Raiders of the Lost Ark: Conclusion

Please turn in your film pitch projects. (See previous post for details!)

We will view the conclusion of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Please complete your film notes and turn in by the end of class today. We will discuss the film at its conclusion.

• What elements make this film a good example of a summer blockbuster?
• What are the most memorable scenes or images from the film? Why?
• How might the film have inspired other "comic book" blockbuster films?
• If you were to write a blockbuster film script, what kind of shots or scenes might you include?
• Does the film have any value in our society today? Why might the film be considered one of the best films of all time? Explain.
• Other*

Elements of Narrative Film:

• Story: a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end focusing on one or more characters.
• Plot: the order of events and actions of a story.
• Characters: major characters and minor characters anchor the events of a narrative.
• Characters are generally a mid-point between ordinary and extraordinary. They can represent ideas (minor characters usually) or stand in for the typical movie-going viewer (major; protagonist). Antagonists generally reflect the opposite aspects of the protagonist.
• Characterization can include the values, actions, behaviors of the character; actors, directors, and writers tend to represent characters, sometimes through stereotypes or archetypes.
• Characters are developed through a change of status. This may be an external or internal change. Change may be progressive (growth) or regressive.
• A film's narrative is affected by the diegetic and non-diegetic elements. 
• Narrative patterns can be linear storylines, flashbacks/flashforwards, or non-linear patterns.
• One temporal scheme in a narrative film is the deadline structure. This structure accelerates the action toward a central event or action that must be accomplished before the resolution. For example, how does this temporal scheme work in a film like Raiders of the Lost Ark?
• Parallel plots use two or more plots that occur simultaneously; they often intersect by the climax of the narrative.
• Narrative duration refers to the length of time within which an event or action is presented (shown) in the film.
• Frequency refers to how often plot elements repeat.
• Narrative frames depict the POV of a narrative. Often the camera determines whose POV we are supposed to identify with.
• The narrative can also be reflexive (commenting on itself--like The Disaster Artist), unreliable, or use multiple narrations. 
• Classical film narrative centers on one or more central characters who propel the plot with cause-and-effect logic, whereby an action generates a reaction. It usually develops a linear plot, with progressive characters. Acting, setting, and cinematography tend to be realistic in style. 
• Avant-garde or Formalistic film narrative tends to deviate from the classical/realistic narrative style. Plots are reflexive, or question/challenge realism; Expressionistic; plots, characters, settings may be metaphorical or symbolic. Camera work or photography tends to bring attention to itself. 

When writing about narratology, you want to examine your film's script for its narrative techniques. You should be able to identify the narrative style, the beginning, middle, and end of the plot; major events that provide meaning (duration/frequency, etc.), identify the use of characters, setting, meaning; identify the diegetic and non diegetic elements of the film, the structure of the plot, important scenes, and use the vocabulary listed here and in the articles you have read.

HOMEWORK: Read the handouts.