Exam style question
'Explore the narrative structure of your three main texts' (30 marks)
In this essay I will explore the narrative structure within my three texts: Skyfall, Kingsman - The Secret Service and Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2. I will examine not only their structural approaches, but also the alternative means by which the signs tell their stories.
Skyfall's narrative structure focuses on 'Robert McKee's Classic Five Part Narrative' following the stages of 'The inciting incident, progressive complications, crisis, climax and resolution'. Each of these stages are shown throughout the film, beginning with the inciting incident.
- The inciting incident is shown through the opening sequence, when a chase takes place between Patrice, Bond and Moneypenny following a hard drive containing personal information on some of MI6's uncover agents. In order to stop Patrice from getting away Bond and Moneypenny chase him, but as Moneypenny misses Patrice and hits bond when firing a bullet, Bond falls and Patrice escapes.
- Progressive complications is shown through Bond being shot. During the fight scene where Moneypenny misses Patrice, she shoots bond leading to him falling into a river and being resumed dead.
- Crisis takes place when 5 undercover agents names are released to the public, with whoever is behind the operation threatening to release 5 new names every week. As the names of the undercover MI6 agents names are released it puts their lives in danger.
- Climax takes place when the two apposing forces (Bond and Silva) become face to face. After tracking down Silva, him and Bond finally come face to face, resulting in Silva being captured by MI6. As Silva manages to escape and the uncovering of his plans to kill M, the chase continues to again track down and capture Silva.
- Resolution takes place in one of the final scenes. As M and Bond take cover in Bonds childhood home 'Skyfall', it isn't long before Silva tracks down Bond; coming face to face for one final time. As M, Kincade and Bond manage to escape the attacks from Silva they travel through a secret tunnel to a chapel on the grounds. When Silva reaches the chapel, he forces his gun into M's hand, ordering her to kill them both. With Bond not far behind he through a knife into Silva's back, both him and M die from their injuries.
Following this theory we also learn that Skyfall shows linearity, showing the film through only Bonds perspective and storyline.
Similar to Skyfall, Kingsman: the Secret Service also focuses the narrative structure on 'Robert McKee's Classic Five Part Narrative', following the stages of 'The inciting incident, progressive complications, crisis, climax and resolution'. Each of these stages are shown throughout the film, beginning with the inciting incident.
- The inciting incident is shown through the character Eggsy causing trouble. Despite being highly intelligent, Eggsy left the marines and lives as a stereotypical chav.
- Progressive complications is shown when Eggsy gets let go from Kingsman. Despite making it far through the Kingsman training process, Eggsy is let go and returns back to his normal lifestyle.
- Crisis takes place when Harry Hart is killed. When Eggsy watches the video about the sim cards he discovers that something isn't right so works alongside Merlin and Roxy to help stop valentine on their own.
- Climax takes place when the battle begins. Eggsy is recognised and engages in a running fight with Valentines henchman. After fighting them off, Eggsy comes face to face in a battle with Gazelle, but after an intense fight manages to kill her and Valentine.
- Resolution takes place in the films final scene. Eggsy is offered a place as a Kingsman agent, also offering his mum a place away from her abusive partner Dean.
Following this theory we also learn that Kingsman shows linearity, showing the film through only Eggsy's perspective and storyline.
On the other hand Twilight follows a different approach. Instead of Robert McKee's theory, Twilight follows the stages of Todorov's Equilibrium Theory, 'Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition, Reparation, Restoration'. Each of these stages are shown through the film, beginning with equilibrium.
- Equilibrium is shown in the films opening scene, where Bella wakes up from her new transformation from human to vampire.
- Disruption takes place when they discover Renesmee's rapid growth. As Bella and Renesmee are out Irena spots them and believes that Renesmee is an immortal child (Immortal children were vampires who were changed in childhood, and because they could not be trained or restrained, they were capable of destroying entire villages).
- Recognition takes place when Irena reports the Cullen's to the Volturi, Alice then has the vision of the Volturi heading to kill the Cullen's. The Cullen's then begin to gather witnesses to help prove that Renesmee isn't an immortal child. They then begin to prepare for battle against the Volturi.
- Reparation takes place when the Cullen's prepare to fight, they only do this as they believe this is their last resort. When out in the battle field, Alice convinces the Volturi leader Aro that Renesmee isn't a threat, along with showing him what the outcome will be if the battle takes place. Convinced, the Volturi happily walk away without a fight.
- Restoration takes place in the films final scene where peace is restored. Alice takes a glimpse into the future revealing Edward and Bella together with Jacob and a fully matured Renesmee also together, Edward reads Alice's mind feeling relieved that Renesmee will always have Jacob to protect her.
Following this theory we also learn that Twilight shows a slightly different linearity to my there texts, although the story mainly follows the plot through Bella's perspective there are aspects of the film which show Alice's visions into the future, playing with the films chronology.
Skyfall also tells its story through binary opposites, codes, character types and genre conventions.
Binary opposites are shown through the relationship between Bond and Silva. This is portrayed through the typical Good vs Evil, Bond shown as the hero and Silva shown as the villain.
In Skyfall codes are also a way in which narrative is shown. One example of an action code is when M looks out of the window showing how she is upset when Bond is presumed dead. The Action codes show M's emotion through her body language and facial expression. One example of an enigma code is when Bond reacts to the word 'Skyfall' during a psychology assessment. Towards the end of the film we find out that Skyfall is associated with the place where bond stayed as a child when his parents had died, bringing up bad memories from his childhood. By using these codes it shows to the audience why these actions are being used, some keeping the audience in suspense throughout the film.
Kingsman also tells its story through binary opposites, codes and character types. Binary opposites are shown through the relationship between Eggsy and Valentine. This is also portrayed through the typical Good vs Evil, Eggsy being shown as the hero and Valentine as the villain, along with the binary opposite of young vs old. One example of an enigma code in Kingsman is through valentines sim cards. Part way through the film we learn about the sim cards which Valentine had produced, but we don't learn to later on in the film his intentions behind them and what they can be used for.
Twilight also tells its story through binary opposites, codes and character types. Binary opposites are shown through the relationship between Bella and the Volturi. This is also portrayed through the typical Good vs Evil, Bella being shown as the hero and the Volturi being shown as the villains, along with the binary opposite of man vs woman. One example of an enigma code which is used in twilight is in the films battle scenes. When the Cullen's prepare to battle against the Volturi, Alice looks into the future on what would happen if the battle was to take place. It isn't till after the fight scene that we discover that the battle was only a vision of Alice's and didn't actually take place.
In conclusion I have found that films not only tell their story through the narrative structure, they also tell them through different codes. Although each of my films have a slightly different approach in terms of content and codes, they all stick to the similar structures to Robert McKee's Classic Five Part Narrative and Todorov's Equilibrium Theory.
In this essay I will explore the narrative structure within my three texts: Skyfall, Kingsman - The Secret Service and Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2. I will examine not only their structural approaches, but also the alternative means by which the signs tell their stories.
Skyfall's narrative structure focuses on 'Robert McKee's Classic Five Part Narrative' following the stages of 'The inciting incident, progressive complications, crisis, climax and resolution'. Each of these stages are shown throughout the film, beginning with the inciting incident.
- The inciting incident is shown through the opening sequence, when a chase takes place between Patrice, Bond and Moneypenny following a hard drive containing personal information on some of MI6's uncover agents. In order to stop Patrice from getting away Bond and Moneypenny chase him, but as Moneypenny misses Patrice and hits bond when firing a bullet, Bond falls and Patrice escapes.
- Progressive complications is shown through Bond being shot. During the fight scene where Moneypenny misses Patrice, she shoots bond leading to him falling into a river and being resumed dead.
- Crisis takes place when 5 undercover agents names are released to the public, with whoever is behind the operation threatening to release 5 new names every week. As the names of the undercover MI6 agents names are released it puts their lives in danger.
- Climax takes place when the two apposing forces (Bond and Silva) become face to face. After tracking down Silva, him and Bond finally come face to face, resulting in Silva being captured by MI6. As Silva manages to escape and the uncovering of his plans to kill M, the chase continues to again track down and capture Silva.
- Resolution takes place in one of the final scenes. As M and Bond take cover in Bonds childhood home 'Skyfall', it isn't long before Silva tracks down Bond; coming face to face for one final time. As M, Kincade and Bond manage to escape the attacks from Silva they travel through a secret tunnel to a chapel on the grounds. When Silva reaches the chapel, he forces his gun into M's hand, ordering her to kill them both. With Bond not far behind he through a knife into Silva's back, both him and M die from their injuries.
Following this theory we also learn that Skyfall shows linearity, showing the film through only Bonds perspective and storyline.
Similar to Skyfall, Kingsman: the Secret Service also focuses the narrative structure on 'Robert McKee's Classic Five Part Narrative', following the stages of 'The inciting incident, progressive complications, crisis, climax and resolution'. Each of these stages are shown throughout the film, beginning with the inciting incident.
- The inciting incident is shown through the character Eggsy causing trouble. Despite being highly intelligent, Eggsy left the marines and lives as a stereotypical chav.
- Progressive complications is shown when Eggsy gets let go from Kingsman. Despite making it far through the Kingsman training process, Eggsy is let go and returns back to his normal lifestyle.
- Crisis takes place when Harry Hart is killed. When Eggsy watches the video about the sim cards he discovers that something isn't right so works alongside Merlin and Roxy to help stop valentine on their own.
- Climax takes place when the battle begins. Eggsy is recognised and engages in a running fight with Valentines henchman. After fighting them off, Eggsy comes face to face in a battle with Gazelle, but after an intense fight manages to kill her and Valentine.
- Resolution takes place in the films final scene. Eggsy is offered a place as a Kingsman agent, also offering his mum a place away from her abusive partner Dean.
Following this theory we also learn that Kingsman shows linearity, showing the film through only Eggsy's perspective and storyline.
On the other hand Twilight follows a different approach. Instead of Robert McKee's theory, Twilight follows the stages of Todorov's Equilibrium Theory, 'Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition, Reparation, Restoration'. Each of these stages are shown through the film, beginning with equilibrium.
- Equilibrium is shown in the films opening scene, where Bella wakes up from her new transformation from human to vampire.
- Disruption takes place when they discover Renesmee's rapid growth. As Bella and Renesmee are out Irena spots them and believes that Renesmee is an immortal child (Immortal children were vampires who were changed in childhood, and because they could not be trained or restrained, they were capable of destroying entire villages).
- Recognition takes place when Irena reports the Cullen's to the Volturi, Alice then has the vision of the Volturi heading to kill the Cullen's. The Cullen's then begin to gather witnesses to help prove that Renesmee isn't an immortal child. They then begin to prepare for battle against the Volturi.
- Reparation takes place when the Cullen's prepare to fight, they only do this as they believe this is their last resort. When out in the battle field, Alice convinces the Volturi leader Aro that Renesmee isn't a threat, along with showing him what the outcome will be if the battle takes place. Convinced, the Volturi happily walk away without a fight.
- Restoration takes place in the films final scene where peace is restored. Alice takes a glimpse into the future revealing Edward and Bella together with Jacob and a fully matured Renesmee also together, Edward reads Alice's mind feeling relieved that Renesmee will always have Jacob to protect her.
Following this theory we also learn that Twilight shows a slightly different linearity to my there texts, although the story mainly follows the plot through Bella's perspective there are aspects of the film which show Alice's visions into the future, playing with the films chronology.
Skyfall also tells its story through binary opposites, codes, character types and genre conventions.
Binary opposites are shown through the relationship between Bond and Silva. This is portrayed through the typical Good vs Evil, Bond shown as the hero and Silva shown as the villain.
In Skyfall codes are also a way in which narrative is shown. One example of an action code is when M looks out of the window showing how she is upset when Bond is presumed dead. The Action codes show M's emotion through her body language and facial expression. One example of an enigma code is when Bond reacts to the word 'Skyfall' during a psychology assessment. Towards the end of the film we find out that Skyfall is associated with the place where bond stayed as a child when his parents had died, bringing up bad memories from his childhood. By using these codes it shows to the audience why these actions are being used, some keeping the audience in suspense throughout the film.
Kingsman also tells its story through binary opposites, codes and character types. Binary opposites are shown through the relationship between Eggsy and Valentine. This is also portrayed through the typical Good vs Evil, Eggsy being shown as the hero and Valentine as the villain, along with the binary opposite of young vs old. One example of an enigma code in Kingsman is through valentines sim cards. Part way through the film we learn about the sim cards which Valentine had produced, but we don't learn to later on in the film his intentions behind them and what they can be used for.
Twilight also tells its story through binary opposites, codes and character types. Binary opposites are shown through the relationship between Bella and the Volturi. This is also portrayed through the typical Good vs Evil, Bella being shown as the hero and the Volturi being shown as the villains, along with the binary opposite of man vs woman. One example of an enigma code which is used in twilight is in the films battle scenes. When the Cullen's prepare to battle against the Volturi, Alice looks into the future on what would happen if the battle was to take place. It isn't till after the fight scene that we discover that the battle was only a vision of Alice's and didn't actually take place.
In conclusion I have found that films not only tell their story through the narrative structure, they also tell them through different codes. Although each of my films have a slightly different approach in terms of content and codes, they all stick to the similar structures to Robert McKee's Classic Five Part Narrative and Todorov's Equilibrium Theory.
Thanks Emily. I have printed this off and will feedback on the hard copy
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