Tells a fictional or fictionalized story, event or narrative
Narrative film
,
fictional film
or
fiction film
is a
motion picture
that tells a
fictional
or fictionalized story, event or
narrative
. Commercial narrative films with running times of over an hour are often referred to as
feature films
, or feature-length films. The earliest narrative films, around the turn of the 20th century, were essentially filmed
stage plays
and for the first three or four decades these commercial productions drew heavily upon the centuries-old
theatrical tradition
.
In this style of film, believable narratives and characters help convince the audience that the unfolding fiction is real. Lighting and camera movement, among other cinematic elements, have become increasingly important in these films.
[1]
Great detail goes into the
screenplays
of narratives, as these films rarely deviate from the predetermined behaviours and lines of the classical style of
screenplay
writing to maintain a sense of realism. Actors must deliver dialogue and action in a believable way, so as to persuade the audience that the film is real life.
General
[
edit
]
Probably the first fictional film ever made was the
Lumiere
's
L'Arroseur arrose
, which was first screened at the Grand Cafe Capucines on December 28, 1895.
[2]
A year later in 1896,
Alice Guy-Blache
directed the fictional film
La Fee aux Choux
. Perhaps the best known of early fictional films is
Georges Melies
’s
A Trip to the Moon
from 1902.
[3]
Most films previous to this had been merely moving images of everyday occurrences, such as
L'Arrivee d'un train en gare de La Ciotat
by
Auguste and Louis Lumiere
. Melies was one of the first directors to progress cinematic technology, which paved the way for narratives as style of film.
[4]
Narrative films have come so far since their introduction that
film genres
such as
comedy
or
Western
films, were, and continue to be introduced as a way to further categorize these films.
[5]
Narrative cinema is usually contrasted to films that present information, such as a nature
documentary
, as well as to some
experimental films
(works such as
Wavelength
by
Michael Snow
,
Man with a Movie Camera
by
Dziga Vertov
, or films by
Chantal Akerman
). In some instances pure documentary films, while
nonfiction
, may nonetheless recount a story. As genres evolve, from fiction film and
documentary
a
hybrid
one emerged,
docufiction
.
Many films are based on real occurrences, however these too fall under the category of a “narrative film” rather than a
documentary
. This is because films based on real occurrences are not simply footage of the occurrence, but rather hired actors portraying an adjusted, often more dramatic, retelling of the occurrence (such as
21
by
Robert Luketic
).
[5]
Unlike literary fiction, which is typically based on characters, situations and events that are entirely imaginary/fictional/hypothetical, cinema always has a real referent, called the "pro-filmic", which encompasses everything existing and done in front of the camera.
Since the emergence of
classical Hollywood
style in the early 20th century, during which films were selected to be made based on the popularity of the genre, stars, producers, and directors involved, narrative, usually in the form of the
feature film
, has held dominance in commercial cinema and has become popularly synonymous with "the movies."
[6]
Classical, invisible film making (what is often called
realist
fiction) is central to this popular definition. This key element of this invisible film making lies in
continuity editing
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Brown, Blain, Lighting as story telling, Cinematography: Theory & Practice, Focal Press(2002)
[1]
- ^
Alison McMahan,
Alice Guy Blache, Lost Visionary of the Cinema
(New York: Continuum, 2002) p. 13.
- ^
Rosalind Leveridge, “Fantastic voyages of the cinematic imagination: George Melies’s Trip to the Moon”
Early Popular Visual Culture
(May 2012), 10 (2), pg. 197-199
- ^
Rosalind Leveridge, “Fantastic voyages of the cinematic imagination: George Melies’s Trip to the Moon”
Early Popular Visual Culture
(May 2012), 10 (2), pg. 197-199
- ^
a
b
Barsam, Richard Meran and Dave Monahan.
Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film
. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2010
- ^
Kaplan, E. Ann.
Women and Film: Both Sides of the Camera
. New York: Methuen, 1988