to illuminate the lives of the characters. (3. Technical Elements)
- description of elements of narrative
- Describe the characteristics and representative examples of major TV genres, such as sitcoms, social comedies, dramas, news, sports. (9. TV Genres)
- discussion of Soap Operas
- Describe programming strategies for success in commercial television and non-commercial programming. (13. Programming Strategies)
- describing how narratives in television programming is constructed to maintain viewers
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| rrodrigo | viewing question: Theatrical Film on TV (page: 1 2) | 20 | Dec 17 2008, 4:13 PM EST by Brittala | ||
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Thread started: Oct 3 2008, 11:38 AM EDT
Watch
Discuss an experience of watching a film made for big-screen theaters, that you have seen in it's original theatrical format, and that you watched again on TV and noticed differences (or watched first on TV, and then saw the "original" later). How did you feel when you noticed the differences? Discuss the "ethics" of adapting films for TV timing and space.
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| rrodrigo | Protagonists and Antagonists | 10 | Dec 17 2008, 4:08 PM EST by Brittala | ||
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Thread started: Oct 3 2008, 11:42 AM EDT
Watch
Some protagonists are extremely flawed, some antagonists we love to hate. Discuss your experiences with really loving or hating a protagonist. Similarly, discuss loving or hating an antagonist. Why? How/why does that affect the narrative structure of what you are watching? Finally, give an example of an antagonist that is NOT a person/character but is a thing/setting/etc. instead.
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| rrodrigo | Narrative Components | 10 | Dec 17 2008, 4:03 PM EST by Brittala | ||
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Thread started: Oct 3 2008, 11:40 AM EDT
Watch
What do you believe is the most important component in a narrative structure? Why? Provide examples from films and/or television shows/episodes. This question really has no right or wrong answer...just have fun!
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