Narrative: Preparing for the SAC

Every school will have a different test on narrative - what you do will depend on your teacher and the narrative texts you have studied. Nevertheless, many teachers will have a test which incorporates short and/or extended responses. This will contribute 40/40 marks to your overall score for Unit 3 Media. It is work 8 per cent of your total Study Score for Media.

Before the SAC

During the SAC

  • Allocate your time according to how much each question is worth.
  • Highlight key terms in a question to ensure you know what it is asking, "Explain how camera techniques contributed to character development in one of the narratives you studied. 3 marks."
  • Answer the question in your opening sentence, for example, "In the opening scene of Rear Window (dir. Alfred Hitchcock) camera movement is used to establish the character of LB Jefferies."
  • After answering the question in a succinct sentence, go on to provide further detail. For example, "During the opening sequence, the camera pulls back into LB Jefferies' apartment. It moves across LB Jefferies' body and towards the cast on his leg which reads, 'Here lie the broken bones of LB Jefferies.' The camera continues to move around the apartment, revealing a smashed camera, a spectacular photograph of a racing car accident and various other prints, including pictures from a warzone. This camera movement contributes significantly to character development by implying that LB Jefferies is a daring photojournalist."
  • In the closing sentence of your response provide a brief summary of what you have written, reiterating your response to the question. For example, "This is a clear example of how camera movement can contribute to character development in a narrative."
  • Use clear language when answering questions.
  • The study of narrative involves a great deal of terminology. Ensure you understand this terminology and use it appropriately when responding to questions.

After the SAC

  • Think carefully about the feedback your teacher has given. What are your strengths? What do you need to do better?
  • Collate all of your notes and revision material in a single folder. They will be invaluable when you need to revise for the end-of-year exam.

Narrative Questions with Sample Answers

1. Characters are an important part of narratives. In one of the narratives you have studied, explain how one character was established and developed throughout the narrative. Your response should make reference to appropriate production elements, such as: camera techniques, acting, mise-en-scene and visual composition, editing, lighting and sound.

In the opening sequence of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, a number of production elements are used to establish the character of Marion Crane and the relationship she has with her lover, Sam Loomis. The camera descends into a dark, partially open window. The venetian blinds are closed. For a moment, the room is completely dark. As the camera pans left, the audience's first glimpse of Marion Crane, laying on a hotel bed, wearing white lingerie, legs crossed, looking up at her lover, Sam Loomis. A combination of acting, dialogue and music is used to establish these characters and their relationship. Despite meeting in a sleazy hotel room, the audience is encouraged to view their relationship as genuine rather than tawdry. The dialogue reveals that they are unable to be together because Sam is still paying his ex-wife alimony and living behind a hardware store in Fairvale. Marion is tired of their secretive relationship. "Oh, we can see each other," she says. "We can even have dinner - but respectably - in my house, with my mother's picture on the mantel, and my sister helping me broil a big steak for three." Sam professes a deep love for her, conceding that he wants to see her under any circumstance, "even respectability". Although dialogue is primarily used to establish Marion and Sam as characters, camera techniques and music also makes a contribution. As the scene progresses, Marion and Sam are often shown in the same frame, which contributes to a sense of intimacy and love. When Marion declares that she wants to marry Sam, romantic strings well and they kiss passionately. The mise-en-scene - Marion's costume - also makes a subtle contribution to her character development. The white fabric and generous key lighting suggests that the character is pure and chaste despite meeting her lover in a cheap motel during her lunch break. Throughout this scene, Hitchcock has used a range of techniques to establish the character of Marion Crane - including dialogue, acting, camera techniques, music and mise-en-scene.

2. Narratives often have multiple storylines. Describe how one storyline was established, developed and resolved in one of the films you studied.

In M Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable, the relationship that David has with his son Joseph is an important storyline in the narrative. Throughout the course of the narrative, Joseph comes to believe that his father cannot be harmed and that he was 'put here to protect the rest of us'. Joseph's adoration of his father is demonstrated at several points in the narrative. Towards the beginning of the film, after David is involved in a devastating train wreck, Shyamalan uses acting to convey that Joseph cares deeply for his father. As David walks slowly from the emergency room of the hospital, Shamalan tracks him for a moment. The camera pans to the left, revealing Joseph who races from his seat in the waiting room and embraces his father. This combination of acting and camera movement establishes the love that Joseph has for his father. After Elijah Price suggests that David cannot be harmed and is a person 'put here to protect the rest of us', Joseph attempts to protect a girl from two older boys in the locker room at school. Afterwards, when they're talking, Joseph admits why he tried to protect the girl: "I thought maybe 'cause you're my dad...I thought I might be like you. I'm not like you." Throughout this scene, acting contributes significantly to the storyline. When David insists that he's just an ordinary man, Joseph appears distraught and visibly upset. This storyline is resolved towards the end of the narrative after David rescues two children from a home invader. Shyamalan resolves this storyline with minimal use of dialogue. Joseph walks into the kitchen where his parents are preparing breakfast and sits across from his father. A mid shot shows him filling a glass of orange juice. The audience sees a point of view shot from the perspective of Joseph. His father nudges a newspaper into frame. The camera tilts up as Joseph looks at his father, then back down to the newspaper. The headline reads: "Hero rescues two children, parents found dead in house." Shyamalan cuts between a mid shots of David and Joseph. Jeremy's eyes well up with tears. He looks at his father who nods and whispers, "You were right."

3. With reference to a scene from one of the texts you studied this year, explain how production elements contributed to audience engagement.

In the film Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock uses a range of production elements to engage the audience as Marion Crane flees Phoenix with the $40,000. The audience has already been encouraged to identify with Marion and throughout this scene, Hitchcock uses acting, music and editing to increase audience engagement with the narrative further. As she is imagining what Sam will say, she nervously adjusts her grip on the steering wheel and, pulls up at an intersection, resting her head on her hand. Hitchcock cuts from the mid-shot of Marion at the wheel of the car to a sustained point-of-view shot through the windshield. Several people pass in front of the car. Point of view shots are a very powerful way of encouraging the audience to identify with a character and engage them in the narrative. Hitchcock cuts back to Marion who still appears concerned. Cutting back to the point-of-view shot, Marion - and the audience - see Lowery and Cassidy pass in front of the car. As he passes, Lowery notices Marion and smiles politely. Hitchcock cuts to a mid-shot of Marion. Janet Leigh's acting contributes significantly to audience engagement. She smiles, clearly shocked. Hitchcock shows a point-of-view shot of Lowery as he turns and looks back at the car, slightly puzzled. Again, this point of view shot contributes significantly to audience engagement because it is like the audience has been caught in the act of fleeing with the $40,000. Herrmann's dramatic score begins suddenly. Deep and dramatic violins underscoring Lowery's discovery that Marion is leaving the city. Hitchcock cuts back to a close-up of Marion whose smile disappears. Audience engagement in this scene is particularly effective. Implicated in the crime, the audience desperately wants Marion to escape. Lowery turns away and continues walking. The audience is left with a sustained close-up of Marion as she continues to drive, face lined with apprehension. Throughout this scene, Hitchcock has used a range of production elements - notably point-of-view shots - to implicate the audience in Marion's crime and engage them in the narrative..

4. Reception context often influences audience engagement. With reference to one of the texts you have studied, explain how the reception of that text might influence audience engagement.

Reception context refers to the conditions in which an audience views a narrative text. It could, for instance, refer to the technology that is used to view a narrative. It's a very different experience watching a narrative on the screen of an iPod compared to viewing it in a cinema with surround sound. Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight provides a good example of how reception context can influence audience engagement with a narrative. The Dark Knight had six scenes filmed on an IMAX camera. According to numerous reviews, the print screened at IMAX cinemas was more dramatic and engaging than the original.

5. With reference to a text you have studied this year, explain production elements - such as camera techniques and/or sound - were used to structure time in the narrative.

Throughout Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, editing is used on a range of occasions to structure time within the narrative. There are two points in the narrative when this is particularly evident. Midway through the film, Nolan uses a montage to show the process Bruce Wayne and Alfred go through when attempting to find fingerprints from a shattered bullet at a crime scene: first, the audience sees a series of shots as Alfred loads bullets into a cartridge and fires them into several pieces of concrete; Nolan then cuts to a close-up of a mechanical device scanning one of the bricks; cutting to yet another shot, he shows a computer monitor analysing the shattered bullet. This sequence of shots takes a complex procedure and condenses it into a few seconds of screen time.

Towards the end of the narrative, there is another example of how Nolan uses editing to structure time. As the city is being evacuated, Nolan shows a long shot of people boarding two ferries. He then cuts to a tighter shot of a line of criminals being herded towards the vessels. There is a midshot of an angry man in the crowd. "Hey, man! That ain't right! We should be on that boat!" Nolan then cuts to a shot of the boats at night after all of the passengers have boarded. Cutting to an aerial shot of the docks, the ferries are now leaving for the other side of the river. In fewer than four cuts, Nolan used editing to compress the passage of day to night.

Another significant point in the narrative when editing is used to structure time is during the resolution of the narrative when Nolan uses editing to flash forward, resolving various story lines. To ensure that Harvey Dent's remains a beacon of hope for Gotham City, Batman decides to take responsibility for the murders he committed. "I can do those things because I'm not a hero," he says. "Not like Dent. I killed those people. That's what I can be." During this scene, Nolan flashes forward, showing the repercussion of his decision. He cuts to a midshot of Commisioner Gordon delivering Dent's eulogy, "A hero. Not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed. Nothing less than a knight shining." As Batman says the lines, "You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me.", Nolan once again flashes forward to a shot of Gordon destroying the Bat Signal. Using a voice over to provide continuity, this is another example of how editing contributes to the structuring of time in the narrative.
 
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