Inner and Outer Forms

In this post I am going to look at the Inner and Outer forms of the following three genres; Sci-Fi, Horror, and Rom-Com.


The inner form of a film is:
Themes, Morals, Messages, Characters, and Typical Storyline.

The outer form of a film is:
Location, Mise-en-scene, Colours, and Marketing (ie film posters).

Some examples of short films with their inner and outer forms:


1. PORTAL- SCIENCE FICTION
A woman, named Chell, wakes up in a testing facility with no memory of how she got there. The one thing on her mind, escape. -IMDB

This sci-fi film is based on the game Portal.

In terms of inner forms:

• Themes; time travel, parallel universes, and extra-terrestrial life
• Morals: face danger
• Messages: fight
• Characters: female protagonist is as capable as traditionally seen males
• Typical Storyline: protagonist wakes up in empty room, fights to get out

And outer forms:

• Location: empty cell, somewhere unknown
• Mise-en-scene: dark shading, dark colours contrasted against vibrant bright white lights or neon lighting, futuristic technology that is unique to the film and its plot and is therefore identified with that film; an example of this is lightsabers in Star Wars.
• Marketing: similarly to the mise-en-scene, bright lighting is used against a dark background to highlight the aspects worth seeing.

2. THE RED BALLOON- HORROR

In terms of inner forms:

• Themes: Murder, stalking, anything out-of-the-ordinary or supernatural
• Characters: an innocent and naive victim, often children as it plays on their fears- such as clowns, or the dark.
• Morals: facing fears
• Typical storyline: relatable protagonist to the audience- creates a personal link with the audience and therefore scarier because they can imagine it could happen to them- that gets kidnapped, beaten, or even killed.

And outer forms:

• Location: Apocalyptic settings, abandoned buildings, fairgrounds
• Mise-en-scene: Tension buildup, dim lighting, sound effects such as drips ((from blood or water leakage)), weapons such as knives or axes, shadows
• Marketing: Lots of symbols- such as red lettering for blood, a dark background to represent the dim lighting, etc.

3. SIGNS- ROMANTIC COMEDY

In terms of inner forms:

• Themes: love at first sight, chance meetings, reunions
• Characters: two lovers, often polar opposites, usually a man and a woman
• Typical storyline: two people meet and fall in love, cross obstacles along the way to their plan or dream

And outer forms:

• Location: city, countryside, family gathering
• Mise-en-scene: bright colours, exaggerated beauty of location, meeting each other surrounded by people-paused scene used for love at first sight
• Marketing: multicoloured to create a friendly feel,white background to make it brighter and more lighthearted, usually features the main characters on the front to show the love story

Propp and Todorov- Theorists

Vladimir Propp suggested that characters take on one of seven different role types in any film. These were:

1. The HERO, traditionally male (but in current times is becoming more of an equal role) restores the equilibrium of the narrative and situation by going on a quest that creates the plot and involves some form of rescue situation and 'heroic' actions. Generally the protagonist of the story, but sometimes an outside character who is 'accidentally' brought into the story.
2. The VILLAIN, who causes the disruption in the plot therefore calling for the actions of the assigned hero to take place
3. The DONOR, who assists the hero by giving them something that will aid them in their rescue and completing the story
4. The HELPER is another character that assists the hero throughout the story
5. The PRINCESS/VICTIM is the antagonist of the narrative that the hero is destined to save- usually ends up with the hero as a conclusion to the plot.
6. The DISPATCHER is the character to send the hero on their task-often the princess' father (in traditional tales).
7. The FALSE HERO is the character who appeared to be good at the beginning but by the end turned out to be an evil character and a disadvantage to the real hero's efforts.

However, not every film has one character of each type; there may be multiple, or one character may fill more than one type of role.

Tzvetan Todorov suggested that narratives within conventions are structured in five stages:

1. a state of equilibrium at the outset;
2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action;
3. a recognition that there has been a disruption;
4. an attempt to repair the disruption;
5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium.

This structure is very familiar through most mainstream motion pictures.

Narrative Structures

1) Define the difference between story and plot.

A story is a sequence of events in order of time they happened; it is written for the purpose of making the audience eager to know what happens next. On the other hand, a plot is the structure of a narrative that connects events together, not necessarily in the order that they happened in.


2) Define narrative

The narrative of a story or plot is an account of connected events.

3) Define the following forms of narrative structure.


a) LINEAR NARRATIVE
    A linear narrative is where the story is told in order from the beginning to the end.
b) OPEN NARRATIVE
    An open narrative has no real ending, no singular story line, and is more chronological. An example of this is in soap operas.
c) CLOSED NARRATIVE
    A complete story that gives the audience an idea of the ending, has protagonists/central characters, and time is linked to the story itself- not the outside world. Closely linked with films and cinema.
d) CIRCULAR NARRATIVE
    A narrative where certain plot points are repeated, generally comes back on itself where the ending is linked to the start; circular narratives often preview the end at the beginning so that it is repeated when the plot is complete. Creates a sense of mystery and satisfaction when the plot holes are filled.


4) Modular Narratives in Contemporary Cinema by Allan Cameron. Cameron argues modular Narratives "articulate a sense of time as divisible and subject to manipulation". Allan Cameron has identified four different types of modular narrative in film; find out what they are and provide a definition.


a) ANACHRONIC
An anachronic narrative involves the use of flashbacks and flash-forwards, and repeats scenes from a different perspective. An example of this narrative being used is in the film Pulp Fiction.
b) FORKING PATH
This includes multiple plotlines that don't fit together, or showing possible outcomes that could result in a change of events later on.
c) EPISODIC
Are either an abstract series or narrative anthology.
d) SPLIT SCREEN
Divides the scene into two frames, showing the same events from a different view.