University of Wisconsin Press, 1985 Paper: 978-0-299-10174-9
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Most films tell tales, but what does that involve? How do motion pictures tease us into building what we all agree to call stories? In this study, David Bordwell offers the first comprehensive account of how movies use fundamental principles of narrative representation, unique features of the film medium, and diverse story-telling patterns to construct their fictional narratives. The result is a pioneering, far-reaching work which will change the way we perceive narrative film—and which every serious film scholar, student or fan will welcome.
“This book is of crucial importance to film specialists. I cannot think that any film teacher/scholar would miss reading this work.”—Don Fredricksen, Cornell University
“David Bordwell’s Narration in the Fiction Film is a major contribution to film studies and to narrative theory. The work, I predict, will be widely read, praised, debated, and damned. Brodwell’s originality lies not so much in demonstrating the deficiencies of other theories, which he does very convincingly, but in the scope and design of his project, against which there is no competition of comparable intellectual weight.”—Jerry Carlson, DePaul University
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
David Bordwell is the Jacques Ledoux Professor of Film Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His books include Post-Theory, also published by the University of Wisconsin Press, Making Meaning, The Cinema of Eisenstein, The Classical Hollywood Cinema, and many others.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Part One:
Some Theories of Narration
1.
Mimetic Theories of Narration
Perspective as Narration
Perspective and Point of View in Literature
The Invisible Observer
Eisenstein: Narration as Scenography
2.
Diegetic Theories of Narration
Film Narration as Metalanguage
Film Narration as Enunciation
Part Two:
Narration and Film Form
3.
The Viewer's Activity
A Sketch for a Psychology of Filmic Perception and Cognition
Narrative Comprehension
Believing and Seeing
4.
Principles of Narration
Fabula, Syuzhet, and Style
Tactics of Syuzhet Construction
Knowledge, Self-Consciousness, and Communicativeness
Narrator, Author
5.
Sin, Murder, and Narration
The Detective Film
The Melodrama
6.
Narration and Time
Features of Temporal Construction
Temporal Stratagems and Spoils
7.
Narration and Space
Constructing Space
Perspective and the Spectator
Ideal Positionality: Shot/Reverse Shot
Cues, Features, and Functions
Space in the Confrontation
Part Three:
Historical Modes of Narration
8.
Modes and Norms
9.
Classical Narration: The Hollywood Example
Canonic Narration
Classical Style
The Classical Spectator
Seven Films, Eight Segments
10.
Art-Cinema Narration
Objectivity, Subjectivity, Authority
The Game of Form
The Art Cinema in History
11.
Historical-Materialist Narration: The Soviet Example
Narration as Rhetoric
Predictable Fabula, Unpredictable Narration
The New Babylon
Toward an Interrogative Cinema
12.
Parametric Narration
A New Role for Style
Shapes and Strategies
The Parameters of Pickpocket
The Problem of Modernism
13.
Godard and Narration
Schemata in Conflict
Spatializing Narration
Narrator and Palimpsest
1968 and after
Conclusion
Notes
Photo Credits
Selected Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
University of Wisconsin Press, 1985 Paper: 978-0-299-10174-9
Most films tell tales, but what does that involve? How do motion pictures tease us into building what we all agree to call stories? In this study, David Bordwell offers the first comprehensive account of how movies use fundamental principles of narrative representation, unique features of the film medium, and diverse story-telling patterns to construct their fictional narratives. The result is a pioneering, far-reaching work which will change the way we perceive narrative film—and which every serious film scholar, student or fan will welcome.
“This book is of crucial importance to film specialists. I cannot think that any film teacher/scholar would miss reading this work.”—Don Fredricksen, Cornell University
“David Bordwell’s Narration in the Fiction Film is a major contribution to film studies and to narrative theory. The work, I predict, will be widely read, praised, debated, and damned. Brodwell’s originality lies not so much in demonstrating the deficiencies of other theories, which he does very convincingly, but in the scope and design of his project, against which there is no competition of comparable intellectual weight.”—Jerry Carlson, DePaul University
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
David Bordwell is the Jacques Ledoux Professor of Film Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His books include Post-Theory, also published by the University of Wisconsin Press, Making Meaning, The Cinema of Eisenstein, The Classical Hollywood Cinema, and many others.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Part One:
Some Theories of Narration
1.
Mimetic Theories of Narration
Perspective as Narration
Perspective and Point of View in Literature
The Invisible Observer
Eisenstein: Narration as Scenography
2.
Diegetic Theories of Narration
Film Narration as Metalanguage
Film Narration as Enunciation
Part Two:
Narration and Film Form
3.
The Viewer's Activity
A Sketch for a Psychology of Filmic Perception and Cognition
Narrative Comprehension
Believing and Seeing
4.
Principles of Narration
Fabula, Syuzhet, and Style
Tactics of Syuzhet Construction
Knowledge, Self-Consciousness, and Communicativeness
Narrator, Author
5.
Sin, Murder, and Narration
The Detective Film
The Melodrama
6.
Narration and Time
Features of Temporal Construction
Temporal Stratagems and Spoils
7.
Narration and Space
Constructing Space
Perspective and the Spectator
Ideal Positionality: Shot/Reverse Shot
Cues, Features, and Functions
Space in the Confrontation
Part Three:
Historical Modes of Narration
8.
Modes and Norms
9.
Classical Narration: The Hollywood Example
Canonic Narration
Classical Style
The Classical Spectator
Seven Films, Eight Segments
10.
Art-Cinema Narration
Objectivity, Subjectivity, Authority
The Game of Form
The Art Cinema in History
11.
Historical-Materialist Narration: The Soviet Example
Narration as Rhetoric
Predictable Fabula, Unpredictable Narration
The New Babylon
Toward an Interrogative Cinema
12.
Parametric Narration
A New Role for Style
Shapes and Strategies
The Parameters of Pickpocket
The Problem of Modernism
13.
Godard and Narration
Schemata in Conflict
Spatializing Narration
Narrator and Palimpsest
1968 and after
Conclusion
Notes
Photo Credits
Selected Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE