The Narrative Structure in 3 Selected Films

Narrative is always one of the most important elements that people look at when viewing and comparing between films. All narratives have a basic structure and the simple three-act structure is the most commonly used (Gillespie 2006, 96). However, “the same narrative may take many different forms, appear in myriad ‘substances’ and genres” (Gillespie 2006, 88). Therefore, filmmakers make great effort in planning and organising the narrative structure, in order to demonstrate the plot in its best way. The following paragraphs will briefly analyse three different films in terms of their narrative structures, which are used to develop the characters and the stories. These films include Titanic(1997), Juno (2007), and (500) Days of Summer (2009).

The Narrative of (500) Days of Summer

Produced by an independent production company, Watermark, (500) Days of Summer (2009) narrated the 500 days of a boy and a girl from when they first met to when their relationship ended as the boy met another girl after the two of them did not work out as partners.

The story was not narrated in a linear form, which most of the classical Hollywood films did. Instead, the screen jumped constantly between the first-half and the second-half of the 500 days. This could create a contrast between the beginning of the characters’ relationship and the failure of it. For example, on days 34 and 282, they went to IKEA together and played with the kitchens and other home appliances, but, the girl, Summer’s responses were totally different between the two. She was cold and irresponsive to Tom when they went there the second time. This demonstrates their relationship was starting to fail. 

“Flooding Below Decks” Scene in Titanic

The scene above is from Titanic (1997), after Rose and Jack were chased by Cal down into the lower deck, which was flooding, and suddenly the door burst opened with water. The two of them had to escape from the water coming along the hallway.

The Conversion of Juno MacGuff

The video clip above is an extract of the film Juno (2007). This could be said the “conversion” of Juno, a pregnant 16-year-old. Like other pregnant teens, Juno decided to perform an abortion. On her way to Women Now, she met her schoolmate, Su-Chin, who told her that the baby “may have fingernails”. Inside the clinic, the noises made by people around caused Juno feeling uncomfortable as she kept thinking what Su-Chin had said. She then left the clinic and decided to keep the infant.