Narrative techniques

Technique	Description	Effect (in term of driving forward the narrative of the film)	Example from a film
1. Exposition	Fills in the back of the characters and their situations	Shows interest in the characters and want to see what happens next	Amélie: the narration at the beginning of the film explaining the background of the main character and their parents
2. Dangling cause	Information or actions that leads to no effect of resolution until much later in the film	- You can retain your interest so you watch the film until the end - Allows the story to be told in different levels	Jurassic Park: the DNA from the frog for the dinosaurs. Shrek II: you don’t know what is given to the Prince and at the end you know it because of the help of the God mother
3. Obstacle	Stands in the way of the characters reaching their goal	- Makes it more interesting/dramatic - With no obstacle nothing interest will happen / leave social norms	Psycho: The woman is being followed by the policemen
4. Deadline	A time limit placed on a protagonist to accomplish a goal	- Increases tension - Makes film more goal orientated	Inception: the character has a certain time to reach the bomb
5. Dialogue hook	Creates a link between two consecutive scenes	- Allows the scenes to have a continuity - To have sense between scenes	The Patriot

Deborah Méndez ©