Narrative elements in film
P. G. Alderson · Metro Education · 1995
With the re-accredited Media course due to commence in Victoria in 1995 students must study narrative as one component of Unit 4. The student's study of narrative will be assessed in two main ways, by a work requirement and by completion of a CAT. Work requirement 1 in Unit 4 is titled Narrative Organisation. Basically it requires students to prepare work on the narrative organisation of three professionally produced media texts. The completion of this work requirement will help prepare students for their final examination, to be conducted in November, part of which consists of questions on narrative. CAT 3 is the written examination. It is composed of two sections. Section A: Media Debates and Section B: Narrative. Our focus in this article is with Section B: Narrative. The narrative questions will require students to write a response based on work undertaken in Unit 4 work requirement 1. In their responses students should refer to at least two texts studied. The following notes and activities have been produced and trialled with Year 12 students studying Media. The narrative notes have proved effective in enabling students to identify and understand the many narrative elements present in films. It is a good idea to have students add to the examples given by recalling similar examples from films they have seen. The film review activity sheets provided guide students in writing about various narrative elements.