Visual Storytelling and Narrative Structure |01
study guide 03 Visual Storytelli ng and Na rr ative Stru c t u re
C O N T E N T S
C U R R I C U L U M
Basic Narrative Structure 02 •Hollywood and the Classic Narrative Structure 0 3+0 4+0 5
Other Kinds of Narrative Structure 0 6+07 •The Scene and Mise en Scène 0 8+0 9+10 •Characters and Stars 1 1+1 2+1 3+1 4
Myth and Narrative Structure 1 5+1 6+17 •Additional Activies 1 8 •Activity Answer Key 1 9+2 0
This teaching guide has three curriculum objectives:
• To help students and teachers using films and videos in the
context of the following secondary school curriculum – English
Language Arts, Film and Media Studies, Social Studies, and
Visual Arts
• To assist educators who are planning to teach film studies for
the first time
• To suggest ways in which traditional literary concepts may be
taught using a medium other than printed text
S TAR WA R S AND THE STRUCTURE OF THIS FILM GUIDE
This guide has been developed around one of the most popular
and successful movies in the history of cinema: George Lucas’
1977 science fiction epic, Star Wars. Virtually any film can be
used to look at the role of Narrative Structure, Scenes,
Characters and Stars, and Myths in movies. What’s important is
to break down how the visual language of filmmaking is used by
looking closely at different kinds of shots and examining how
shots are linked together in certain kinds of editing patterns.
Another way of saying this is that rather than simply watching a
film, to really understand how a film works, it’s important to
deconstruct how the filmmaker has used individual elements to
tell his or her story.
Since its original release in 1977, Star Wars has become one of
the most recognizable stories in the history of film. It has also
been instrumental in popularizing a whole new kind of
Hollywood film: the blockbuster. Blockbusters are big budget
movies dominated by special computer effects, action-based
storylines and popular Hollywood stars. Although Star Wars is
now considered one of the early blockbusters, it didn’t start out
that way. In fact, many Hollywood producers expected the film
to fail miserably when it was released. As we know, it didn’t.
Instead, George Lucas’ comic book melodrama went on to draw
generations of moviegoers into a universe that existed “a long
time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.”
That Star Wars and the three follow-up films (The Empire Strikes
Back [Irvin Kershner, 1980], Return of the Jedi [Richard
Marquand, 1983], and The Phantom Menace [George Lucas,
1999]) in the series have been able to do this is no small feat.
The Rebel forces and the Empire are neither part of our world
nor our time. But if we think about it for a moment, in another
way, they are.
The Rebel forces and the Empire are part of our world because
we learn about their story with the aid of various kinds of shots,
sounds, and lighting techniques that we’ve seen in any number
of movies. Because these shots and edits are so familiar to
audiences they work to turn this far-off tale into an adventure
we identify with and understand.
As the film begins, audiences enter into the world of Luke, Han
Solo, Princess Leia, and Darth Vader. On one level, what allows
us to do this is the skilful manipulation of cinema’s visual lan-
guage. In the remainder of this guide we look at four of the
most important elements in the visual language of movies:
Narrative Structure, Scenes and Mise en Scène, Characters and
Stars, and Myths.
Note: Some films noted in this guide may not be appropriate for all
students. Please use your discretion when selecting films for your
classroom. Classroom activities are provided after each section along
with an answer key at the end of the guide. Answers are not provid-
THE HISTORYOFFILM - STUDYGUIDE03
