Classic hollywood narrative

1. THE CLASSIC
HOLLYWOOD NARRATIVE
AND NARRATIVE THEORY

2. Basic structure of the Classic Hollywood Narrative
Beginning – Includes main characters and the
actual place it is set in. Introduces central
characters and expresses personalities. Sets the
scene and the problem (disequilibrium).
Middle – In depth conceptualisation of problem.
Attempt to restore equilibrium.
Ending – Restoration of equilibrium/original state
of order

3. HOLLYWOOD AND THE STUDIO SYSTEM
•The terms ‘Hollywood’ and ‘studio system’ had their
origins in the 1920s and matured within the 1930s.
•The studio system was a mature oligopoly (a few large
organisations dominating the market) of vertically
integrated companies who produced films in a manner
similar to the production lines of Henry Ford.
•Through the division of labour, studios were able to
organised their workers to perform more efficiently in
that they could concentrate on one or two skilled or
semi-skilled tasks as opposed to a wide range of
specialist tasks.
•In some studios, units were set up within the system so
that the producer got to work with the same director,
stars and crew over several films.

4. A picture (main feature) = 90 mins or more run time, a
budget of $500,000.
B picture = under 90 mins, budget $200,000.
Films are conceived as individual products which are
put together by a producer as a ‘package’ of a story,
stars and a director and crew. There are a number of
ways in which a the package can by financed, but for
big budget films the deal will nearly always involve on
of the major studios.
During the 1930s, Hollywood was dominated by 5
studios:
· Paramount
· MGM
· Twentieth Century Fox
· Warner Bros
· RKO

5. These companies were known as the majors or the
‘big five’. Universal and Columbia were the
minors. An eighth studio of note was United Artists
who owned no facilities and was effectively a
financier and distributor.
Q How many of the companies do you recognise?
To what extent do you think the majors and
minors have changed over the decades since the
1930s?
There were a number of other smaller studios and
distributors (Disney, Republic and Monogram are
the best known) but the industry recognised the 8
majors and minors as dominant because they could
guarantee access to ‘first-run’ cinemas (those who
took new films only) for all their product. The
majors made their money from exhibiting their own
films in their own cinemas.

6. STUDIOS BECAME RECOGNISABLE THROUGH:
The genre – downbeat and gritty for Warner's,
glamorous and glossy for MGM.
The style that went with the genre: low-key
lighting for Warner; high-key for MGM.
The contract stars – Gable and Garbo for MGM,
Cagney and Davis for Warner. The directors and other
creative personnel would also be recognisable; Michael
Curtiz or William Wellman at Warner, George Cukor or
King Vidor at MGM.
An important feature of the studio system was the
development of particular narrative styles and
techniques which are commonly defined as continuity
editing and the classic Hollywood narrative.

7. THE CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD NARRATIVE
From the 1930s the cinematic image was subservient to
the requirements of a specific type of narrative
structure. The structure of events were commonly
organised around enigma (problem or puzzle) and
resolution.
The film works through:
• Attempting to restore ‘order’ through resolution of the
world of fiction.
Therefore:
• Events are subject to order of cause and effect, logical
whereby each event of narrative is linked to the next.
• Reinforcing or supporting dominant values that are
held within society.

8. REALIST ASPECTS CREATED BY:
1) Construction of verisimilitude (something that is
true to life, has an authentic look or feel within the
fictional world). Creating an understandable
world for audience in terms of time, space and
place.
2) Events are pushed forward by believable characters
(e.g. narrative agents).
• CHN is defined by a high degree of narrative
closure
• An ideal narrative is a story with a Beginning,
middle and an end with every Question
answered.

9. COMMON FEATURES OF THE CHN:
1. Propel narrative from beginning to end.
2. Casual link of events is clear.
3. Construction of credible, fictional world.
4. Characters that are established and sustained
throughout the narrative.
5. Conforms to continuity system.

10. WHAT DO WE EXPECT TO SEE IN CHN?
• Motivated by a narrative agent
• Falls into a particular genre
• Title sequence that establishes genre, narrative and
characterisation
• Equilibrium
• Films moved forward through cause and effect.

11. THE NARRATIVE AGENT/PROTAGONIST
• Character that moves story along. The story
develops through them and he/she tells the story.
• Presented as a hero/heroine supporting initial
equilibrium.
• Those who oppose their actions are
villains/antagonists and are given characteristics that
audiences disapprove of.
• Stars often establish themselves as a certain role e.g.
villain or hero creating an association with these
characters and roles.

12. Meaning is created for narrative agents by:
• Dress
• Speech
• Behaviour/action
• Relationships
• NVC
• Lighting
• Camera work (type of shots, angles).
In the studio system, each studio had a contractor
‘roster’ of stars, chosen and then groomed to fit the
genres and styles of that studio. Stars today are
largely controlled by agents and managers though
still find themselves confined to certain genres and
roles e.g. Hugh Grant is the unlikely British hero.

13. IMPLICATIONS OF THE CHN
• Passive audience led from beginning to end to
inevitable conclusion already sketched in their
mind.
• Preferred Reading – film organised to support a
particular viewing
• One truth dominated the story – all conflicts shown
as falsehoods, cannot exist.
• Predominance of male NA that ensures women
are rarely allowed to motivate a story.
• Individuality is favoured over group unity – Hero
symbolise triumphant authority, law and order
and stable set of values.
• Attempts to hide the ‘construction’ of the text –
camera is hidden, flow is seamless. We enter the
film world and accept all messages.

14. Todorov’s Theory of Equilibrium
Tzvetan Todorov simplified the idea of narrative
theory whilst also allowing a more complex
interpretation of film texts with his theory of
Equilibrium and Disequilibrium.
The theory is simply this:
• The fictional environment begins with a state of
equilibrium(everything is as it should be)
• It then suffers some disruption (disequilibrium)
• New equilibrium is produced at the end of the
narrative

15. Todorov’s Theory of Equilibrium
There are five stages the narrative can progress
through:
1) A state of equilibrium (all is as it should be)
2) A disruption of that order by an event
3) A recognition that the disorder has occurred
4) An attempt to repair the damage of the
disruption
5) A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium

16. Todorov’s Theory of Equilibrium
• Here narrative is not seen as a linear structure but
a circular one.
• The narrative is driven by attempts to restore the
equilibrium.
• However, the equilibrium attained at the end of
the story is not identical to the initial equilibrium.
• Todorov argues that narrative involves a
transformation. The characters or the situations are
transformed through the progress of the disruption.
• The disruption itself usually takes place outside the
normal social framework, outside the ‘normal’ social
events.
• E.g. a murder happens and people are terrified
Someone vanishes and the characters have to solve
the mystery

17. Todorov’s Theory of Equilibrium
So, remember:
• Narratives don’t need to be linear.
• The progression from initial equilibrium to
restoration always involves a transformation.
• The middle period of a narrative can depict actions
that transgress everyday habits and routines.
• There can be many disruptions whilst seeking a
new equilibrium (horror relies on this
technique).

18. Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes believed a text is like a tangled ball
of threads which needs unravelling so we can
separate out the colours.
Once we start to unravel a text, we encounter an
absolute plurality of potential meanings.
In basic terms, Barthes states that texts may be
'open' (ie unravelled in a lot of different ways) or
'closed' (there is only one obvious thread to pull on).
Barthes theory is based on the solving of a
problem/enigma as a focus of the narrative

19. Roland Barthes
Barthes work also focused on the use of codes that
interweave within narratives to create suspense.
These codes are split into 2 categories:
• The hermeneutic code or ENIGMA CODE
• The proairetic code or ACTION CODE

20. Roland Barthes
The hermeneutic code or ENIGMA CODE:
• Refers to any element in a story that is not
explained and, therefore, exists as an enigma for the
reader, raising questions that demand explication.
• In essence, the Enigma Code refers to the suspense
created through unanswered questions
• Most stories hold back details in order to increase
the effect of the final revelation of all truths. We
tend not to be satisfied by a narrative unless all
"loose ends" are tied;
•However, narratives often frustrate the early
revelation of truths, offering the reader only an
evasion of the truth, mixtures of truth and lies,
partial answers or suspended answers.

21. Roland Barthes
The proairetic code or ACTION CODE:
• Refers to the other major structuring principle that
builds interest or suspense on the part of a reader or
viewer. The proairetic code applies to any action
that implies a further narrative action.
• For example, a gunslinger draws his gun on an
adversary and we wonder what the resolution of this
action will be. We wait to see if he kills his opponent
or is wounded himself. Suspense is thus created by
action rather than by a reader's or a viewer's wish to
have mysteries explained.
• This code refers to the anticipation of an action’s
resolution

22. Levi Strauss – Binary Oppositions
Levi Strauss’ theory referred to the structure of
narrative.
• This theory focuses on the constant creation of
conflict/opposition propels narrative
• This results in the narrative only ending on a
resolution of the conflict
• Opposition can be visual (light/darkness,
movement/stillness) or conceptual (love/hate,
control/panic), and to do with soundtrack
• Common binary oppositions include good vs evil,
youth vs age, rich vs poor, man vs woman
• Binary oppositions are often used to represent the
restoration of order in society, linking in with
dominant ideology e.g. the evil characters are
always punished