#narrative continuity

[tomthefanboy]

TFW Brotherhood references events from Master and Apprentice.

[ihatesriptwriting]

NARRATIVE FUCKING CONTINUITY/INTEGRATION

1907 - 1913

What is narrative continuity ?

Narrative = story

Continuity = linear fashion

Narrative continuity = telling a story in chronological order.

”When we’re in the story, when we’re part of it, we can’t know the outcome. It’s only later that we think we can see what the story was. But do we ever really know ? And does anybody else, perhaps, coming along a little later, does anybody else really care ?... History is written by the survivors, but what is that history ? That’s the point I was trying to make just now. We don’t know what the story is when we’re in it, and even after we tell it we’re not sure. Because the story doesn’t end.”   -James Robertson, “And the Land Lay Still”

Why did a trend towards narrative continuity emerge in 1907 - 1913 ?

Emergence of permanent theaters

First full film reel

Stable film industry emerging.

Characteristics of narrative continuity;

Causality

Linear

Basic continuity editing

Actors looking into the camera becomes taboo

Dramatic expression

Focus on characterisation

Focus on the psychology of characters.

Continuity editing;

Narrative based editing;

Invisible

Continuous

Smooth transition

Temporal and spatial continuity;

Match on action

Cross-cutting/parallel action

Dissolves/fades

Establishing shots

180° rule

Eye-line match

Shot/reverse shot.

Cinema of narrative integration;

Longer films (early feature films)

A cinema of storytelling

A cinema of voyeurism

Use of close-ups, point of view shots and parallel editing

Emphasis on ‘telling’

Developing into an industry.

Celebrated figures of narrative film;

D.W. Griffith “The Father of narrative film“

Charlie Chaplin “The Teacher of us all”

Lillian Gish “The Pioneer of screen-acting”.

Biographe shorts;

The Adventures of Dollie (1908)

Movement from one location to an entirely different one (parallel editing)

Cut from one space to another one close by (interior to exterior)

Cut from one shot which includes space of the preceding shot (close up).

Parallel editing in D.W. Griffith’s films;

Cutting between two spaces in which actions are occurring simultaneously

Cutting between two spaces in which actions are not happening in the same time

Contrast

Conveying a character’s motivation

Joining characters separated by space.

Filmography (all links to full movie on YouTube)

-The Adventures of Dollie (1908) Dir. D.W. Griffith

Related films (all links to full movie on YouTube)

-The Great Train Robbery (1903) Dir. Edwin S. Porter.

-Rescued by Rover (1905) Dir. Cecil Hepworth.

-A Corner in Wheat (1909) Dir. D.W. Griffith.

-The Lonedale Operator (1911) Dir. D.W. Griffith.

-The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) Dir. D.W. Griffith.

-The Birth of a Nation (1915) Dir. D.W. Griffith.

-Intolerance (1916) Dir. D.W. Griffith.

-Broken Blossoms (1917) Dir. D.W. Griffith.

-Way Down East (1920) Dir. D.W. Griffith.

-Orphans of the Storm (1921) Dir. D.W. Griffith.

-The Kid (1921) Dir. Charlie Chaplin.

-The Gold Rush (1925) Dir. Charlie Chaplin.

Early fucking cinema (here)

The fucking cinema of attraction (here)

Silent fucking comedies (here)

German fucking expressionism (here)

Soviet fucking montage (here)

Film fucking noir (here)

Hollywood fucking melodrama (here)

Direct fucking cinema and cinéma fucking vérité (here)

Fucking documentary (here)

New fucking Hollywood (here)