MCC248 Lecture 6 1 
MCC248 Lecture Six
Narration 2: The Puzzle Plot
Dr Yingchi Chu
2 September 2014, Murdoch Campus
Introduction
The lecture addresses the following questions
•
What is the puzzle plot?
•
How different is the puzzle plot from the classical
Hollywood narratives?
Debates amongst:
David Bordwell, Edward Branigan, Michael Wedel and Warren Buckland.
1. Classical narrative & narration
To understand how the ‘puzzle plot’ works as a disruption of viewing expectations trained on classical film narrative, we need to remind ourselves of the principles on which Hollywood narratives are constructed.
•
Cause-effect chain of events; beginning/middle/ending; closed ending; chronology or mildly modified chronology;
•
Individual characters as causal agents; motivated by his/her desire; unrestrictive narration; ease of identification with screen characters;
•
verisimilitude ‘reality’; invisible techniques; seamless continuity; focus on what is happening, not how the story is told.
2. Enter the ‘puzzle film’
•
Since the 1990s a large number of films have become more complex, opaque, and difficult to follow.
‘The puzzle film is made up of non-classical characters who perform non-classical actions and events. Puzzle film constitutes a post-classical mode of filmic representation and experience not delimited by mimesis.’
(Buckland 2009:5)
•
This has led to a scholarly debate as to how much the new puzzle style really deviates from classical narrative film norms and so constitutes a radically new historical phase of cinema.
3. Bordwell: forking-path plots
•
Puzzle films are no more than a minor complication of the traditional plot path by splitting it into two or more, which he calls the ‘forking path plots’;
•
‘forking path plots’: well-marked, linear, developed, cohesive, unified with one another, ordered sequentially to make the final path a climax, and designed to pinpoint clear, contrasting parallels;
•
‘forking-path narratives’ flaunt their parallels, whereas
Narration 2: The Puzzle Plot
Dr Yingchi Chu
2 September 2014, Murdoch Campus
Introduction
The lecture addresses the following questions
•
What is the puzzle plot?
•
How different is the puzzle plot from the classical
Hollywood narratives?
Debates amongst:
David Bordwell, Edward Branigan, Michael Wedel and Warren Buckland.
1. Classical narrative & narration
To understand how the ‘puzzle plot’ works as a disruption of viewing expectations trained on classical film narrative, we need to remind ourselves of the principles on which Hollywood narratives are constructed.
•
Cause-effect chain of events; beginning/middle/ending; closed ending; chronology or mildly modified chronology;
•
Individual characters as causal agents; motivated by his/her desire; unrestrictive narration; ease of identification with screen characters;
•
verisimilitude ‘reality’; invisible techniques; seamless continuity; focus on what is happening, not how the story is told.
2. Enter the ‘puzzle film’
•
Since the 1990s a large number of films have become more complex, opaque, and difficult to follow.
‘The puzzle film is made up of non-classical characters who perform non-classical actions and events. Puzzle film constitutes a post-classical mode of filmic representation and experience not delimited by mimesis.’
(Buckland 2009:5)
•
This has led to a scholarly debate as to how much the new puzzle style really deviates from classical narrative film norms and so constitutes a radically new historical phase of cinema.
3. Bordwell: forking-path plots
•
Puzzle films are no more than a minor complication of the traditional plot path by splitting it into two or more, which he calls the ‘forking path plots’;
•
‘forking path plots’: well-marked, linear, developed, cohesive, unified with one another, ordered sequentially to make the final path a climax, and designed to pinpoint clear, contrasting parallels;
•
‘forking-path narratives’ flaunt their parallels, whereas
References: (2002):88-104. Interpretations. A Response to David Bordwell’s ‘Film Futures’.” SubStance, 97, Vol.31, No.1 (2002):105-14. edited by Warren Buckland, 1-12. Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.