The way to tell a story

"Most film narrators are not so visible, and the majority of film narratives employ some version of a third-person narration." (pg 257 Chapter 7)

Most films are told from a outside prospective, though the focus usually on one particular character the story is told from a outside point of view. A view that either tells us everything, the character's thoughts and feelings as well as the characters around the protagonist the all knowing point of view or we have the narrator that only knows about the protagonist. A perfect example would be the Harry Potter series. The main focus of these films is clearly Harry Potter himself but it is not told in his words or through his eyes. It is told from a outside view or a restricted narration, we see what happends to Harry and only Harry, we see the events that occur to him, its a rare or impossible moment in these films to see a scene without Harry in it cause obviously its all about him. Another example would be the epic tale Titanic (1997) there are plenty of characters but the main focus is restricted to that of two lovers Jack and Rose. Th e focus is restricted we don't really get into the minds of the other characters as greatly as we do with Jack and Rose.

The all knowing narrator is another type of narration also know as omniscient narration. This type of narration knows every character and every plot and tells the audience what is going on in order of which it happens.

A example of this is movies like Armageddon (1998) The Breakfast Club (1985) St. Elmo's Fire (1985) all these films are focused on a group of different characters and how each of them effects the other. Restricted narration is most common because it is much easier to relate to just one character rather than a whole group of different ones.

The Social Network (2010) is another example of restricted narration however the narrator is one of the characters, most of the film is done in a first person narrative. We see the events through Mark's perspective. We see how he is brilliant but his brilliance cause him to be easily aggravated and difficult to keep a calm conversation with if you are not on his level of intelligence. Also his intelligence is what gets him into trouble and we see through his eyes that he doesn't understand why he is so hated. He doesn't feel he did anything wrong and that everyone else is below him. In the end he just wanted the attention of one girl who we never find out if she accepts his friend request. All of this we wouldn't be able to clearly understand without the narration of both Mark himself or the third person restricted narration.

Mark also develops like any other character in a film. In films as time went on with the help of technology developments and the ability to use dialouge between characters has helped create depth of characters making them more complex and real. And Mark from The Social Network is a complex character who grows through the film. "film characters usually change over the course of a realist filmand thus require us to evaluate and revise our understanding of them as they develop." (pg. 244 Chapter 7) Mark starts out as a know it all fast talking brilliant young man who saw everyone as inferior due to his intelligence. Mark we discover only has one friend though his facebook says otherwise, he only had Eduardo. He enIt takes the entire film for him to realize, to late, that it doesn't matter how many friends you have, it only matters if they care about you the way you care about them.
Another example of character development is the classic It's A Wonderful Life (1946) we fall for the character George Bailey not because hes a charming young every day type of guy but the fact that he discovers that the life he lives is the best life he could possibly have. He learns thats life is better if he was alive. He had a wonderful life even if it had its low points, he found that if he didn't exist a lot of the people he cared about were effected by his absence.

A perfect example of first person narrative is Stand By Me (1986) this film is told entirely through Gordie Lachance's point of view. He talks about his childhood and his three childhood friends when they discovered the body of a dead kid. He reveals everything that he felt and saw when he was young nothing that we could ever discover though any other narration. Though the voice of Gordie is a much older Gordie who we see only twice in the film he is the most important part of the film because he is the one that explains everything that is occuring.

You see what you want to see

"You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal." The Breakfast Club (1985). This iconic film has the right idea, not just about people but about films as well. We see films as they appear to be, we see them as, horror, romance, comedy, and action. The Breakfast Club the story of a group of teens who are nothing alike a first glance, you have the popular princess, the brainy geek who is clearly picked on and or ignored by the rest of the student body due to his brilliance and incapablity to relate to his fellow peers, there is of course the jock who is considered a typical highschool bully due to the fact that he is pressured by his fellow jocks and his father to be tough and to show that the only the strong can survive, there is the "criminal" who is your typical bad boy type with no ambition to succeed and would rather get high due to a abusive home life and then the basket case or the loner who is just her own person and is so use to be ignored by everyone she just pushes them away before they have the chance to push her. None of these characters are a like but they connect in a real way and what makes this film so great is that the audience no matter who they are can relate to the film due to that they themself have felt the way each of the characters has felt. "Identification at the movies suggest a complex process by which we empathize with, project onto, or participate in a place, an action, or a character- whether seperately or as these elements interact ." (pg 19 Chapter 2) In successful films like The Breakfast Club, Inception (2010), The Social Network (2o1o), Harry Potter 1- 7 (2001-2010), Titanic (1997), What is Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Armageddon (1998), and many more films throughout the years that have been successful not only when they were released but also long time afterwards. Each film we can either relate to a character, the story line itself or we feel for that character and the story they have to tell us. We have sympathy for the character when they are faced with something that we know is difficult for them. We watch the characters as they over come or fail at the task ahead of them. In The Book of Eli (2010) Eli played by Denzel Washington is on a mission to get The Bible to the West of the Unites States. The film focuses on his struggle to get to his destination after 31 years of traveling. He is faced with countless obstacles and we feel for him, we feel bad for him. "Identifying with a movie is largely an emotion experience. Like dreams, film can relate to our basic urges, desires and memories." (pg. 19 Chapter 2) Each of the movies that are listed above have those qualities. Some spark a personal memory of ours, or secret desire to: save the world, do something great with our lives, become a actor or artist so we can be a part of the film world, and some spark our urge and desire for love and affection. In today's film industry it is a must for anyone and almost everyone to have a agent. Someone who knows everyone that is important and has the connections to various directors, writers and producers. If they feel that a certain movie is good for their client they will do whatever it takes to get them to the important people that he or she needs to impress. They help shape the movie just like a director does, agents bring in the talent that the audience sees portraying the character they are suppose to relate to or have sympathy for and or they despise them due to the fact that they are consider the villain of the story. They bring the people in and a casting director picks who he or she feels is the best one.

We create the dream

Inception (2010) from the direction of Christopher Nolan. This film is personally one of my favorites with its brilliant editing and graphics bring the concept of breaking in to a person's dream real, like it was actually possible. "The artistic and commerical choices that shape a film- what a movie looks and sounds like- are the starting point of any film experience." (pg 11) When one looks at the film Inception for the first time you are blinded by the effects and by the idea of the possiblity to break in to someone's dream. Moments like the fight scene in the rotating hall way and the slow motion fall Cobb took into the bath tub make you believe that it may just be possible to place yourself in to another persons dream. Films are living and moving pieces of art. Inception is a perfect example of living moving art. Every camera movement, every angle and every placement of lighting is a part of the a piece of art. "A so- called auteur film, from the French word for author, is taken to reveal the personality of the directo. " (pg. 464) Christopher Nolan the director of Inception we see him in the film. How he decides how each of the characters should react, think, dress, speak, and move. Every little detail we see a piece of the director and the type of person he or she might be. However most people don't really realize who the director is so not many really take any notice that the film they are watching or have just seen is a piece of a person that they have never met, spoke to or even seen before. However as time as gone on people have slowly taken some notice to the people that are creating these beautiful works of art that we pay to spend a few hours to escape in to. In to another world, someone else's world. However most of the directors are recognized like, Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard or Rob Reiner, only because they themselves were or are actors themselves. Some but very few are remembered and recognized by the impacted the movies they have made has made on the movie industry. Steven Spielberg is by far the most recognizable name of directors. In a interview with Christopher Nolan he talks about how his best ideas come from his dreams. Which is rather poetic that his film is based on dreams and the planting of a simple idea in to someone else's mind and having it build and form in that person's mind. Reception Theory, " A theoretical approach to the ways different kinds of audience regard different kind of films." (pg 553) In todays's world there are three different ways people react to films. One: They are impressed by it and have a enjoyable experience, but they didn't really get anything out of the film it was just okay to them. Two: They fell in love with the movie and will reccomen it to everyone that they know. Three: The ones who become obessed with the film. Theses are the films that have a die hard cult following. Some are: The Harry Potter series which has a high dedicated and loyal fanbase. The Twilight series The Star Wars Saga and The Back to the future Trilogy even has a dedicated fanbase but isn't as high and talked about or as intense as the ones listed above.