Narration and focalization Source Jahn Narratology Narration Narration

Narration and focalization

Source: Jahn, Narratology

Narration • Narration is the telling of the story • The narrator tells the story – However, in electronic media the concept of narration is more problematic than in literature – There may be no single narrator • Filmic Composition Device • Some say there is no narrator at all • Others say that the ‘auteur’ is the narrator (usually the director)

Narration in film

Narration • Narration can come from ‘within’ the fictional world (“homodiegetic”) or ‘outside’ the fictional world (“heterodiegetic”) • Narration can be very obvious (“overt”) or may be hard to detect (“covert”) • The narrator may take the viewpoint of a character, may present the views of several characters or may approach the story from a godlike view (“omniscience”)

Homodiegetic narrative • The homodiegetic narrative is delivered by a story character—someone actively involved in the narrative. Usually, he then uses the firstperson pronoun in his address (but not always). He may be the protagonist or just a bit player, but he is somehow affecting or affected by the actions going on in the story. – First-person shooters take this visual perspective

Homodiegetic narrator • The author/auteur must decide which character will narrate. • The perspective of the narrator strongly influences what the audience member will see, hear and know about the plot, other characters, etc. – If a minor character is chosen, the information available to the audience may be quite limited.

Displacement of time • Homodiegetic narrators often tell a story about things that they experienced some time in the past – A common form of such narration gives an account of the narrator’s earlier life • The Wonder Years • Stand By Me • Titanic

Limitations of homodiegetic narration • “she is subject to 'ordinary human limitations'. . . she is restricted to a personal and subjective point of view; she has no direct access to (or authority on) events she did not witness in person; she can't be in two places at the same time. . . and she has no way of knowing for certain what went on in the minds of other characters”. • Jahn, Narratology

Unreliable narrators • Narrators you cannot trust to provide a full and accurate account are called ‘unreliable narrators’ • A common feature of first-person narration is that you can’t trust the narrator – Dishonest – Unstable – Forgetful – Mistaken – Biased

Heterodiegetic narration • Heterodiegetic narration comes from a narrator who is not a character in the story. • Heterodiegetic narrators vary widely in their knowledge and perspective. They may be restricted to the perspective of a single ‘person’ or may have ‘omniscience’— boundless ability to know all there is to know about the plot, characters, setting, etc. in a story.

Heterodiegetic narrative • “a homodiegetic narrator always tells a story of personal experience, whereas a heterodiegetic narrator tells a story about other people's experiences. ” (Jahn)

Overtness • How obvious (or overt) is the narration? An overt narrator is out in the open—a focus of the audience member’s attention. A hidden narrator is covert. • An overt narrator makes the telling or construction of the story an important focus for the audience

Textual elements that project narrative voice (Jahn): • “Content matter -- there are naturally and culturally appropriate voices for sad and happy, comic and tragic subjects (though precise type of intonation never follows automatically). • Subjective expressions -- expressions (or 'expressivity markers') that indicate the narrator's education, his/her beliefs, convictions, interests, values, political and ideological orientation, attitude towards people, events, and things. ”

• “Pragmatic signals -- expressions that signal the narrator's awareness of an audience and the degree of his/her orientation towards it. ”

Indicators of film narration • In film, television, videogames, etc. five main indicators of narration are present: • Voice over (VO) narration—an off-camera voice speaks to the audience member • Much more rarely, an onscreen narrator is present • The point of view of the camera • Intrusive visual effects • Onscreen writing • Much of the craft of traditional Hollywood style is in making the narration covert.

• Hitchcock makes it very clear to us. There's an objective and a subjective camera, like there's a third- and a first-person narrator in literature. Manuel Puig

How does the narrator address the audience? • The narrator can take the first-person or thirdperson position vis-à-vis the implied audience member. – Second-person is particularly difficult, but could theoretically be taken • An offscreen voice telling an amnesiac what he did as the camera demonstrates it

Paralepsis (Jahn) • An infraction caused by saying too much; a narrator assuming a competence she does not properly have; typically, a first-person narrator (or a historiographer) narrating what somebody else thought. . . or what happened when she was not present.

Paralipsis (Jahn) • An infraction caused by omitting crucial information; saying too little; typically, an authorial narrator pretending "not to know" what happened in her/his characters' minds, or what went on at the same time in another place, or distortively censoring a character's thought, or generally pretending to be restricted to ordinary human limitations.

• “Paralepsis and paralipsis are instances of violations of Grice's (1975) famous principle of co-operation -- the notion that speakers (narrators) are socially obliged to follow an established set of 'maxims': to give the right amount of information, to speak the truth, to speak to a purpose (tell something worth telling), to be relevant, etc. ”

Focalization • Focalization refers to the viewpoint from which the story is told – Usually the viewpoint of the narrator • omniscient • However, the viewpoint can be split from the narration – The narrator (or FCD) can focus on the story based on a character’s perspective

The omniscient narrator • The most common view taken in Western narratives (fiction or non-fiction) is a covert omniscient view. That is, the persons telling the tales are not obvious, are not characters in the story, and adopt an ‘omniscient’ or ‘godlike’ point of view • Audience members are privy to information about the plot (what events have occurred and what their relationships are), the characters (and what they are thinking), the setting, and the backstory. – The reader/audience member has information unavailable to any of the characters.

Advantages of omniscience • The viewer/reader can know things that are unknown to the characters • The position allows for evaluation of characters and their actions • The story can be more ‘expansive’—it can include a much wider set of characters, motives, actions • In some cases, the distance between the audience member and the characters is a good thing

Internal focalization • “The technique of presenting something from the point of view of a story-internal character is called internal focalization. The character through whose eyes the action is presented is called an internal focalizer” • Jahn, Narratology

Internal Focalization • Though not actually a character in the story, the narrator takes on the perspective of a story character and relates the story from that person’s perspective. • The narrator ‘gets inside the head’ of that character, often relating their fears, beliefs, etc. to the implied audience member.

Internal focalization • “One of the main effects of internal focalization is to attract attention to the mind of the reflector-character and away from the narrator and the process of narratorial mediation. ” (Jahn)

Representing focalization • Focalization can be represented by over-theshoulder camera shots, shot-reverse shot representations of interactions among characters, focus on a character looking into the distance then turning to adopt the sightline of the looker, etc. • Internal thoughts represented by VO

Camerawork (Jahn) • “gaze shot • A picture of a character looking ('gazing') at something not currently shown. A gaze shot is usually followed by a POV shot (or sometimes it is preceded by a POV shot)”. • point of view shot, POV shot • “The camera assumes the position of a character and shows the object of his or her gaze. “

• “over-the-shoulder shot • The camera gets close to, but not fully into, the viewing position of a character. . . • reaction shot • A shot showing a character reacting (with wonder, amusement, annoyance, horror, etc. ) to what s/he has just seen. ”

Shifting narration and focalization • Narration can shift within a given text— perhaps between omniscient and first-person or from one character to another. • Focalization shifts very commonly in electronic media texts • Shifting narrative position is very common in electronic media.