Linear
Linear narratives are when a storyline or plot in a TV Show, Serial Drama, Single Drama, Short Film or Film follows a chronological straight line in a progressive method that keeps propelling the plot and story forward without any flashbacks. A linear narrative is consistent and follows a straight line with no diversions. For example, the audience can understand clearly whats going on, without extra explanation needed.
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An example of a linear narrative in media productions is the Black Mirror episode "Fifteen Million Merits". The episode starts with 'Bing' and showcases his everyday life and this sets the equilibrium of the episode where everything is normal and going about how it usually does. He gets up, he cycles for merits, he goes back to his room, watches TV, goes back to sleep, the same repeats everyday.
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He then meets 'Abi' a girl who is also living the same life as him but wishes for something more, she wants to go on the reality singing contest in the show "Hot Shot" as its an offer and a way out from the dull boring life these people have as all they can do is cycle all day long or be forced to watch advertisements unless they pay to skip it. Abi develops a relationship with Bing and Bing offers to help pay for the entrance fee being fifteen million merits. After Abi auditions, she is forced into humiliating herself for everyone to see and then disappears so that Bing can never see her again. This is the turning point of the story.
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Bing being clearly, depressed about the whole situation, he decides to fix everything by working his way up to fifteen million merits so that he can audition for Hot Shot and get answers about what they did to Abi. This is the restoration point of the narrative. He finally reaches his goal, he gets on the show and threatens suicide until he got his answers, the judges defuse the situation and employ him as a TV personality.
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This then sets in the new equilibrium, the new balance where Bing is bewitched into a new celebrity life and is a TV personality for the likes of who he used to be.
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This is a great example of a linear narrative as it is a clear story which uses Todoruv's four act theory and doesn't divert with flashbacks to confuse the viewer.
Non-Linear & Flashbacks
Non-Linear narratives are the complete opposites of linear narratives. It follows a set storyline, however, it isn't in a straight line which means that the story and the order in which viewers view it, it isn't in chronological order. Some productions will start with the ending and then the rest of the story and production would be the story and plot leading up to the moment the production had started with. Another form of non-linear narratives is when the production follows a straight line but has flashbacks in the middle of the production to provide context or foreshadow future events that are important to the plot. This is non-linear as it differs from the straight plot protocol and differs into other scenes that may or may not be relevant to the plot we were seeing.
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An example of a non-linear narrative is How I Met Your Mother. It has a constant narrative about Ted talking to his children in each episode where he narrates different stories and moments that leads up to how he met his kids mother. In the pilot episode of How I Met Your Mother, the episode starts with Ted talking to his kids and he tells them that he was going to finally tell them the story of how he met their mother. The show then goes on to flashbacks and Ted starts narrating a story from his past before he met their mother and how it all started.
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At occasion points in the episode the scene cuts back to the children and their reactions to certain moments and then goes back to the story Ted was narrating to them, this proves and supports that this production is a non-linear narrative as it is a straight-line with flashbacks to the past that tie into the main plot of the story.
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The show continues to do this until the final episode and is a long running non-linear narrative that spans across an American romantic comedy sitcom that ran for 9 years.
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The use of non-linear narratives and flashbacks can only be determined by the plot and story of the production. A perfect use of a non-linear narrative and flashback would be in a production where a man is in a dystopian society and there are moments when he has flashbacks of before the society became a dystopia which would effectively help set the tone of the production and further the story or plot and keep the viewer engaged and on the edge of their seats.
Realist
Realist dramas are productions that are based on real life plots, stories or scenarios. These plots are made to be believable towards real situations that happen across the world. Often this can be in the form of a comedy sitcom where realistic ideologies are used or this can be used in a disaster film to reflect a disaster that may have happened in the world to spread the stories out to people and make it believable.
The advantages of realist dramas are that the audience can relate to the plot as it is believable, but the disadvantages of realist dramas are that they can be boring and repetitive as the same stories are shown with no imagination.
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An example of a realistic production would be the film "The Impossible". The impossible is a movie released in 2012 about a tsunami that had wrecked a major part of Thailand. The film follows a family of 5 that have gone to Thailand for their Christmas holidays but end up facing a natural disaster that splits them apart and forces them to do things they have never done before to survive the situation. The film was produced by interviewing a real family of Maria, Henry and their 3 children who faced the scenario as they were in Thailand and had to experience the disaster. The movie follows Maria's family and depicts the events that happened to them in Thailand. This is a set and clear example of a realist narrative as what happens in the movie is based on a true story and the testimony of a family.
Another example of a realistic production is the notorious German film "Das Leben Der Anderen" or "The lives of others". The film was released in 2007 and was set in 1984 in a realist setting of where the government didn't trust their people and the film portrays an instance of where a police officer was tasked to spy on and conduct surveillance on a writer and his wife. The more the police officer listens and spies on the couple, he starts to develop a soft spot and affectionate part for them.
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This denotes the film uses a realist narrative structure as it doesn't portray any unrealistic setting that may also be considered fiction. It follows real ideologies to portray a realist setting for the film.
Anti-Realist
Anti-realist dramas are media productions that use surreal ideas or dreams to help create a story and generate a fiction but entertaining plot. These productions use a lot of CGI (computer generated images) and special effects to create the said film or series. The events in the drama do not exists in a common day to the audience. Since anti-realist dramas are not mean to reflect real life scenarios, this provides the writers with the ability to expand and broaden the scope of the plot as they are not limited by real world limitations or issues.
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An example of use of the anti-realist structure in a narrative is in this coca-cola ad. There is a puffin attempting to open a cola bottle accompanied with the music and is finding various different methods to open up the bottle. The puffin does this to show it’s something he likes or wants to try so he won’t stop till it is opened. Eventually he gets frightened as he sees a polar bear. However, the polar bear just wants to help the puffin open up the cola bottle so he can taste the drink. The polar bear looks at the puffin and points to his nose, as if to signify and say use your nose. The puffin realises what he is trying to say and then uses his nose to open the bottle lid which comes off. The polar bear gives the puffin a straw to help him drink it and in return the puffin gives the polar bear the lid of the coca cola bottle. Then there is a shot of the puffin taking his first slip of the coca cola and the polar bear’s family sat watching while drinking their own coca cola. This is showing that sharing coca cola with other people or family is good as it brings everyone closer together. The coca cola slogan is open happiness which is what is shown within this video it is bringing that concept across.
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Another example of an anti-realist narrative is a very popular fiction sci fi movie called 'The Matrix'. The film challenges the norm of social and society beliefs to impose a reality of where the world has ended and humans are trapped in a simulation called The Matrix which is set in the 1990's but the world is currently in the year 2100 and has been destroyed for a while due to mankind abusing the planets natural resources. In this world, robots have placed humans into pods where they harvest their biological energy and use it to power themselves whilst they are trapped in the virtual simulation called The Matrix. The plot follows the prophesied one 'Neo' who is destined to free the people from the matrix and is supposed to lead them to Zion, the last human city and defeat The Matrix's protocol protector called Agent Smith. The plot follows and utilises the anti-realist format with the use of CGI, editing and other graphics to create the world of The Matrix.
Endings-Open and Closed
In Narrative structures, there are two types of ways to end a story or plot line. One being an open ending and the other being a closed ending, the difference within these two methods of ending a plot is that in an open ending, the ending and interpretation of the way it was meant to be concluded is left to the decision and interpretation of the viewer. Usually, open endings utilise cliffhangers, these are methods of leaving something unresolved and therefore free to the interpretation of the viewer. The opposite however, is a closed ending in which the storyline in a production is concluded and given a resolution at the end. Effectively providing the viewer with an ending and a conclusion that completes the story and helps set the new equilibrium. All questions that the viewer would have are answered in a closed ending and all conflicts are understood. A cliffhanger drama is when a media product finishes, leaving the audience in suspense for a longer period of time. The types of products to use cliff hangers are films and games.
The advantages of a cliffhanger drama is that it keeps the audience engaged within the story till the end and keeps them talking and wondering what happened. The disadvantages is that the audience will never know what happened, which will frustrate them.
The advantages of a closed ended product is that it satisfies the audience by showing a full story and they dont have to wait for the next part. The disadvantages of a closed ended product is that the sequel may not be as anticipated as the viewers were provided with a resolution in the first film.
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A very popular example of an open ending would be Christopher Nolan's Inception. Inception is a movie that follows the protagonist Dom Cobb, a man who has the ability of entering peoples dreams and stealing secrets from their subconscious or planting ideas and manipulating their dreams to be able to help people commit corporate espionage. Dom Cobb is depicted as a depressed individual after the passing of his wife as she wasn't able to determine whether she was in a dream or the real world and then effectively committing suicide. To determine whether he is in a dream or not, Dom Cobb has a table top spinner that he spins, if it stops spinning it means he's in the real world, however if it keeps spinning it means he is still in the dream dimension. The movie ends with Dom Cobb seeing his kids, he's finally happy and goes on to embrace them. He spins his table top and leaves it on the table, the camera focuses on the table top and the movie cuts. Leaving the interpretation to the viewer to decide whether they think the table top stopped spinning or continued to spin. Ever since its release in 2010 people have been posting conspiracy theories with their predictions and reasonings as to how it ended, even 8 years after its release. This proves an effective use of the open ending narrative structure as the film still has a massive fan following and still has debates sparking almost a decade after its release as people still consider it relevant.
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An example of a closed ending film would be Karate kid (2010). The film follows a linear plot where a kid named Dre who has migrated to China been forced to adjust and change his entire life is being forced to follow the rules and attend school. However Dre finds himself getting into trouble with the older Chinese boys in his School. He meets Mr. Han, the local building maintenance manager who happens to find Dre when he is getting beaten up by the kids. Mr. Han stands up for Dre and defends him against the bullies, Dre convinces Mr. Han to teach him the art of Kung Fu so that Dre could protect himself and stand up to his bullies. By being an closed ended film this allows the audience to indulge in the story and allow a more satisfying feeling when the plot ends in this case the Karate kid beats his opponent.
This scene is of Jaden smith playing karate kid and facing his final fight against the so called bad guy, by having a closed ending, he either wins the fight or loses this both gives the audience a better viewing due to the completion of the storyline, if this was an open-ended narrative it could frustrate the audience as it would feel like the story hasn't ended yet and bothersome to watch another sequel just to find out who wins.
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In my opinion, the use of a closed-ending or an open ending solely depends on the nature and context of the film being produced as the plot should define the kind of ending the film or production should have. If it was a movie or film that was challenging social or religious beliefs, it may be a good choice to choose an open ending that is left to the interpretation and imagination of viewers.
