In the past decade the term "narrative" has become diluted to include "narratives of identity" [Jerome Bruner], "Grand narratives" of History [Jean Francois Lyotard], "narratives of interface in computer software" [Abbe Don] and "cultural narratives" expressing values, experiences and beliefs of cultural groups. "Narrative" is intertwined with "story" and can be analyzed together as one and the same thing, or separately -- as an event or sequence of events (the story) and the textual actualization of the story (narrative). For this exercise I use the two terms interchangeably, i.e. the narrative IS the story.
I cut four clips from the opening scene of a YouTube video I like, "Shoes" -- 1) parents set up it's a birthday party for their teenage twins, 2) the first twin gets a great gift, 3) the other twin (Kelly/main character) gets a lousy gift, 4) both twins yearn for things that are more ideal 5) Kelly leaves the party to get what she wants. The clips were played first in the linear narrative order intended, then I put them through a MaxMSP patch to let them play in random order. The idea of this exercise is to see if letting the clips play out in a nonlinear fashion add, detract, change, muddle, heighten or do relatively little to alter the intent of the linear narrative.
In most examples I watched in class it was interesting to see that both the linear order and random order formed narratives with little shift in the narrative. The clips I chose from "Shoes" took on a slightly different and equally enjoyable narrative, and had a bit more strangeness when played in random order.
For anyone who wants to play with the structural order of narrative(s) rather than locking into a preconceived narrative order, this software is a great tool. I suggest using clips with dialogue and intercuts within the clips to get the most out of the exercise.
If this post peaks your interest in exploring notions of narrative, and I hope it will, it's time to explore narratology.
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