Narrative structures

[davywavy]

There's a film you may have seen called Prince of Egypt. It's Dreamworks animation's retelling of the Biblical story of Moses and the Israelites getting out of Egypt and if you haven't seen it you ought to, because it's an object lesson in constructing a narrative.

I don't mean that in a good way.

In some ways, it isn't a bad film. It's got some good villains in a pair of serpent-worshipping priests and a few good songs, I suppose. However, where it falls down is in structure and pace. For example, take the scene in which Pharoah relents and lets the Israelites leave Egypt. The Isrealites respond to this bit of good news by slapping on their best pearly-white Hollywood smiles and singing a cheery and upbeat number about how you can achieve any miracle so long as you 'just believe'. I'm sure those are admirable sentiments, but this scene comes immediately after the slaughter of the firstborn by the Angel of Death which just led to me gleefully cackling as I pictured the children of Israel high-stepping through the streets of Luxor, singing happily as they wove their way past the piles of corpses.
I'll tell you what, if I could achieve that sort of miracle by 'just believing', I'd've sorted out any overpopulation problems we may have a long time ago.

What this really illustrates is the difficulty of constructing a narrative which ticks all the boxes, and how just throwing money at a project is no guarantee of success (I'm looking at you, George Lucas). As I've recently been yapping at flywingedmonkey about collaborating with him on a writing project I've been thinking more than usual about how stories and narratives which hang together in a satisfying way are constructed, and what I keep coming back to is the way conflict is the thing which drives stories forward.
There is the idea that there are only eight stories (Boy meets girl, A stranger comes to town, a man goes on a journey (the last two being the same story in reverse) and so on*) is a common one, as is the Joseph Campbell Hero with a thousand faces idea of pan-human or meta -myths. However, the more I look at stories, I find the best examples of hw to put togther short, consistent, conflict-led narratives come from good sitcoms.

The best sitcoms tend to have two consistent features: they revolve around people who can't stand each other, and they're in situations where they can't get away from each other. So we have Father Ted, The Young Ones, The Odd Couple, and Dad's Army for starters. It's why 'closed environment' narratives are so popular and why they work so well; claustrophobia is a powerful tool in driving either drama or comedy (which are the different sides of the same coin and sometimes even cross over, like when Darth Vader staggers to his feet at the end of Revenge of the Sith and bellows "Noooooooooooooooooo!" to the hilarity of the entire cinema).

I think this is why the new BBC sitcom Episodes (a joke-free comedy about a trials and tribulations of a pair of BBC comedy writers trying to transfer their hit British show to the U.S.) doesn't work - it's because the characters like each other and aren't trapped in their environment. Their circumstances may nominally suck (in the sense that being wined and dined by Hollywood sucks), but they could just leave and get on with their lives at any time. There's no oppressive sense that they're stuck in the situation and can't get away. There's no driver of conflict: and without inescapable conflict, the drama - and the comedy - simply don't follow.

Which leads to me thinking about closed environments which I could use. The problem is that so many have been used: The military (Dad's Army, The Navy Lark, MASH, etc), Family household (every early evening BBC sitcom ever), hospitals (Green Wing, Only when I laugh), Housemates (The Young Ones), Outer Space (Red Dwarf)...So many used ideas. What's new?

^{*If there are only eight stories, I defy anyone to read some Junichiro Tanazaki and tell me where some of his tales fit. The story of the Samurai who regains his honour by hiding in a lady's toilet, for example. Which of the eight great stories is that one, precisely?}

Comments

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

The probblem with those is that people can just leave - if it gets that bad, just quit your job. I think that although the closed environment can work (Brittas Empire, even though it wasn't funny) in the workplace, it is harder to do.

Was I the only person to sit in rigid, stony silence all the way through The Office?

[vierkilau.livejournal.com]

No

I didnt find the office funny at all

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I always said you were a man of taste and discernment.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I never "got" The Office and dislike Ricky Gervais with a passion. He's just not funny and has a facial expression that could only be made better by punching it repeatedly.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

A cogent and well-reasoned summary with which I heartily concur.

[kathminchin.livejournal.com]

I didn't watch the Office - I loathe that kind of thing.

That said I was watching Yes Minister the other day and it struck me that the politics of recent years are a re-run of that sit com.

It's also funny, and I think that's because someone is trapped. Hacker's trapped - he wants to be an MP so he gets trapped in a situation. Sure he can walk away - but he feels duty bound to remain and do his job; in spite of Humphrey. Dad's Army has a similar entrapment, in theory they can walk away but they are duty bound to stick it out. And there are glimmers of light where they succeed in their wishes which keeps them there. The New Statesman is another politics one - the person trapped is Piers although B'stard is also trapped because of his desires.

I think the entrapment doesn't have to be as obviously physical as it is ion Porrige or red Dwarf. But there has to be a firm reason for the entrapment to be there - the Office is the kind of situation where if I had a boss like that I'd walk out - I'd feel no obligation to be put through hell on a daily basis.

[blue-cat.livejournal.com]

or going back further, The Young Ones, as an 'education' type entrapment?