time in narrative

Narrative

Sucessful stories require actions that change the lives of the characters. They also contain some sort of resolution, (where that change is registered), which creates a new equilibrium for the characters involved.  Narratives are not just those we encounter in fiction. Even news stories, advertisements and documentaries also have a constructed narrative.

Narratives are also described as linear and non linear. These are used to describe the sequence in which the story is told.

Codes and Conventions of Narrative

The conventions of narrative that audiences look for in narratives are:

• genre
• character
• form
• time
• We also use our knowledge of these conventions in order to aid us interpret a text. For example, we use time in order to interpret a text by highlighting slow motion shots of scoring a goal. which emphases "the time of the thing told, and also the time of telling."

Comprending time

Very few screen stories happen in real time, usually an entire life sotry can be cut down into a film of just 90 minutes. An 8 month siege can he cut down into only an hour long part of film. An example of how time can be used to represent a long amount of time, within a few minutes, is in Raiders of the Lost Ark, on the plane journey.

http://www.slideshare.net/Hazzagold1/media-flashbacks-flash-forwards-point-of-view-and-rep

Flashbacks
dream sequences
different characters point of views
real time interludes
flash forwards
repetition
pre-figuring of events that have not yet taken place.