Narrative and Storytelling - Essay Example

Answer: The plot of a film is essentially a coherent sequence of various events and happenings that form part of the story (Blurtit, n.d whereas astory narrates the purpose of plot and is the extract of plot. The plot of a film may narrate events in a chronological or non-linear order, but in either case, the sequence makes sense. Some stories start with a point of time in the present or future, and then flash back the memories of the past until they lead the audience, scene by scene, to the present or future.

On the other hand are movies whose scenes flow in a chronological order i.e. they start from a certain point in time and reach a point in future, which, by the end of the movie becomes present. As long as the scenes are logically constructed, and one scene defines the purpose of another, the film is said to have a plot, whereas in movies where one scene has no connection with another in any way, or does not lay the basis for happenings in the upcoming scenes, the story lacks plot. In order for a film to have a story, there have to be characters!

Without characters, there is no one for the story to revolve around. In such a case, the film merely delivers knowledge to the audience. Such films have subjects like, “what is a perfect diet?”, “how to be slim” etc. “Where the wild things are” is a short fiction film written by Maurice Sendak that portrays the fears of children and their way of conquering their fears. The film has both a story and a plot. The film starts in a little boy, Max’s real world, then portrays his imaginative world, and then reverts to the real world.

The scenes flow chronologically. In the start, Max hides in a wolf’s attire and makes an unsuccessful attempt to frighten his family. His mother locks him up in a room as a punishment, from where, he escapes mentally into an imaginative world, where he travels through the jungle, and sails in a boat until he reaches a far away land where the wild things dwell. They tend to frighten him, but the little boy in turn frightens them by looking into their eyes without blinking. The wild things make him their king.

He spends some time with them until he smells fresh food. He follows the aroma and it leads him back to his room where his supper is waiting for him. The supper does not come until Max has conquered his fears. The film has a story that revolves around the character of Max. The story tells that the boy returns to the real world after conquering his fear of wild things. The scenes make sense and are logically linked with one another. The filmmaker’s intention behind choosing the chronological order of scenes in this film would be to make it easy for kids to understand, as the film is fundamentally meant for kids.

References: Blurtit. (n.d.). What Is The Plot In A Story? Retrieved from http://www.blurtit.com/q335772.html. Sendak, M. (Writer), Jkelin (Uploader). (2007). Where the Wild Things Are. Youtube. Video retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cOEFnppm_A.