There can be no denial that the cinematic form of art provides enormous scope for the creative artists to exude their skills and leave an impression on the minds of the avid audience. Now, it needs to be reckoned that the narration of a film is one of the key elements that helps engage the audience and communicate the idea or story of the film. However, the narrative process of the film too provides ample scope of exudation of aesthetic sense and creative style of the filmmaker. A scrutiny of a couple of films in relation to the narrative technique would enable one to have a much better comprehension of the matter in context. One needs to understand the difference between the narrative and the non-narrative elements of the cinematic form of art. This distinction can be made with regard to the famous film, Lucy, directed by Luc Besson.
Lucy, a film by Luc Besson, is a thriller film that shows the story of this American woman who is kidnapped into service to function as a drug mule having an experimental synthetic hormone. However, the lady goes on to absorb some of it accidentally only to shed the intellectual, perceptual and physical limitations. Now, the most intriguing part of this film is the narrative style. The audience comes to witness the story from the perspective of the third person omniscient narrator. Thus, the audience is provided with a clear insight into the private spaces with the empowering effect of knowing all the vivid details in the course of the narrative. This works very effectively to engage the audience with the story of this film. Now, it needs to be remembered that “narration is the representation of (perceptible) temporal development. For film, this means that showing a moving image may already suffice to create a narration.” (Verstraten 8)
The film finds a narrative momentum after Lucy accidentally ingests the drug and starts transforming. The audience finds the film’s affective appeal reaching out to them with all its inertia as they can understand that the female protagonist of this film knows that she has less time left and has to act quickly. However, while the audience is engaged with the film and its narrative via the apt use of the omniscient narrator as well as the use of the first person perspective of the protagonist, there is inclusion of special effects that might come across to be a bit distracting. Indeed, the narrative integration of the film comes to cease and more focus is put on the attractions. The director inserts pyrotechnical display of the special effects in the course of this film which come across to be devoid of believability or logic.
Now, one should be able to distinguish between the narrative and non-narrative elements of this film in context. While the omniscient narrator and the description of the film’s story constitute the narrative style of the filmmaker, other elements like editing, special effects and sounds work as the non-narrative elements. “The third person omniscient narration allows the author to have multiple voices within the story but the voice does not change from person to person. It makes us more objective, the interpretation is not influenced by personal feelings.” (Narration & The Narrator 18) This surely makes the audience get linked to the film in the best possible manner. On the other hand, the editing and the sound that come to constitute the non-narrative aspects of this film enhance the aesthetic appeal so as to make the film more engaging. Thus, a mesh of the two elements by Luc Besson makes this film worth watching for extracting the cinematic experience.
In addition to the film by Besson, one can consider one of the very first noir films in the history of cinema to delve deeper into the elements of the narration of the cinematic domain of artwork. Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) is surely one of the iconic works of cinema and is still hailed by the critics and the audience alike every today. The film depicts the story of the male protagonist whose testimony against an accused makes the person get convicted of murder. However, as the narrative of this film progresses, the protagonist is left in a state of skepticism about the correctness of his testimony against the accused person. A second murder that occurs in the similar manner makes him understand his mistake. While the person tries his best to convince the police, the protagonist himself lands up in jail.
It has to be noted in this context, that the narrative of this film is constituted of the omniscient third person narrator. The characters of this film and their actions are recorded from an objective point of view and the audience has access to the characters sans any restriction. This works to enhance the appeal of this film as the audience can understand the emotions and thoughts of the characters that are shown in the course of this filmic narrative. Indeed, this film led to the ushering in of a new genre of filmmaking in the history of world cinema paving the way for noir films. One very intriguing aspect of the narration of this film is that the director opts to use the voiceover to engage the avid audience to the story and the occurrences. It has to be noted that the use of voiceover means that “the characters are unaware they are sharing their thoughts with us throughout the film, furthermore, their thoughts are revealed by the same voice of the narrator.” (Narration & The Narrator 21)
Although the idea of using the voiceover as a style of narration was not new to cinema at the time of the contextual film’s release, the tone of the delivery of the voiceover used in this film was something new at that time. The audience can understand that the voiceover of this film is delivered quite thoughtfully in a bland tone. This became a signature style of narration of the cinematic genre of film noir. Thus, one can understand how the style of narration plays a very important role in ascertaining the overall affective appeal and success of the film. It has to be reckoned that “a story is a narration that attains a certain degree of completeness, and even a fragment of a story or an unfinished story will imply that completeness as an aspect of its informing principle- the intentionality that governs its construction.” (Scholes 393) Thus, the omnipotence of narrative in the cinematic form of art is very clear.
However, the emphasis on the narration and its style in the film in context should not make one miss out on the non-narrative elements that the film has to offer to its audience. The use of the camera (cinematography), editing techniques, the sound and the lighting are essential elements of the film that constitute the non-narrative aspect of the work. These aspects of this film are important in weaving the narrative but are not part of the narration itself. These constitute the language of film that is to be attributed to the creativity of the filmmaker. As such, one can note the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds in the course of the film. Also, the use of lighting to portray the thrill and the suspense is very conspicuous all through the narrative of the work.
However, one needs to have a proper idea about the subtleties of the non-narrative aspect of films as well. For instance, the distinction between diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound has to be comprehended with utmost clarity for the purpose of film analysis. The sound found in a film with its source being visible on the screen or is implied to be present can be defined as diegetic sound. This can very well include the voice of the characters of the film, sounds made by various objects of the scene or the music coming from instruments in the space of the filmic story. Diegetic sound can be found on screen or off screen. On the other hand, non-diegetic sound is not visible on the screen and is not even implied by any action. The sound effects that are added, the mood music and the commentary of the narrator can be termed as non-diegetic sounds. Thus, the source of the sound comes from outside the space of the story. The two types of sound can be found in the two films that have been discussed.
It would be correct to conclude by saying that the domain of films has immense scope of creative expression. The individual vision of the filmmaker can find its aesthetic expression in the film. Indeed, the film critic or students of film have to gain a clear insight into the various aspects of film and filmmaking so as to be able to identify the individual effects and uses of the various elements. With regard to the discussion on the two films, the importance of narration and non-narrative aspects of films has been delved into with an analytic approach.
Works Cited
Scoles, Robert. “Narration and Narrativity in Film.” 1975. PDF. pp. 390-403.
“Narration and the Narrator.” PDF. pp.1-36.
Verstraten, Peter. Film Narratology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009. Print.
