Narrative Film

According to Dennis Sporre, author of Reality Through The Arts a narrative film, also referred to as a fictional, primarily focuses on telling a story. Sporre goes on to explain that in order for the film to be structured correctly the Director uses the plot elements which are exposition, complication, crisis, climax, falling action, and resolution to tell a story.(Sporre, pg.166). These elements play a significant role in a narrative film because it allows the audience to understand exactly what  is happening in the story.  As stated by Moura, "These are the films most widely screened in theatres, broadcast on TV, streamed in the internet, and sold as DVDs and Blu-rays." Based on Moura's statement we get the understanding that narrative films are the type of films that most of the audience enjoy watching.
                                                                       
Plot Diagram

  

http://www.filmsite.org/filmterms6.html

http://staff.fcps.net/tcarr/shortstory/graph.gif

Romantic Drama Genre 

The Romantic Drama genre  is considered a sub-genre of narrative film. According to Schilf, a "Romantic Drama film is a genre that explores the complex side of love." In this type of genre the audience has the opportunity to visualize the complexities of being with the one you love. Schilf also states that the plot primarily  concentrates on a barrier that prevents the two people from falling in love which are mainly the protagonists(main actor/actress) in the story. The typical barrier in these films are family disapproval.

Titanic is a Romantic Drama film that clearly illustrates the barrier of a family's disapproval that prevents the two protagonists from falling in love.

In the film Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jack Dawson and Kate Winslet plays Rose DeWitt Bukater. Jack and Rose meet in the gigantic ship where they secretly fall in love; eventually her mother finds out and completely disapproves of her relationship with Jack. According to June, "Titanic is an American film that portrayed a love between people from two extreme social classes ..." Being from two different social classes was the predominant reason why Rose's mother disapproved of their passionate love. However, this did not stop them from falling in love so they stuck together throughout the tragic journey they encountered on the ship after hitting the enormous ice berg.


                                                                                                                    Leonardo DiCaprio- as                                                                    Kate DeWitt Bukater- as
                          "Jack Dawson"                                                                        "Rose"
                                                                                                                 

 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120338/fullcredits

 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH4MNXW9pcE

(Revert back to the plot diagram above to understand the plot elements of the Romantic Drama film Titanic)

 Exposition: when all the people boarded the ship; however once inside the ship they were divided up based on their social class. The main character, Jack Dawson was a poor man who was lucky enough to win the golden ticket that allowed him to board the ship.  

Complication: when Jack and Rose met and secretly fall in love. They risked their love by seeing each other every opportunity they got without her Fiancé and mother finding out. 

Crisis: Rose’s mother finds out about her love with Jack and did everything possible to separate them, she completely disagreed with their relationship due to the different social classes they each belonged to. However Jack and Rose continued their passionate love despite of what her mother and Fiancé thought.

Climax: the ship came across a huge ice berg. The captain tried his best to prevent them from hitting it, but unfortunately the ship hit it and the tragic journey began.  

Falling Action: slowly the ship began to sink and during this difficult circumstance Jack and Rose remained together. The people that were lucky escaped the ship but others especially from the lower class were left behind. 

Resolution: Jack and Rose stuck together until she was forced to let go of Jack’s hand.

 

Director

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1571458816/nm0000116

The director of Titanic is James Cameron. A biography written by Andre Hansson and found on the Titanic movie website leads us into his early life and accomplishments. According to this writer Cameron is a well known director/writer/producer/editor who was born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. In 1971 he decided to move to Brea, California and attended Cal State University where he studied physics. James was attending school and at the same time working as a truck driver. Eventually in 1978 he quit his truck driving job to focus in producing 35mm short film. He did an outstanding work in the visual effects in his flim that gave him the opportunity to work as a production designer, matte artist, and visual effects DP on Roger Corman's Battle Beyond the Stars in 1980. This opportunity led James Cameron to succeed in the Cinema industry. In 1997, he wrote and directed one of the most remarkable Romance Drama film, Titanic.                  

Camera Angles 

 As stated by Sporre a long shot places the camera a great distance from whats being filmed. (Sporre, 168).This type of shot allows the audience to feel like they are part of what's happening in the scene. In Titanic, according to Mitchell a long shot was used "in the scene when Jack holds Rose by the waist... this shows the audience the whole of the scene and gives the audience the feeling that the moment is emotional for the couple." Looking at a scene using the long shot definitely portrays the mood the couple is feeling in that precise moment.      

  http://i1261.photobucket.com/albums/ii584/mweyer1/dicaprio-winslet-titanic-425.jpg 

As stated by Sporre, a close-up shot places the camera even nearer to what's being filmed.(Sporre, 168).In Titanic, a close- up shot was used towards the end of the film when Jack was in the water holding Rose's hand and she tells him that she will never let go.

 

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1178170.1349831376!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/titanic10n-6-web.jpg

In order to illustrate the sinking of the ship different camera angles were utilized to give the scene the effects necessary to show the sinking was really happening. As stated by June, "Cameras had to be placed at precise angles to capture the sliding movements of the "on-board passengers" as the ship was been wrecked." This technique allowed the audience to clearly envision the tragic situation the people in the film were encountering as the ship was sinking and also allowed them to feel the powerful emotions they were feeling as the ship slowly sank. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSGeskFzE0s

Summary

A Narrative film is the type of film that gives the audience the opportunity to be exposed to different genres that allows them to get entertained. As depicted in this blog the Romantic Drama genre is one of the type of genres that focuses on the idea that love can conquer all despite of the obstacles one can encounter. This blog has also provided a clear understanding of the significance of the utilization of camera angles. Lastly, the movie Titanic has given us the opportunity to gain knowledge of the meaning of each element used to tell a story in a Narrative film.

Bibliography

Dirks, Tim. "Cinematic Terms - A FilmMaking Glossary." Cinematic Terms - A FilmMaking Glossary.      AMC Network Entertainment, May 1996. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. <http://www.filmsite.org/filmterms6.html>.

Hansson, Andre. "Titanic Director: James Cameron." IMDb. IMDb.com, 1990. Web. 04 Feb. 2013.                 <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000116/bio>.

June, Zhang. "Movie Analysis: Titanic (1997)." Helium. Helium, 14 Dec. 2007. Web. 05 Feb. 2013. <http://www.helium.com/items/747486-movie-analysis-titanic-1997>.

Mitchell, Ben. "TV Drama: Effect of Sound and Camera Angles: Titanic Scene." TV Drama: Effect of Sound and Camera Angles: Titanic Scene. AS Media, 6 Nov. 2012. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.                 <http://benmitchelltvdrama.blogspot.com/2012/11/effect-of-sound-and-camera-angles.html>.

Moura, Gabriel. "Narrative Cinema." Narrative Cinema. Elements of Cinema, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.                 <http://www.elementsofcinema.com/film_form/narrative-cinema.html>.

Schilf, Michael. "Genre: Romance â Genre." Genre: Romance â Genre. The Script Lab, 2010. Web.             08 Feb. 2013. <http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/romance>.

Sporre, Dennis J. "Cinema/Chapter 7." Reality through the Arts. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson      Prentice Hall, 2013. 164-77. Print.