Narrative

• A way of structuring meaning in the form of a story
• A sense of sequence of events in some kind of temporal order
• Inference of casual connections between events

But also Narrative refers to the way in which particular generalised stories circulate widely within a culture and are seen as valid and predictable, also referred to as ideology by media and cultural analysts.

Key Elements of Story

• Controllng idea
• Character
• Conflict (Competing goals)
• Structure (Progression)
• Character change/growth

What is a controlling idea? Mckee – Value + Cause

Character

It’s important to confirm, Who’s story is it?

Who is the protagonist and antagonist?

Protagonists

• Doesn’t die
• Is the one whose life is made difficult
• Is the person whose head we are inside
• Is the person who changes the most
• Usually drives the action
• Whoever speaks in voiceover is the protagonist
• Is central to the story’s dramatic high/turning points
• There can be more than one

Antagonists

• More than one?
• Need not to be the protagonists enemy but always cause change or trouble for them
• Not necessarily less interesting than the protagonist, often the story is written for them
• Powerfully driven and their wishes are in opposition to the protagonist
• Better depicted from the outside

Conflict=drama. There’s external and internal competing goals physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.

Structure and Progression

How do you build in a structure so the audience is kept entertained “flattering the viewer” in their knowledge of the events and leading them places through their knowledge.

Look into how stories are structured (Like Lord of the Rings)

Act 1- Establishes the setup (characters relationships, situation, and the dominant problem they will face)

Act 2- Escalates the complications in relationships as the central character struggles with the obstacles that prevent them from solving the problem

Act 3 Intensifies the situation to a point of climax

500 days of Summer interesting film ideas relating to readings

500 days of Summer was a really interestingly edited film, and a great deal of thought went into Symbolism and cinematography that would often go unnoticed.

An example of this is its use of colour. As noticed by Reddit user bonkeyfonkey,

We notice that the main character Tom’s character and often his world is very brown, as if to symbolise a different season.

Whereas Summer is seen as being very blue.

We also find that when Tom begins a relationship with Summer, the world and character surrounding Tom begin to have a blue colour scheme as well

Other than the blatant colour symbolism, the cinematography in the film I found to be really interesting and captivating. For example the dancing scene as shown above really captures the emotions being conveyed.

As Tony Zhou communicated in the “How does an Editor think and feel” video many scenes expressed the emotion the characters were feeling predominantly through their eyes, like the shot of Summer above.

I quite liked one of the simple techniques that Eric Steelberg used to show Toms expectation of meeting Summer again compared to the reality, as he simply filmed each and put them side by side, as shown below.

This techniques relates to the text studied “Blood in the Gutter” by Scott McCloud as well, because it works similar to that of a comic strip using the Scene to Scene technique, transporting the idea of these two different realities, and putting them side by side.

The Clarity of the Craftsman

This article seems to be backing up what was stated in the lecture, having a passion for you career.

Bluegrass is a type of music that this character Jordan Tice produces. He lives in a rundown home, but he had his first record deal in High School. He’s passionate about the music.

“Musicians’ career paths are idiosyncratic, often relying on unusual circumstances and lucky breaks early in life.”

‘Be so good they can’t ignore you.'”

Jordan Tice was happy to spend hour search day busting his ass working on his skills to become amazing, in a rundown old messy flat.

The passion mindset focuses on

• the question of who they are and connecting it to work
• what the world can offer you.
• Makes you questions who you are, and what you want, which is impossible to answer,

The craftsman mindset focuses on

• what you can offer the world
• leaving behind self-centred concerns about whether your job is “just right”
• Putting your head down and working at becoming your best.

You shouldn’t envy the craftsman mindset, you should emulate it.

Fighting the cloud of external distractions is an ongoing battle. What you produce is what matters, don’t waste your time wondering if you’ve found your “true calling” or not.

“You adopt the craftsman mindset first and then the passion follows.”

*idiosyncratic means distinctive to the individual.

To be a Media Practitioner

Remember: Your studio visit is with Stayci Taylor, in Week 5 on Thursday, 30^th of March. It’s in building 9, floor 3, room 12.

Common Features of Studio Learning

• Relatively student centred
• Reflective practice
• Problem framing and solutions
• Emergent curriculum activity-centric, many big projects.

Figure out the particular learning mode that you operate best in. We should practice reflecting, and responding to feedback. A book that relates to this is “The reflective Practitioner”

We use blogs as a means of reflective practice. It means we can document our practice as leaners and show how we’ve grown. It allows us to record our achievements & progress. We can see and understand arrange of various voices in humour of different statuses.

Figure out the difference between writing a reflective piece, and a professional piece. Don’t rely on description. You need analysis and reflection

1. Choose something to reflect on
2. Brainstorm
3. Plan a Structure
4. Conduct extra research
5. Write
6. Edit
7. Post the link on your blog

“You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle…

You’ve got to be careful telling people to follow their passion. Very few students had a passion that led to a career choice.  Steve Jobs himself did not follow his passion, in the period leading up to apple, he did not have a passion for apple entrepreneur-ship, he stumbled into it. Though he eventually became passionate.

Portrait of Bill McKibben, author and activist. photo ©Nancie Battaglia

Bill Mckibben has a working life that he loved, and the reason he loves his career is through skill. He became particularly passionate after he published his first book. He quit his job at a magazine company, and he’d become the most talented of environmental writers.

Bill McKibben had a great work ethic, he wrote and wrote and wrote, and through brute practice he had become fantastic.

People systematically built up a particular skill and used it as leverage.

Snowball Effect: As you improve at a skill, you become more and more passionate about it

(Very much like myself with Piano)

Deep thinking, cognitive strain, that is really uncomfortable, is the state you improve at a particular skill. Time planning can prove to be really important for this.

Steve Jobs may have stumbled into Apple, but he became quickly obsessive in what he was doing, and quickly very passionate.