Setting Setting There are two major settingsthe world

Setting

Setting • There are two major settings—the world of the narrator and the ‘story world’ or diegetic world – The story world is the time-space continuum within which the story action takes place – The discourse setting is the time-space continuum represented in the telling of the story

Setting • Each story will have a macro-setting, the space and time covered by the entire story – This can be centuries and wide ranges of solar systems, galaxies, etc. • Micro-settings: Individual scenes, episodes, etc. are likely to occur within much more limited time and space constraints

Macro-setting v. micro-setting • Macrosetting: Los Angeles in 1997 • Microsettings: – Home room in Riverdale High School, November 17 – Gym class the same day – The protagonist’s bedroom, 10 PM that night – The protagonist’s bedroom, 7 PM on Saturday of the following weekend

• The micro-setting refers to the time, place and immediate surroundings within which a single chunk of story action takes place – For example: • a large tent in the Sahara Desert in 1904 • within a spaceship traveling to Mars in the autumn of 2027 • a corporate office building in New York City, February 2008 • Gondor in Middle Earth in the Third Age

Conditions • Time and place can be seen to determine weather, technology, social structure, culture, etc. – Small town v. suburbia v. inner city – Ancient Rome v. contemporary Rome – Revolutionary United States v. Revolutionary Russia

A major distinction • Is the setting for the narrative – Realistic? – Fantastic?

Realistic settings • Realistic settings either are, or follow the rules of, actual physical places and times where real people could be found—not just story characters • They vary in the distance from the audience in terms of time, space, culture and experience • Historical v. contemporary • Foreign v. domestic • Poor v. rich v. middle class – Characters in realistic settings may be either real or fictional and may be either realistic or fantastic

Realistic settings • Even real places that are distant from the audience and follow very different rules than the audience member is used to can seem ‘fantastic’ – Audiences must learn the crucial rules of the setting to understand the plot and characters – The setting may seem so foreign and unbelievable to the audience member as to act as a fantasy setting • Rwanda

Realistic settings • The depth of detail provided and the ‘correctness’ of that detail will significantly impact the audience experience of realism and influence their suspension of disbelief – Some directors/art directors are obsessed with providing realistic presentations of historic or contemporary settings • 1945 Japanese submarine toilet seat

Simple v. elaborate settings • Sometimes very simple settings are used in order to avoid drawing attention away from the plot and the characters – THX 1138

Fantastic settings • Fantastic settings are those that do not follow the laws of physics, etc. as we understand them • They are often, but not always, inhabited by fantastic characters – Magic – Science unknown to us (future advances)

Setting and exposition • The more psychologically ‘distant’ from the audience the setting is, the more exposition will be needed to allow the audience member to follow the narrative – Germany during the Dark Ages may well be more foreign to a contemporary audience than the surface of the Moon

Setting and character • Character is intimately tied to setting – Certain character types are appropriate for certain settings – Attitudes and behavior that are appropriate in one setting would be unacceptable in another – Features of the setting may provide clues to the personality of various characters

Setting and plot • “a setting delimits the possible actions in a narrative. As such, the setting is connected to the plot, as the delimitation of actions has a part to play in the nature of the possible plot. ” • (Talib, Narrative Theory) – Forms of escape – Available choices to satisfy motivations – Chance factors • Traffic accidents

The setting sets limits on narrative action • The state of technology • Social rules of custom and ethics • The physical layout of buildings, etc.

• The most significant requirement is that rules must be consistent – Magic must have limits and magical powers must follow rules – Too much magic, fantasy, etc. will strain the audience’s acceptance even of a fantastic setting

• Social or physical conflict is inherent in many settings – Events always occur in a given time and place • Many stories are based on the presence of the characters at significant historical events

Stereotypical settings • As is true of character types, there a number of stereotypical settings – Western saloon – Hospital emergency room – Battlefield – Haunted house – Fraternity house

Settings may determine the tone of the narrative • • CSI, CSI: New York, CSI: Miami Metropolis v. Gotham City The Shining Gladiator Heroes Brothers and Sisters ER A History of Violence

Law and Order