Narrative in Short Film

To have a linear narrative is to have a beginning, middle and end that're in that order. In traditional cinema it is considered mainstream to use this narrative. Perhaps this is because it makes the story easier to follow and people don't struggle to follow the story, they can just sit back and absorb the film without thinking about it. But what if film makers want to be more experimental? Well they already did that. An example of a feature film doing this is "Memento" an American art house neo-noir psychological thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film itself has a nonlinear, disjointed, or disrupted narrative, making it similar to a puzzle. This structure makes it hard to follow, but is also effective in helping us understand the character. Leonard, the protagonist, suffers from anterograde amnesia, a form of short-term memory loss, which impairs his ability to store new explicit memories, who has developed a system for recollection using hand-written notes, tattoos, and photos. With the narrative reflecting how Leonard sees his memories, it puts the audience in the same situation as him, allowing them to connect with his character. While this is a feature film and not a short film, I can still see how narrative can be used in short films.

If I were to show the end of the story at the beginning of the film, much like in the popular "The Hangover Trilogy", it would cause the audience question how the story got to that point and hook them on watching it develop. While intriguing, as it keeps the audience guessing, it does show where the story ends up. This can take away some of the mystery of where the story is heading, but does still invoke ideas about the journey of how a sequence of events lead up to that point. Of course, with "The Hangover", a lot of its success rides upon its comedy aspect. For a non-comedic short film to have this effect on the audience would require intense drama or a situation that's outlandish, scary or bizarre.

Ok, let's actually look at the narrative of SHORT films. Sorry, I got distracted. "Spider ", a short film directed by Nash Edgerton, has a linear narrative. The film takes place in seemingly real-time, except for one fade, in which an ambulance arrives. With no disruptions to the narrative the story is easy to follow. As the audience, we don't have to think about the order of the film, leaving us to sit back and enjoy the film and appreciate it's simple and entertaining narrative.

So, taking narrative into account, what do I think is best for the film that me and the team are going to make? A simple and straight narrative may appear boring at first, but it is the baseline for most successful films. Not to say that the straight narrative would make a film boring, it's just a bit mainstream and overused. Just because it's overused doesn't mean it's not likeable. It could be argued that a disruptive narrative could cause some audience members to dislike the film. Something that's unfamiliar can cause an instant distaste, making somebody feel uncomfortable and confused. But this could also be the type of sensation that the director wants to cause. Hopefully it wont cause the audience too much discomfort though.
Starting the film at the end of the story, as previously mentioned, can be a strong opening to a film if done correctly. Like in David Fincher's "Fight Club" we are opened to see the protagonist with a gun to his head. This strong and intense opening contrasts to the next part of the film and makes us wonder how such a seemingly innocent person was let into such a dangerous situation. 
Flashbacks can be used to disrupt a narrative at any point in a story. It also provides insight into a characters life or key point in the past that can directly influence the current point in the story. It can provide relevant information to give the audience the info them need to understand a development in the story. While effective, flashback can be considered cliché. And when done in an unprofessional or unclear way, can confuse the audience. So if we choose  to utilize flashbacks, we should be careful. Maybe we should put a vignette around the edge and make them black and white. 

-BW