Character types and Narrative Research

Introduction

Now that I have done most of the researching part plus a mood board for my partner and mine's film opening I can now focus a little more on then planning side for my film opening which can still include some research. So today I will be planning what character and narrative types I will be using in our film opening.

Character types

Protagonist 

A protagonist is the first type of character type I will be researching today to better plan what character types I will be including. A protagonist can be defined as the main character of the story, in which this character goes through all the central conflict and grows from their experiences. This character is supposed to be someone the audience can relate to in a way. An example of this is the character from "The Godfather" called Michael Corleone as displayed in the image below

Antagonist

An antagonist is usually the person who creates conflict with the protagonist in the story. And an antagonist is not always necessarily the villain in the story instead they just create obstacles that the protagonist needs to overcome. This can be vital in many shows or movies. An example of this is the character from "The Godfather"called Virgil Sollozzo as displayed in the image below

Supporting Characters

Now lastly there are supporting characters and a supporting character can be anyone like a friend, a family member, or a mentor who interacts with the protagonist and the antagonist in the story. And they can help create depth in a story and can be very meaningful.

Although there are different types of supporting characters such as a round character that is a well developed and complex character that goes through different experiences to create personal growth, and these characters can also be the protagonist. And the other one is flat characters and they are the opposite of round characters, they lack depth and complexity and generally serve a specific purpose for a story. 

Link:https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-a-character-definition/

Ideas for Film opening characters

After doing this research I was able to have a a talk with my partner about what were our ideas for our characters. So we came up with 3 characters we will be definitely be including in our film opening such as our main character, a coach/mentor, and a mother figure.

Like every movie we will be including a main character/ our protagonist and in our case our main character is going be named Emily. Emily is going to be a 13 year old artistic gymnast who is dealing with some mental struggles about always being perfect due to the pressure she feels from her mom, her coach, and everyone else who is depending on her. 

Now her coaches name is Laura and Laura is going to fall in that side character section although she may be perceived as an antagonist she is only doing her job which is giving corrections to Emily and applying pressure for her to succeed at competition even though the pressure may be to much for Laura to realize.

And finally our last character we will be introducing is Emily's mom Veronica. Now Veronica will be the antagonist in this film but the only thing is that she doesn't know or understands that her actions are hurting her daughter's mental health. Instead she will be thinking that by putting more pressure on Emily, she will ultimately be able to rise to the challenge. This will lead to more emotional depth throughout the movie.

Narrative Types 

There are two types of main narrative types the first one is Linear, and the second one is Non-linear.

Linear 

A linear narrative type is when everything goes in order and there is no jump in time forward or backwards. This sis good for movies that want to tell a story in chronological order and it make sit easy for the audience to understand what's happening clearly. Most films are usually done in a linear narrative type. An example is the Disney animated movie "Winnie the Pooh".

Non-linear

A non-linear time line is when things are not in chronological order and there are jumps in time. More frequently the jumps in time are shown as flashbacks from the past although some movies do add some visions of the future to create some suspense. But in the case of a flashback can be utilized to give background information on a character or on a situation, this can create depth in a scene. An example of this is the movie "Manchester by Sea" which I used in a previous example.

Link:https://beverlyboy.com/filmmaking/types-of-narrative-structure-in-film/

Ideas for Film opening Narrative Types

After having a discussion with my partner we decided that we wanted to do a non-linear narrative form for our film opening. Since our loose plot is about Emily and the struggles she faces from pressure that make her sport no longer enjoyable. Hence, we want to show the audience how her sport used to be fun and pressure free. So that's why we have chosen to add flashbacks of her childhood of when she was having fun at gymnastics and when her mom wasn't putting pressure on her.

Conclusion

Thanks to this research me and my partner were able to  better understand character and narrative types making it easier to determine what we will be including in our film opening and even though there was some bickering over what would fit best for our film opening, in the end we were able to pick something we will both be proud of in our final product.