Narrative and Time- Lecture notes
Narrative- 'The Art of Storytelling'.
Photography
Narrative became known for dealing with 'that particular slice of time' in a photography still.
It's the synchronicity of what happens in the subject of the picture and the method- It has a resonance.
Photography is about the instantaneous- dealing with that particular moment in time.
Michael Wesely- 'Open Shutter', 2004
One picture, taken over the period of 18 months. A sense of time you can't recognize.
It's pushing a medium beyond its motivation.
A sense of a passage of time is unclear here.
Thierry De Duve says:
-Photography deals with the snapshot: Event-like
-It deals with Time Exposure: Picture-like
Early pioneering strobe photography examples:
Dr. Harold Edgerton, 1930's onwards.
These images capture a specific slice of time- highly constructed.
There can be a difference between narrative and storytelling.
There can be such thing as loose narrative.
A narrative can just suggest a passage of time.
THE NOTION OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
Actions, consequences, dilemmas, resolutions.
This notion is especially important when talking about narrative as there is usually always a cause for something.
Cause and Effect is at the forefront for making a narrative interesting and keeping the attention of the audience.
Time in a photograph:
A photograph of someone who is no longer living creates a different passage of time as it's highlighting something of the past.
It's a connective narrative.
That image holds more meaning as it's a memory.
PAINTING
Paul DeLaroche
'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey', 1833
This painting is about the anticipation of what's about to happen.
Painting deals with time differently to photography.
They learn from one another how to construct narrative.
There are, however still constraints within each medium and how they can tell a story.
Each medium considers different notions of time.
As soon as we take a photograph, that moment is gone- Are you killing that moment by doing this?
A photograph is an act of preservation.
You could say that filming at a music concert ruins the moment because you're focused on the screen and therefore, obsessed with the image rather than the reality.
Preoccupied with the image.
Photography is a medium that is obsessed with the past- It's an act of embalming.
THE MOVING IMAGE RESUSCITATES- brings the image back to life.
By an image being still, we have time and space to contemplate.
A movies' narrative relies on you watching it from START to FINISH- the experience is about that duration.
It's a prescribed viewing experience.
A photograph doesn't have a prescribed viewing time.
You decide how long you look at a photograph.
This warrants you to scrutinize it.
You can re-examine, re-visit and dissect narrative.
Duane Michaels
He uses the notion of the storyboard.
'Things are Queer'
We usually think of narrative as linear- following a sequence.
This doesn't have to be so.
Images can easily be manipulated.
Thinking about how you can mess with narrative structures and its linear chronology.
'The Bogeyman'
Hitchcock- 'Rear Window'
The act of condensing various ideas of the movie into one shot is shown very strongly in 'Rear Window's' promotional shot for the film.
The job of a promotional shot is to give the audience a taste of what's to come without spoiling the plot. It has to subtly suggest all the themes contained within that movie.
If the movie itself did that then it would be terrible.
A movie has to build up on these themes gradually.
Andre Bazin- 'What is Cinema?'
'from the flow of time, to stow it away neatly, so to speak, in the hold of life'.
Photography
Narrative became known for dealing with 'that particular slice of time' in a photography still.
It's the synchronicity of what happens in the subject of the picture and the method- It has a resonance.
Photography is about the instantaneous- dealing with that particular moment in time.
Michael Wesely- 'Open Shutter', 2004
One picture, taken over the period of 18 months. A sense of time you can't recognize.
It's pushing a medium beyond its motivation.
A sense of a passage of time is unclear here.
Thierry De Duve says:
-Photography deals with the snapshot: Event-like
-It deals with Time Exposure: Picture-like
Early pioneering strobe photography examples:
Dr. Harold Edgerton, 1930's onwards.
These images capture a specific slice of time- highly constructed.
There can be a difference between narrative and storytelling.
There can be such thing as loose narrative.
A narrative can just suggest a passage of time.
THE NOTION OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
Actions, consequences, dilemmas, resolutions.
This notion is especially important when talking about narrative as there is usually always a cause for something.
Cause and Effect is at the forefront for making a narrative interesting and keeping the attention of the audience.
Time in a photograph:
A photograph of someone who is no longer living creates a different passage of time as it's highlighting something of the past.
It's a connective narrative.
That image holds more meaning as it's a memory.
PAINTING
Paul DeLaroche
'The Execution of Lady Jane Grey', 1833
Henry Peach Robinson
'Fading Away', 1858
This painting is about the anticipation of what's about to happen.
Painting deals with time differently to photography.
They learn from one another how to construct narrative.
There are, however still constraints within each medium and how they can tell a story.
Each medium considers different notions of time.
As soon as we take a photograph, that moment is gone- Are you killing that moment by doing this?
'EVERY PHOTOGRAPHER IS AN AGENT OF DEATH'
-Roland Barthes
A photograph is an act of preservation.
You could say that filming at a music concert ruins the moment because you're focused on the screen and therefore, obsessed with the image rather than the reality.
'AN IMAGE WHICH PRODUCES DEATH WHILE TRYING TO PRESERVE LIFE'
-Roland Barthes
Preoccupied with the image.
Photography is a medium that is obsessed with the past- It's an act of embalming.
THE MOVING IMAGE RESUSCITATES- brings the image back to life.
By an image being still, we have time and space to contemplate.
A movies' narrative relies on you watching it from START to FINISH- the experience is about that duration.
It's a prescribed viewing experience.
A photograph doesn't have a prescribed viewing time.
You decide how long you look at a photograph.
This warrants you to scrutinize it.
You can re-examine, re-visit and dissect narrative.
Duane Michaels
He uses the notion of the storyboard.
'Things are Queer'
We usually think of narrative as linear- following a sequence.
This doesn't have to be so.
Images can easily be manipulated.
Thinking about how you can mess with narrative structures and its linear chronology.
'The Bogeyman'
Hitchcock- 'Rear Window'
The act of condensing various ideas of the movie into one shot is shown very strongly in 'Rear Window's' promotional shot for the film.
The job of a promotional shot is to give the audience a taste of what's to come without spoiling the plot. It has to subtly suggest all the themes contained within that movie.
If the movie itself did that then it would be terrible.
A movie has to build up on these themes gradually.
Andre Bazin- 'What is Cinema?'
'from the flow of time, to stow it away neatly, so to speak, in the hold of life'.
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