Ordering events in truth

• What is the classic structure for the way a story is told on film?

Start, middle and end

• What is the traditional system by which the main events in a film are ordered?

Following time chronology

• What terms can we use to describe this pattern or order?

Chronological or linear

• How are events ordered in the early scenes of ‘Psycho’?

1. Marion is at a hotel with her boyfriend and they cannot get married because they don’t have money.
2. She goes to her office and gets money to put in the bank.
3. She goes to her house to pack things to steal the money
4. She is driving to another town

Thus, completely linear

·         Are all films always ordered in this way? Find examples where the events are NOT ordered in this way?

No, sometimes there are flashbacks (mostly represented in black and white) or they do not follow chronological order (start from the end or the middle and go back to the beginning)

E.g. Harry Potter, Memento – Christopher Nolan 2000, Slumdog Millionaire - 2008, Pulp fiction – Quentin Tarantino 1994

·         Why do you think a director would choose this approach to the ordering of events?

Otherwise it is predictable, in that way it is more interesting for the audience

E.g. Titanic

Mess around with the audiences mind but trust there will be sense to it at the end

·         What is the chronology in Pulp Fiction (1994)?

Scene 4a

Scene 2a

Scene 5

Scene 1

Scene 6

Scene 2b

Scene 3

Scene 4b

·          Look at the sheet to see the main events rendered in chronological order (fabula) Is this the order used in the film?

No

·         What is the order in which these events appear in the early part of ‘Pulp Fiction’

Scene 4a, scene 2a, scene 5

·          How does this change in the order of events affect the film’s cause/effect logic?

There is a break-up of cause and effect because events that happen one after another are not linked thus you cannot get the cause/effect immediately but after you have seen the whole film you can see how they make sense

• What do you think is the effect on the audience?

There is a gap in your knowledge causes engagement, interest, curiosity that causes the audience to be engaged

However it may cause confusion in the audience as they cannot make sense of what is happening and lack of credibility as it is too artificial or they simply cannot see the logic behind it

• The narrative ordering of a film plot (NOT its chronology) is known as the sujet (see Markham Film blog for full definition)

The fabula is the ‘raw material’ of a story in chronological order

The sujet is the way a story is then organised by the director on film.

• So how would you describe the sujet of Pulp Fiction? 

The sujet in Pulp Fiction follows no chronological order and the scenes follow a different logic which is not apparent when you see the first scenes

• What impact does the complexity of its sujet (narrative order) have on the audience? What risks is the director taking if he presents a film with a complex sujet?

The complex sujet can create an engagement of the audience with the film as it creates a gap in the cause and effect logic and it makes the audience want to know what is going to happen however it can also create confusion in the audience and lack of credibility and complete sense to the film.

·         How would you change the sujet of Cinderella so that we don’t simply follow the fibula but we can still follow the story’s logic?

I would start the movie by having the scene of the wedding (but not in a fairytale typical way, more natural like real humans and maybe even darker) and when she has the ring put on her finger Cinderella has a flashback to when the Prince puts the shoe on her feet to see if she was the girl at the ball and then another flashback to the scene where she forgets the glass shoe at the party.

Then I would have her right after the wedding but make Cinderella have a strange look like trying to remember something (like Willy Wonka (Charlie and the Chocolate factory) when he remembers his childhood but more serious) and then there is a fade and the next scene she is cleaning her stepmother’s house and the ugly and mean stepsisters until the part they are invited to the ball and a fade again and Cinderella at the wedding again.

Since they are the prince and princess, they have to greet the public masses like William and Kate did so when they are doing that I would have her again with the strange look and another fade when she remembers when it was midnight already and she runs away because she lost all the magic and then back to normal.

And only at the end of the movie I would have another fade of Cinderella remembering when the fairy godmother transforms everything so she can go to the ball and finally dance with the prince.