The Importance of Narrative

The narrative of a film is very important as it must maintain the interest of the audience whilst being cohesive.

An example of a typical narrative structure is that of Todorov who established there must be first an Equilibrium followed by a Disequilibrium/ Disruption and finally ending with a Resolution / New Equilibrium.
This narrative can be applied to many films, one example is Mean Girls (2004)

Equilibrium: Cady is introduced to her first American public high school where the students get along being segregated in their stereotypical groups: the jocks, art freaks... but above all the plastics. Cady who doesn't really fit in becomes good friends with the 'art freaks'.

Disruption: Cady becomes noticed by the 'plastics' and befriends them, in time turning them against each other, loosing her true friends and becoming corrupted by the fake plastic lifestyle.

Resolution: In the end Cady changes her ways: her inspirational speech on prom night joins all groups in friendship - all the cliches of the high school now seem to get along harmoniously .

Character

The Characters in a film also take on a generic structure as studied by Vladimir Propp when considering Russian fairytales. Fairytales are useful to analyse because they contain stock characters and structural ingredients.
Propp was able to identify seven main character roles:

the villain
the donor
the helper
the princess (or sought-for person)

the dispatcher
the hero

the false hero

These character traits are identifiable in any film and can be easily applied to Star Wars (1977)

the villain - Darth Vader
the donor - Obi-Wan Kenobi
the helper - Han Solo
the princess - Princess Leia
the dispatcher - R2-D2
the hero - Luke Skywalker
the false hero - Darth Vader

It is the functions and actions of these characters that construct the narrative.

Time

Most films can represent many weeks, months or even years in the short space of 90 minutes or less and there are many conventions that allow the narrative to do this such as

flashbacks

flashforwards

montages

dream sequences

repetition

using a different characters point of view

The passing of time can also be effectively illustrated through use of the seasons: shots of snow for winter, leaves for autumn ect

As well as shots of a clock speeding up or the classic calender moving on.

The passing of time can also been shown through location: the same house becoming decrepit over the years as well as a change in costume or actor to illustrate how the character has aged as seen with the film 'Atonement' which takes place from before the second world war to the present day.

Time can also be expressed through major events in history. This can be best seen in the film 'Forrest Gump' in which the title character comes across many influential figures of the 20th century and is also involved in many events such as the Vietnam War, meeting Elvis Presley, Johny Lennon as well as John F Kennedy.