Оглавление
Joachim Friedmann. Storytelling for Media
Contents
1 Storytelling – More than Just Telling a Story
2 The Narrative Figure – Life, Theme, Function
2.1 Functional Figures. The Structuralist Approach
The Cultural Anthropological Approach
2.2 Mimetic Figures
2.3 Thematic Figures
2.4 Anti-narrative Figures
3 Setting – The Narrative Space
3.1 Juri Lotman and Semantic Space
3.2 Other Options for Spatial Semantization
3.3 Hierarchization of Spatial Events
4 Binary Narrative Oppositions – Opposites Make Sense. 4.1 The Meaning of the Narrative
4.2 Production of Meaning through Binary Narrative Oppositions
4.3 Idea vs. Counter Idea – Narrative Oppositions in Film Dramaturgy
4.4 Binary Narrative Oppositions as a Structuring Principle in Serial and Interactive Narratives
5 Conflict – Obstacles Force Action. 5.1 Conflicts as Initial Triggers for Action
5.2 Basic Forms of Conflict
5.3 The Universal Conflict
Love
Survival
Rescue
Maturation
Freedom
Adventure
Justice
Truth
Order
Disobedience
Recognition
Intoxication
5.4 Conflict Types and Types of Plot
5.5 Want and Need
6 Transformation – What Needs to Change? 6.1 Transformation vs. Change
6.2 Transformation as a Criterion of Closure
6.3 The Cyclic Transformation
6.4 Transformations in Interactive Narratives
7 Emotion – Progression of Feelings
7.1 Emotions as Genres
Horror and Thriller: Fear and Relief
Tragedy and Melodrama: Suffering and Redemption
Feelgood: Strife and Harmony
The Heroic Tale: Venture and Triumph
Eroticism and Pornography: Desire and Satisfaction
Comedy: Laughter
7.2 Emotional Progression as a Structural Principle of Narratives
8 Turning Points – the Expected Surprise
8.1 Scientific Concepts of the Turning Point
8.2 The Turning Point in Applied Dramaturgy
8.3 The Effect of Turning Points in Literature and Film
8.4 Turning Points and Transformation in Interactive Narratives
9 Narrative Structure – The Hero’s Journey in Three Acts
9.1 Dramatic Structure
9.2 Mythological Structure
9.3 Oral Structure
9.4 Interactive Structure
10 Causal Relationships – Why and How? 10.1 Causality as a Condition for Narrativity
10.2 Forms of Causality
10.3 Forms of Non-causal Narrative
10.4 Causality and Interactivity
11 Subtext and Gapping – Involving the Recipients
11.1 Gapping as a Text- and Media-Specific Strategy
11.2 Subtext
11.3 Generating Tension through Information Management
11.4 Information Management in Interactive Stories
12 Semantic Objects – McGuffins, Horcruxes and Holy Grails
12.1 Plot-functional vs. Non-functional
12.2 Semantic Objects in Narrative Media
12.3 The Semantization of Objects as a Communication Strategy
13 Epilogue: Values and a Worldview
14 Glossary
15 Bibliography
Отрывок из книги
It would be tempting to start with a story at this point. Wouldn’t that be the right beginning for a book about storytelling? An exciting, interesting narrative that immediately captivates the reader and draws them into the subject? Yes, it might be exciting. But it might not be helpful. Because even though practically everyone tells stories and intuitively uses and recognizes the narrative form, they don’t give much thought to the way stories are created. This is exactly the question this book is meant to address. The methods used to tell stories are to be researched and presented here; it is, so to speak, a look behind the scenes of storytelling.
Narratives are ubiquitous; they simply belong to human life and appear as a natural way to communicate. Myths and fairy tales are important for the sense of identity in many early societies, and everyday stories thematize and structure interpersonal relationships. A multitude of stories are told in books, films, series, computer games, or documentaries in order to entertain, inform or convince. Stories are one of the most important forms of organizing communication and information across all social, historical, and cultural layers. “International, transhistorical, transcultural, narrative is there, like life” (95), states ROLAND BARTHES in The Semiotic Challenge This observation leads some people to the mistaken assumption that life itself writes the best stories. So why write a book on storytelling, when stories are omnipresent and happen all the time around us anyway?
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At the same time, it should be noted that the concept of storytelling is often used with little reflection, both in everyday life and in academic contexts. A story is something that is told, according to minimal consensus and circular reasoning. The minimal definitions of narrative science also fall short, especially in an applied context. In narratology, a narrative is described as a chain of events and actions in time and space. Especially for people who are interested in telling stories themselves, for storytellers, such descriptions do not go far enough. As the narratologist MARIE-LAURE RYAN shows, the design of a narrative text is subject to a multitude of conditions and specifications – even if storytelling techniques are often used intuitively. In both the scientific and the applied context, however, the aim must be to analyse and reflect on the principles of narrative design and thus make them consciously usable.
Due to the multitude of disciplines dealing with the overarching subject of storytelling, diverse and varied interests in knowledge, application, and teaching of storytelling are to be expected. For example, filmmakers may focus on questions of narrative structuring, since audiovisual formats such as feature films and horizontally-narrated drama series or sitcoms have different temporal lengths that affect the narrative structure. Documentaries and “reality TV” shows are shaped into stories at many points and in many ways; even in those that look the most “raw” or observational, dramatic turning points have been created. In game design, on the other hand, questions of spatial semantics are of importance, since in games spaces of experience are created for the recipients, which are explored both playfully and narratively. In marketing, however, it is of interest how certain messages can be communicated more powerfully by emotionalizing a story in order to trigger buying impulses or communicate political content more effectively. In medicine, one question may be how patients are brought into self-efficacy and self-responsibility through causal connections that are a focus in healing stories. The use of appropriate techniques is also context-dependent and – especially in academic teaching – the specific needs and desired outcomes of the respective discipline should be taken into account as much as possible.
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