Narrative Structures

Closed Narrative
A closed narrative structure mans that
there are no loose ends and the
documentary has a clear conclusion and
has answered all questions that could be
asked.

Open Narrative
An open narrative structure is when the
documentary ends with unanswered
questions and all the ends are loose as they
havent been concluded, leaving the
audience to wonder.

Linear Structure
Having a linear narrative structure means
that the documentary follows a timeline of
events and the different pieces of the
documentary are shown chronologically in
order of time.

Non-Linear Structure
A non-linear narrative structure means that
there is no order to what is shown in the
documentary.

Single Strand
This is where the documentary follows one
story.

Multi Strand
A multi-strand narrative is where there are
more than one narrative strand being told
in the documentary and they can
sometimes overlap or be being told at the
same time.

Circular Narrative
A circular narrative strand is where a
documentary starts and finishes on the
same point. This can bring quick closure to
a documentary and not leave loose ends.

What Roland Barthes said about

Narrative Structure
Hermeneutic Code Not fully explained.
Proairlec Code Builds tension.
Semantic Code Connotation over the basic
meaning.
Cultural Code Canonical, assumed to be
the foundation for truth.

Todorov said about Narrative Structure

Most narratives have the same pattern
1. Equilibrium everything is content
2. Disruption something disrupts the
calm
3. Realisation where everyone realises
the problem
4. Restored Order where the
characters fix the problem
5. Equilibrium Restored once again
Propp said about Narrative Structure
7 Characters
Villain
Donor
Helper
Princess
False Hero
Dispatcher
Hero
What Levi-Strauss said about Narrative
Structure
After studying hundreds of myths and
legends form around the world, LeviStrauss observed that we make
sense of the worlds people and
events by seeking and using binary
opposites everywhere.
He observed that all narratives are
organised around the conflict
between such binary opposites.
Key Words: Mythemes, Mythological
time, Synchtony and dianctrony in
relation to myth.

Potential Narrative Structures to use:

Closed Narrative: this is a potential narrative structure we could use, as we want to answer any questions the audience could have in
order to let them draw their own conclusion along with their personal experiences with mental health.
+ Is suited to a clear informative approach and would suit the documentary style
+ Allows us to mediate the content and the opinion that the audience form
- Means we would have to draw a clear conclusion about a very broad and contested topic
Non-Linear Structure: this is a structure that we will most likely use for our documentary as there is no clear chronological order for our
topic, using a very loose non-linear structure would suit our documentary much more than a series of events shown in a chronological
order.
+ Allows us to present events and arguments in different orders than which they actually happened in (Eg. Vox Pops presented
before Interviews)
+ Allow for different opinions to be placed throughout the documentary
- This would mean a lack of continuity for the parts of the documentary such as Vox Pops
Multi-Strand: this is another narrative structure that we will most likely use in some way, it would mean we could have multiple
storylines looking at different people who have suffered from mental health.
+ Is suited to our documentary style as we would be able to focus on many different stories
+ Would allow us to include a variety of different interviews, news reports, and Vox Pops
- Could easily get confusing for the audience
Closed Narrative: this is one narrative structure that whilst being very interesting, would be very difficult to incorporate into our
documentary.
+ Similar to the closed narrative, we would be able to have a closed documentary with mediated content
- Due to us only producing the first 5 minutes of the documentary, created a circular, closed narrative in 5 minutes would be
incredibly difficult to incorporate and
ssssssssswould make the documentary drop in quality overall