The Basic Principles of Film Narrative Structure: Linear, Non-linear and Anti-linear

Narrative has always been a theme of literary works, and since the emergence and development of movies, the concept of narrative has been gradually extended to movie works. The Dictionary of Motion Pictures defines narrative structure as "the comprehensive combination and arrangement of characters, action, and plot clues". That is to say, in the system of narrative (whether it is a literary work or a movie), the plot, characters and time can be arranged artificially. Generally, the most traditional narrative structure is composed of four parts: "beginning-development-climax-end", which is strictly organized in accordance with the time direction of reality, and this kind of traditional narrative is regarded as linear narrative. Film is the art of time and space, although linear narrative has always been the golden rule practiced by Hollywood films, however, since the development of structuralist narrative in the last century, film theory has been raised to a new level, and filmmakers have made breakthroughs in the practice of film, breaking the inherent "closed structure", "happy ending", and "happy ending" of the classic narratives.

From the perspective of narrative structure, movie structure can be divided into the most basic linear, non-linear and anti-linear narratives. These are the three most basic structural principles of film narrative, on which the next few articles, "Narrative Space and Time in Film" and "Basic Classification of Film Narrative Structure" are based. The purpose of this article is to give a brief introduction to each of these three structural principles.

I. Linear Narrative

The earliest conceptualization of linear narrative can be traced back to Aristotle's Poetics, where he mentions the completeness of the narrative in Chapter 7: "The so-called completeness refers to the fact that the matter has a head, a body, and a tail. By 'head' is meant that which does not necessarily follow from something else, but which naturally causes something else to happen; by 'tail' is meant, on the contrary, that which follows something according to the law of necessity or possibility, but which does not cause something else to happen; The 'body' is that which bears something upwards and also causes something to happen downwards."

This can basically be seen as the earliest conceptual definition of linear narrative. Here Aristotle emphasizes two core ideas of classical narratology. That is, the causal logic of inner structure and the linear form of outer structure.

It is worth noting that although the current terms about linear and non-linear have long been widely used, yet there is no authoritative conceptual definition. Before we attempt to define linear narrative here, we first need to clarify a few issues, so as to approach the core of linear narrative step by step.

It can be seen that linear is just a metaphor, meaning that the narrative is closely connected, in time.

The first question: what if the narrative is not one line, but two? I.e., a double thread or multi-line narrative, is this a linear narrative?

The second question: if the narrative contains flashbacks, is this a linear narrative? And furthermore, what if there are flashbacks and interludes?

To answer the first question:

It is generally believed that if the narrative contains two or even more clues, then the narrative can be basically judged to be non-linear. Because the single line has been broken. A single direction of time no longer exists, the audience followed the director to another space or another time on the character of the narrative.

To answer the second question:

The flashbacks are characterized by obvious hints and relative completeness, with voice-over, from the close-up of the face into the flashbacks and other techniques suggesting that the clues are clear and easy for the audience to accept. Flashbacks are still essentially the classic linear narrative. The purpose of using flashbacks is to better serve the linear narrative of parataxis. It is true as Godard said, "I recognize that a film will have the stages of beginning, development, and climax, but their order is not necessarily always the same." Interludes serve a similar purpose to flashbacks, which will be covered in more detail next in The Narrative Timing of Cinema (this sentence belongs to the pre-narrative).

Not so with flashbacks. The flashback seems abrupt, brief and internalized. It is a much more deft, fully cinematic narrative technique. Flashbacks are essentially irrational, illogical narrative devices. Its abruptness and mentalization are important features of non-linear narratives. Therefore, if a movie uses flashbacks as a narrative device, it can be concluded that it is a non-linear narrative.

Why did you add "generally" to the answer to the first question? The above is only from a theoretical point of view, however, the most critical aspect of a work is the audience's reaction. It is with this in mind that McKee offers his understanding and distinguishes between linear and non-linear time:

Similarly, multi-stranded narratives can be viewed in the same way. If the narrative system, apart from the multiple threads, strictly adheres to several important features of linear narratives, such as the "logic of reality", "causality", "closed ending", "single protagonist", "single story", and "single story", then the narrative system can be viewed in the same way. A "single protagonist" with clear clues is easy for the audience to accept, so we can still classify it as a linear narrative. For example, "The Godfather 2", Coppola double-clue advancement, so that the father and son of the two generations of responsibility and affection, violence and ambition on the screen, in addition to the double-clue other parts of the strict adherence to the basic principles of linear narrative, so we still see it as a linear narrative, but is a linear compound line structure.

It is also worth mentioning the extreme manifestation of the linear structure, which is a return to the "trinity" of dramatic art, that is, the high degree of unity of time, place and event.

At this point we can do a conceptual definition of linear narrative:

Linear narrative is a classic narrative device, which focuses on the completeness of the story, the unity of space and time, the causality of the plot and the coherence of the narrative, the audience is easy to accept. The existence of flashbacks is to better serve the linear narrative. If the tension of the plot is only to take multiple lines of advancement can also be regarded as a linear narrative.

If you look at the clues, linear narrative can be divided into linear single line and linear complex line.

Linear single line: that is, a single uninterrupted narrative. Such as "12 Angry Men", "The Godfather 1", "Shawshank Redemption"

Linear complex line: the traditional Chinese chapter book novels have long been there - "flowers bloom twice, each with a branch", the movie has a double clue "The Godfather 2"

The second non-linear narrative can be divided into linear single line and linear complex line. p> Second, non-linear narrative

Aristotle's definition of tragedy and his thoughts on narrative integrity have influenced the history of Western art for more than two thousand years. Linear narrative has long dominated the narrative style of literature and theater. Since the beginning of the last century, modernism has replaced realism, and a wave of anti-traditionalism has been set off in both art and literary history, with absurdism and stream of consciousness becoming the order of the day.

In 1895, Lumière's screening of "Train in the Station" officially marked the creation of the movie (which we all learned in high school history), and the late 19th and early 20th centuries were the time when modernism was born, so the factor of non-linear narrative was buried at the beginning of the birth of the movie.

The earliest example of a non-linear narrative in the history of cinema can be traced back to Griffith's The Party's Over. People often talk about this movie and lament the infinite bleakness and debt it brought Griffith. At the time, people were completely unable to understand the film's narrative - four completely unrelated stories cross-cutting and connected only by the same theme. This thematic-juxtaposition of narratives (Milan Kundera called it polyphony) is gradually becoming more comprehensible to us in modern times as the audience's comprehensibility improves, and critics are even more appreciative of it because it's a step forward in terms of narrative structure. 2013's Cloud Atlas, for example, consists of six unrelated stories connected by just one ****ing theme. It can be said that its structure is basically similar to that of "The Party is Over," an "orange petal" thematic-juxtaposition created by Griffith as early as 1919. One step ahead of the times is genius; three steps ahead of the times is tragic. We can't help but marvel at Griffith's genius and bravery.

Since the previous article has made a clearer conceptual definition and analysis of linear narrative, the main features of non-linear narrative can be introduced in reverse. Namely:

"non-realistic mental structure" instead of "realistic matter-of-fact structure"

"contingency" instead of " causality"

"open endings" instead of "closed endings"

"spatio-temporal chaos" instead of "temporal and spatial unity"

"plot fragmentation" instead of "plot coherence"

Non-linearity is the omission, repetition, and rewinding of time, with flashbacks as its primary means. The main starting point of the non-linear narrative lies in the psychology of the characters, rather than the reality of the matter, with the character's memories of random jumps in space and time, the plot is incomplete, the ending of a single certainty into ambiguity, the contingency has been enhanced.

Compared to the simple categorization of linear narrative single line and compound line, the construction of non-linear narrative structure seems to be complex.

Non-linear single line: a single clue incomplete narrative with breaks, omissions, flashbacks, flash-forwards. Such as "American Beauty", "Sunset Boulevard". It is also worth mentioning that movies with postmodern transcendental characteristics take a gradual retrospective storytelling approach, i.e., breaking the complete story into one segment and then flashbacks. Such as "Irrevocable", Nolan "Fragments of Memory", etc., although the story is more confusing, but he still conforms to a single narrative, that is, just around a single event in the narrative.

Non-linear complex line is more complex, the following only summarizes the common types of structural modes:

1. Play within a play

Also known as the image of the "Chinese set of boxes" or "Russian nesting dolls". That is, a story about making a movie. For example, Hong Sang-soo's "Ok-hee's Movie" and Carol Reisz's "The French Lieutenant's Woman"

2. Dual Time

That is, through memories or the use of some kind of unrealistic means to make the past and the present intertwine with each other, and contrast before and after. For example, "Hiroshima Love" (1959), Coppola's "The Godfather 2", Jay Chou's "Unspeakable Secrets"

3. Parallel Space-Time

Letting the protagonist of a story exist in another space-time at the same time through dreams, fantasies, parallel space-time, and other non-realistic factors, comparing it with the current real world, mainly breaks the singleness of the space and demonstrates another possibility of the world. Such as "Sliding Door", "Run Lola Run", "Blind Date", "Smoking/Non-Smoking".

4. Theme - juxtaposition

The first three stories have an obvious connection between them, and the audience is easy to accept. With thematic juxtaposition, the stories are unrelated to each other and are connected only by an implied theme. The audience needs to concentrate on watching the whole thing in order to analyze it by comparison and come up with the same thematic idea ****. For example, "The Same Party," "Cloud Atlas"

5. Dialogical polyphony

Different accounts of the same event, from multiple sides, multiple in-focus perspectives. The author is no longer an omniscient God, but has the same status as the main character. The characters are full of dialog between them, and a little bit of piecing together the truth, need the audience to judge for themselves. For example, "Citizen Kane" and "Rashomon"

6. Counterpoint polyphony

is the ultimate evolution of the fourth and fifth points of the production of the body, adopting a multi-perspective three-dimensional narrative, the story of the interconnectedness of the relationship between the relationship between the hidden, the average viewer for the complexity of the relationship between the characters will be confused. Examples include Lowlife, Crash, Crazy Race, and The Tempest is Coming. These films have gone so far in their narratives that they possess a deeper meaning of their own. They have a much deeper meaning of their own. Individual classifications and theories can no longer summarize them. For example, Low Fidelity can also be summarized by a non-linear mesh structure to its certain characteristics.

This is just a brief summary, and will be analyzed in the "Basic Classification of Film Narrative Structures" with film examples.

Third, the anti-linear narrative

Mostly used by the scattered culture film, poetic film, experimental film and other art films. These films are **** the same present a characteristic, that is, they do not respect the narrative, intentionally dilute the narrative, dilute the plot, dilute the relationship between the characters. More often than not, they express an emotion. For example, Wong Kar-wai's East Evil, West Poison, Kim Ki-duk's Bow, Tsai Ming-liang's Suburbia and so on.

The basic characteristics of the anti-linear narrative or can be borrowed from Tsai Ming-liang: "The shooting plan of The Outing, in fact, is just a means to an end, from the script to the shooting to the editing, after three years, my biggest homework, is to go to the story, to the plot, to the narrative, to the structure, and even to the role."

Then again, Kim Ki-duk's Bow, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Another Spring, and Drifting Room tend to set up an isolated scenario, such as a boat hanging alone on the sea, a few huts on the water that don't look at each other, and a temple in the mountains in isolation, so as to minimize the distraction of anything else from what's trying to be expressed.

Wong Kar-wai's "East Evil, West Poison", Jin Yong's book, Gu Long's imagery, scattered and light, relying entirely on the characters to jump back and forth psychologically, the narrative is scanty. This kind of narrative is generally very few lines, there are also not push back the plot development. Often joked that sunglasses king movie never rely on the script, just near the beginning of the hand to the actors a piece of paper, written on the paper a moment to say one or two lines.

The anti-linear narrative is to go to the story, to the plot, to the narrative, to the structure, and even to the characters. He does not emphasize the narrative, and expresses more perhaps just some kind of unspeakable unspeakable mind or philosophy. The non-linear narrative, despite the change in narrative techniques, but the nature of the narrative has not changed, on the contrary, because of its suspenseful buildup, the collision of chance, the increase in the narrative perspective, its narrative elements but to get strengthened.