Elements of a Story
Elements of literature include motif, symbolism, conflict, narration, characterization, foreshadowing, mood and tone and homages. Authors and directors use these elements to enhance the story and allow the author or director to express their ideas in their stories.
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is when the author or director drops hints of things that might happen later on in the story. Foreshadowing allows the readers or audience to interact with the storyline more. Foreshadowing makes the story more suspenseful.
Characterization
A major character is a three dimensional character that often changes throughout the story. Antagonist and protagonists are major characters. The protagonist is the main character, an antagonist is the opposing character. The antagonist is often bad. You can often tell what type of character a major character will be in a story by their personality, if the character is bright and happy, or mysterious and brooding. Another way is how they dress and carry themselves, if they are bold and outgoing or they might wear dark colors. Also how they talk and interact with other characters. Minor characters and two dimensional and do not change over a course of time, they are either good or bad. If all characters were two dimensional it would be hard to tell the story through their perspective.
Narration
Narration is how the story is told, if it is told in first person, second person, or third. First person narrative is when the story is told through the characters eyes. Our understanding of the story is based on what the character tells us. Third person narrative is when the story is told by the narrator. The narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of one character
Symbolism
Symbolism is when a tangible object represents an intangible object. A tangible object is something that you can touch or feel, an intangible object is a thought, emotion or feeling. Symbolism helps creating meaning and emotion in a story. If you take symbolism away the emotion dies.
Conflict
Conflict is the struggle in a story between characters, themselves, and the outside world. The two main types of conflict are external conflict, is with more than one person. Internal conflict is conflict inside of them. Conflict drives the story, and enhances the emotion of the characters.
Motif
Motif is similar to symbolism but must show up numerous times in a story. The motif of a story is when a word, phrase, or theme appears that goes with the main theme of the story. A motif is usually something that is intangible. A motif is symbolic and can help develop the theme of a story.
Mood and Tone
The mood in a story is the feeling it gives off, the author or director of a film can set the mood by using props and sets, these are called design elements. If a director wanted to make a scary scene in their movie, you wouldn't see the characters in a happy green field going on a picnic. You would probably see them in a daunting setting or a haunted place to set off the mood. Tone is the way dialogue makes the audience feel. The author can give off different attitudes by using different choices of words. Some attitudes they can give off are, optimism, pessimism, humorous, bitterness or joyful. If a director or author wanted the tone to be bitter, they would not have the characters laughing. They would probably be serious, or melancholy.
Psycho
What happens if you take the element away?
The short clip you will be seeing today is from Psycho, a famous horror film made by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960. Alfred Hitchcock was known for his horrific films that broke movie barriers. He was known to have a large amount of blood in his films which was not a common thing in the 1900's.
Alfred Hitchcock uses different design elements to create the mood and tone in this clip. The camera angle he uses on Norman makes him seem taller and more powerful than Melanie. The prop behind Norman in the first shot is very important to this clip. The owl is a bird of prey and seems to be swooping down on it's prey. In this instance, the prey is Melanie. Alfred Hitchcock angles the bird to be looking at the audience which gives people an unsettling feeling. The camera angle on Melanie is looking down on her which makes her seem smaller, more vulnerable than Norman. Norman's body language and dialogue in this clip is very important to the tone. He is aggressive when the topic comes to an institution. This makes the audience wonder why he took so much offense to Melanie. The tone in the clip is dark and pessimistic. He uses these different methods to give off an uneasy feeling, but what would happen if you took away these different things?
Norman played by - Elizabeth (Liz) Lalor
Melanie played by - Ryann Cochran
In this recreation of the clip, the elements and props have been taken away. The medium shot (camera angle) allows both characters to have the same height. Which makes Norman seem less daunting. The dialogue is changed to a more relaxed conversation. Norman is less aggressive with his words and body language when the topic of his mother comes up. In this clip Norman seems like a young man who is just worried about his mother's wealth. Though in the other clip it the theme is more centered on Norman's aggressive body language and disgust with institutions. Without the mood and tone in this clip, it seems nothing more than two friends talking about the well being of a one of their mothers. The mood and tone enhances the original clip and let's the audiences question the background of Norman and the relationship with his mother. When you take it away, the clip becomes dull and does not enhance the mood of the scene.
Linoit:
Citations:
biography.com. “Alfred Hitchcock.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017, www.biography.com/people/alfred-hitchcock-9340006.
Hansen, Arlen J. “Short Story.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21 Apr. 2016, www.britannica.com/art/short-story.
Tod, M.K. “7 Elements of Historical Fiction.” A Writer of History, M.K Tod, 13 Dec. 2016, awriterofhistory.com/2015/03/24/7-elements-of-historical-fiction/.
Letourneau, Sara. “What Is Theme, and Why Is It Important?” DIY MFA, Sara Letourneau, 17 Nov. 2014, diymfa.com/writing/theme-important.