1. Alternative Narrative
Structures

2. Frame Narrative
The Notebook

3. • Titanic
• The Princess Bride
• Raging Bull
• Citizen Kane
• The Life of Pi
• Inception
• Slumdog Millionaire
Frame Narrative

4. Episodic Narrative
The 400 Blows

5. Open-ended Narrative
Inception

6. • The 400 Blows
• The Graduate
• Manhattan
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Taxi Driver
• Mulholland Drive
• City Lights
Open-ended Narrative

7. Nonlinear Narrative
Pulp Fiction

8. • 500 Days of Summer
• Annie Hall
• Memento
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Blue Valentine
• The Prestige
• Citizen Kane
Nonlinear Narrative

9. Three-Act and Nonlinear
500 Days of Summer

10. Network Narrative
Crash

11. • Pulp Fiction
• Love Actually
• Traffic
• Babel
• The Help
• Diner
• Hannah and Her Sisters
Network Narrative

12. Variations on Narrative
Conventions

13. • Clarity
• Unity
• Characters
• Closure
Conventions

14. Viewers should not be confused about
setting, time, events, or character
motivations.
Conventions: Clarity
Forest Gump

15. Lack of Clarity
Donnie Darko

16. • Mulholland Drive
• Rashomon
• Citizen Kane
• Fight Club
• Adaptation
• Synechdoche, New York
• The Tree of Life
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
Lack of Clarity

17. Connections between cause and effect must
be direct and complete.
Conventions: Unity
Spiderman (2002)

18. Lack of Unity
Mulholland Drive

19. • Last Year at Marienbad
• Memento
• Reservoir Dogs
• Synechdoche, New York
• Upstream Color
Lack of Unity

20. They should invite viewer identification, be
active, and seek goals.
Conventions: Characters
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

21. Unconventional Characterization
The Wolf of Wall Stree

22. • Taxi Driver
• There Will Be Blood
• Drive
• A Clockwork Orange
• The Graduate
• Blue Jasmine
• Young Adult
Unconventional Characterization

23. Third acts and epilogues should tie up loose
ends and answer all questions.
Conventions: Closure
The Shawshank Redemption

24. Open-ended Narrative
Inception