Week 7: Narratives: 1) Why is narrative important when shaping a visual image to the audience?

Week 7: Narratives: 1) Why is narrative important when shaping a visual image to the audience?

Narrative as defined is a form of storytelling whereas it will consist of a series of events which will develop parallel to the story in which that actors exist to develop the stories in accordance to the time and location or in other words a proper setting has been made up by the story maker in order for the viewer to fathom with the story and so that they can share the same idea or knowledge of what is being presented by the narrator.

Narrative is important and can be considered as crucial in shaping the visual image of the audience whereas it is to point what is being told and how it is being told, so that the audience can get the picture of the story and they can understand the content that is being presented.

If the image was presented without a narrative, it would minimise the audience’s understanding, and assumptions to the story may be made and altered. For instance, the picture above would be interpreted as two people of different races hugging each other or is it anti racism advertisment? The real story can only be known when there is a narrative, the white guy in the picture is hugging Takunda Mavima who just killed his son, Mavima who back then was 18 had just finished high school and was driving home from a graduation party when he crashed into another car full of his classmates at Wyoming Park High School. Tim See, 17, and Krysta Howell, 15, died in the crash and now Mavima, who was also 17 at the time of the crash, will spend the next two-and-a-half to fifteen years in jail as a result.

However, it must be taken in that not every visual image or story includes a narrative. It relies on the objective, motive and intended piece of information or message one desires to construct. Visual images very often require narratives to influence the audience; consequently they are able to grasp the meaning and purpose, as well as to visually regard and clarify the image of the story.

Chatman (2004) states that narrative also consists of a structure of semiotic, in other words, it is necessary to interpret a story when an audience encounters a narrative by making assumptions and premises. This is vital in creating a narrative for a visual image particularly, because it provides a possibility to the audience to add their own understanding and insight, as well as to provide additional features and imagery to what is seen or viewed.

According to Brooks & Warren (1979), the importance and objective of narrative in forming a visual image is to provide instant involvements, a recognition of the occurrence before it is seen, involving the appeal, interest and conceivably compassion or empathy of the audience. This explains that the narrative has a purpose and goal to achieve in drawing the audience’s attention to the image and story as a whole. This also concerns about the style and procedure in which an audience can follow and appreciate the beginning and ending of the story, equipped with pertinent elements, such as who, what, why, when, where, how and why.

It is safe to conclude that narrative is truly vital as it enables the audience to view and understand the manner in which a story is created and composed in a visual image, provided with a text that is placed accordingly. Therefore, it is the understanding of the audience that is the chief element in adding a narrative to a visual image.

Reference:

Brooks, C., & Warren, R.P. (1979). Modern Rhetoric Fourth Edition. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

Chatman, S. (2004). Story and Discourse. Retrieved October 29, 2010, from http://www.icosilune.com/2009/01/seymour-chatman-story-and-discourse/

Whitaker, W.R., Ramsey, J.E., & Smith, R.D. (2012). Media Writing: Print, Broadcast, and Public Relations. New York & London: Routledge.