Film Art: An Introduction - Thompson/Bordwell

'Narrative is the fundamental way we make sense of the world'

'Spectators approach a narrative film with definite expectations...We have anticipations that are characteristic of narrative form itself'

'All the components of our definition- causality, time and space- are important tp narratives in most media but causality and time are central. A random string of events is hard to understand as a story.'

'...a narrative may make use of parralelism.. we compare and contrast characters as we draw parrallels... Parrallelism allows the film to become richer and more complex than it might have been had it concentrated on one protagonist.'

'the film's plot may contain material that is extraneous to the story world... plots have added material for comic effect... Story and plot overlap in one respect and diverge in others.... The story goes beyond the plot suggesting some diegetic events that we never witness. The plot goes beyond the story by presenting non diegetic images and sounds that may affect our understanding of the action.'

'If narrative depends so heavily on cause and effect, then what can function as causes in a narrative? Usually, the agents of cause and effect are characters. By triggering and reacting to events, characters play roles within the film's formal system.'

'Causal motivation often involves the planting of information in advance of a scene'

'Most of what has been said about causality pertains to the plot's direct presentation of causes and effects.'

'The plot may also present causes but withold story effects, prompting suspense and uncertainty in the viewer... A plot witholding effects is perhaps the most disruptive end to a film.'

Time
'Temporal Order- We are quite accustomed to seeing films that present events out of story order. A flashback is simply a portion of the story out of it's chronological order... as with flashforward's these portions of the plot recieve an emphasis they wouldn't have had if they had been recieved in chronological order.'