Jaws: Day 1; Narrative Style & Assignment

We will screen the blockbuster Jaws (1975) today in class. Before we watch, though, let's talk a little bit about narrative technique when writing a film script. This is, after all, our job as writers.

Narratology: the study of narrative forms. 

Narratologists (people who study narrative structure) are interested in the rhetoric of storytelling. That is, the narrative forms that "message senders" use to communicate with "message receivers."

In cinema, the problem with this communications model is determining who the sender is because while the implied author is the filmmaker, multiple authorship of scripts is common, especially in the United States. Should we credit the director, writer, editor, actor, or cinematographer as the author whose vision controls the project? Or perhaps we should credit the viewer who is responsible for following the film story?

Is Jaws, therefore, Peter Benchley's creation, or the collaboration between Benchley and Carl Gottlieb? Is the film's true auteur the director Steven Spielberg? Perhaps it is the interpretation of the actors Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, or Richard Dreyfus? Maybe it is the cinematographer Bill Butler, or the editor Verna Fields? In film, who gets the final credit for its success as a story?

Narration also differs according to a movie’s style. In classical films, boring gaps in the narrative are edited out by a discrete storyteller, who keeps a low profile, yet maintains to keep the action on track, moving toward a specific ending—the resolution of the story’s central conflict.

The story can be defined as the general subject matter, the raw materials of a dramatic action in chronological order.

In the classical narrative style, the established conflict builds to its maximum tension in the climax. Films are often written in 3-Acts, each with a beginning, middle, and end of an established or introduced conflict. We have studied plot extensively in playwriting. Yes, you should note inciting incidents, major decisions, complications, conflicts, crisis or turning points, dark moments and enlightenments, etc.

As we watch Jaws, look for these moments and try to identify where (or if) they occur. You should be able at this point to note where these things occur in your own stories (and what might be missing...!)

Also, stories are divided into genres. Each genre has rules and expectations (tropes) that help define its narrative elements: story, structure, character, plot, setting, etc.

For example, in a science fiction film, we assume that spaceflight is easily possible, or that alien life is probable. These are tropes of the genre. Absurd situations, for example, are expected in comedies, but not usually appreciated in dramas. A genre sets forth the rules of what is possible in a film (or novel or short story as well).

In film there are three super genres (broad genres that encompass the whole): they are STYLES of film:

A. Realistic: (qualities: objective, 3rd person POV)
B. Classical: (qualities: objective/subjective, 3rd person, often limited 3rd person)
C. Formalistic: (qualities: subjective, 1st person or unreliable narrator)

When narratives fail to act according to convention or what we have come to expect from tradition or from the genre, we, as viewers, have to figure out what is meant from the deviation of the structure and style of the genre.

Good writers are able to push the boundaries of what a story can allow within its chosen genre. When watching a movie, or reading a script or novel, you should be aware of the genre rules and assumptions you are likely to be presented with. In the romance genre, for example, we must assume that people fall in love almost immediately (and that this love is real, as opposed to just a physical attraction). That's part of the genre. When we criticize a movie, we should first check our understanding of what the writer and director were attempting to present to us.

Some classical and formalistic narrative techniques we recognize:

1. The flashback
2. The dream sequence
3. The distorted view (as if the subject or character is drunk, insane, troubled, drugged, etc.) Commonly uses an oblique angle or birds eye angle or view to disorient its viewers.
4. Voice overs (this indicates we have a subjective narrator) 
5.  The use of intertitles reminds us that we are watching a story--like reading a book. While outdated today, some films still use this technique to great effect, as in Star Wars (1977, George Lucas) or Inglorious Basterds (2009, Quentin Tarantino)  

Other narrative techniques include:

• Crosscutting
• Montage (more on this soon)
• Multiple perspective--the camera usually favors a particular character--as if we can see what this character sees. The camera, therefore, (what we see) can stand in for a character's POV

As we watch Jaws, look for some of these narrative techniques.

Classical style narrative plots generally follow the typical 3-act structure. Plots rise through a series of events (rising action) to a definitive climax, and usually resolve in some definitive way at the end of the film. This is based on Aristotelean structure.

These plots are generally linear: telling a story in sequence of time and ordered events or chronological time.

Important symbols or metaphors are usually explained; solutions are offered. These classical films, more than formalistic or realistic films, are directed to a general [genre specific] audience.

Most films fall into this category, but at the far end of the spectrum are the avant garde films that use formalistic narration. Formalistic films rely heavily on metaphor, implied meaning, subjective POV, unreliable narrators, and surprising special visual effects. Here are a few sample clips of this type of film (view these on your own time):

• Le Ballet Mecanique (1924) 
• 2001, A Space Odyssey (1968) Stanley Kubrick
• Destino (1945/2003) 
• The Fountain (2006)
• Synecdoche, New York (2008)     

Finally, before we begin watching the film, let's read a little bit from the final Jaws script. I'll point out some tips to consider when writing your future film scripts. Then we'll begin screening Jaws. See the handout for additional details about the significance of the film.

READING ASSIGNMENT #1 & Essay Test: Choose one film script to read from this website. As you read, examine the script for its narrative style (due March 9).

HOMEWORK: Your first journal paper is due Thursday. Please make sure you have it ready. See the post above for final details. We will complete Jaws next class as well.