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FAKULTA MASMEDIÁLNEJ KOMUNIKÁCIE
UNIVERZITA SV. CYRILA A METODA V TRNAVE
QUO VADIS MASSMEDIA
Zora Hudíková
Lucia Škripcová
Nikola Kaňuková
(eds.)
Zborník z vedeckej konferencie doktorandov a mladých vedeckých pracovníkov
QUO VADIS MASSMEDIA, QUO VADIS MARKETING organizovanej Fakultou
masmediálnej komunikácie UCM v Trnave
2. apríl 2020
Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave
Námestie J. Herdu 2, Trnava
QUO VADIS MASSMEDIA
Zborník z vedeckej konferencie doktorandov a mladých vedeckých pracovníkov
QUO VADIS MASSMEDIA & MARKETING organizovanej Fakultou
masmediálnej komunikácie UCM v Trnave
Vedecký výbor konferencie:
prof. PhDr. Slavomír Gálik, PhD.; prof. PhDr. Hana Pravdová, PhD.; prof. Ing. Anna
Zaušková, PhD.; prof. Ing. Alena Kusá, PhD.; doc. PhDr. Ľudmila Čábyová, PhD.;
doc. PhDr. Zora Hudíková, PhD.; doc. PhDr. Ján Višňovský, PhD.; PhDr. Sabína
Gáliková Tolnaiová, PhD.; Mgr. Vladimíra Jurišová, PhD.
Organizačný výbor konferencie:
Mgr. Alexandra Alföldiová; Mgr. Ľubica Bôtošová; Mgr. Nikola Kaňuková; Mgr.
Miroslav Kapec; Mgr. Lenka Labudová; Mgr. Július Tamáš; Mgr. Martin Vanko;
Mgr. Jozef Viskupič
Editori:
doc. PhDr. Zora Hudíková, PhD.; Mgr. et Bc. Lucia Škripcová, PhD.; Mgr. Nikola
Kaňuková
Recenzenti:
Mgr. Zuzana Kvetanová, PhD.; Mgr. Zdenko Mago, PhD.
Technická redakcia a zostavovateľské práce:
Mgr. Nikola Kaňuková; Mgr. Lenka Labudová
Návrh obálky:
Mgr. Natália Augustínová
Publikácia bola schválená Edičnou radou Univerzity sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave a
vedením Fakulty masmediálnej komunikácie Univerzity sv. Cyrila a Metoda v
Trnave. Za gramatickú a štylistickú úroveň príspevkov zodpovedajú jednotliví autori.
© Fakulta masmediálnej komunikácie UCM v Trnave, 2020
ISBN 978-80-572-0053-6
Milé čitateľky, milí čitatelia,
zborník príspevkov z vedeckej konferencie pre doktorandov a mladých vedeckých
pracovníkov „Quo Vadis Massmedia, Quo Vadis Marketing“ – masmediálna časť – reflektuje
súčasný vedecký diskurz v masmediálnej oblasti. Prvýkrát v histórii Fakulty masmediálnej
komunikácie UCM v Trnave sa konferencia konala online (2.4.2020), čo sa stretlo s veľmi
pozitívnym ohlasom a veľkým záujmom akademickej aj odbornej komunity. Autori v príspevkoch
reagujú na aktuálne otázky teórie a výzvy praxe, formulujú netradičné pohľady a komplexné
riešenia, aj v kontexte interdisciplinarity. Veľká časť príspevkov sa venuje špecifikám a problémom
masmediálnej komunikácie v internetovom priestore a prostredí sociálnych sietí, budovaniu
nevyhnutých digitálnych zručností, správaniu sa rôznych generácií v digitálnej dobe, ako aj počas
špecifickej situácie v období pandémie koronavírusu. Ďalšou skúmanou oblasťou sú dlhodobo
diskutované témy mediálneho diskurzu, akými sú objektivita a manipulácia v médiách, informácie
a dezinformácie v mediálnych obsahoch, naratívne stratégie v mediálnych obsahoch, optimalizácia
podmienok a procesov mediálnej tvorby a novinárskej profesie, vyjadrovacie prostriedky médií
a ich vývoj v kontexte technologického rozvoja a i. Viaceré príspevky prezentujú aj špecifickú
tematiku digitálnych hier, ktoré v súčasnej dobe napĺňajú viaceré funkcie – nielen relaxačnú, ale aj
edukačnú a sociálnu. Recenzovaný zborník vedeckých príspevkov ponúka názory, idey, kritické
diskurzy, či výsledky vlastných skúmaní a skúseností ako podnety pre odbornú diskusiu a inšpiráciu
pre ďalšie výskumy. Je určený pre pedagógov masmediálnych a žurnalistických škôl, vedeckých
pracovníkov, odborníkov z praxe, študentov, ale aj pre laickú verejnosť, pre ktorú je problematika
masmediálnej komunikácie zaujímavá. Poďakovanie patrí všetkým, ktorí prispeli k jeho vydaniu aj
k úspešnému priebehu samotnej konferencie.
V Trnave 2. 4. 2020
Zora Hudíková
OBSAH
EDUCATIONAL USE OF SECOND LIFE ........................................................................................... 2
Alexandra Alföldiová
DIGITALIZÁCIA A JEJ VPLYV NA INVESTIGATÍVNU ŽURNALISTIKU ............................. 11
Pavel Bielik
ZAČÍNAJÚCI NOVINÁR V PRAXI ................................................................................................... 21
Ľubica Bôtošová
KRESŤANSKÉ RADIÁ NA SLOVENSKU ........................................................................................ 30
Andrej Brník
PROBLÉM INTERPRETÁCIE A FAKTU V MEDIÁLNEJ KOMUNIKÁCII ............................. 38
Diana Bulganová
POTENCIÁL VÝUČBY GRAFIKY VO VIRTUÁLNEJ REALITE................................................44
Martin Engler
VYSIELANIE PRE DETI A MLÁDEŽ POČAS MIMORIADNEJ SITUÁCIE ............................. 52
Sláva Gracová
SÚČASNÉ TELEVÍZNE SPRAVODAJSTVO A GATEKEEPING V KONTEXTE
SLOVENSKEJ REPUBLIKY ............................................................................................................... 59
Ľuboš Greguš - Dominika Budová
NOVÉ SCHÉMY NARÁCIE V PRÍBEHOCH DIGITÁLNEHO FILMU ...................................... 73
Laco Halama - Zora Hudíková
KRITICKÝM MYSLENÍM PROTI HOAXOM................................................................................. 84
Marija Hekelj
ZÁVISLOSŤ OD INTERNETU A JEJ VNÍMANIE MEDZI RODIČMI DETÍ
A TEENAGEROV .................................................................................................................................. 90
Vladimíra Hladíková
FENOMÉN TVORIVOSTI A NOVOSTI V MÉDIU FOTOGRAFIE ........................................... 101
Eva Jonisová
HRY VO VZDELÁVANÍ SENIOROV .............................................................................................. 113
Nikola Kaňuková
DEZINFORMÁCIE POČAS KORONAKRÍZY .............................................................................. 121
Miroslav Kapec
IS THERE STILL ANY SPACE FOR NEW SOCIAL MEDIA? TIKTOK IS AN ANSWER .... 128
Martin Kuchta - Monika Stanková
ÚVOD DO ZVYŠOVANIA ENGAGEMENTU PROSTREDNÍCTVOM HERNÝCH SYSTÉMOV
VO VYŠŠOM VZDELÁVANÍ ............................................................................................................ 137
Alexandra Kukumbergová
AKO ZÁSTUPCOVIA GENERÁCIE Z VNÍMAJÚ VPLYV SOCIÁLNYCH SIETÍ NA PROCES
VYTVÁRANIA ICH NÁZOROV A PREFERENCIÍ ...................................................................... 142
Patrik Lenghart
MOBILNÁ ŽURNALISTIKA - PRECHOD K OBRAZOVKÁM SMARTFÓNOV .................... 148
Simona Mičová
MOŽNOSTI A LIMITY SLOBODY PREJAVU V ŽURNALISTIKE .......................................... 157
Dominik Mičuda
ZMENY NOVINÁRSKEJ PROFESIE V DIGITÁLNOM VEKU – VÝVOJ A INOVÁCIE
NOVINÁRSKEJ PRAXE V ČASOPISE SLOVENKA .................................................................... 165
Mária Miková
SOCIÁLNE MÉDIA V KONTEXTE FORMOVANIA NÁZOROV STREDOŠKOLÁKOV ..... 173
Ján Mikuš - Eva Odlerová
VPLYV SOCIÁLNYCH SIETÍ NA DUŠEVNE ZDRAVIE MLADÝCH ĽUDÍ ........................... 180
Natália Mulinová
JAZYK A PRAVDA. MOŽNOSTI A LIMITY JAZYKA V KONTEXTE
EPISTEMOLÓGIE...............................................................................................................................192
Branislav Oprala
DIGITÁLNE HUMANITNÉ VEDY, KULTÚRNE DEDIČSTVO A KREATÍVNY PRIEMYSEL:
PRIENIK OBLASTÍ V ČINNOSTIACH KATEDRY MEDIATIKY A KULTÚRNEHO
DEDIČSTVA SLÚŽIACICH NA JEJ PROPAGÁCIU.................................................................... 201
Dominika Orlová - Matej Somr
VIZUÁLNA REFLEXIA OBDOBÍ PANDÉMIE PROSTREDNÍCTVOM MÉDIA
FOTOGRAFIE ..................................................................................................................................... 213
Kristián Pribila - Juliána Odziomková
VEĽKÉ A OTVORENÉ DÁTA V ŽURNALISTIKE ...................................................................... 223
Ján Proner
VPLYV POLITICKEJ A SOSIÁLNEJ REWALITY NA REALITU MEDIÁLNU......................230
Ľubica Račeková
KOMPARAČNÁ ANALÝZA VZNIKU PUBLIKA DIGITÁLNYCH HIER NA SLOVENSKU
A V ZAHRANIČÍ ................................................................................................................................. 238
Ivan Rokošný
FRAZEOLÓGIA V ŽURNALISTIKE .............................................................................................. 246
Mária Stanková
DIGITÁLNÍ A MEDIÁLNÍ GRAMOTNOST V SOUČASNÉM PROSTORU VĚZNIC ............ 257
René Strouhal
73
NEW STORYTELLING SCHEMES IN A DIGITAL FILM
Laco Halama – Zora Hudíková
Abstract
Narration, narrative - that is, the story and its narration, are an essential substance of the
development of the film medium. It is a continuation of previous forms of narration in literary,
visual and dramatic art. Image and sound narration has evolved, and generations of filmmakers
have adopted and transformed narrative practices into diverse forms. The article compares the so-
called. classical approaches based on the narration of Aristotle's dictation or mimetic narrative
theory, used in the pre-digital era and their new forms, triggered by the digital revolution in the film
medium. It is generally assumed that the historical development of film cannot be separated from
economic, technological, historical and social change. Let us try to introduce new factors causing
changes in narrative film design. Although film digitization is almost a complete process from a
technical point of view, it is still in dynamic development in terms of creative possibilities. New
forms of narration have become so-called. puzzle film, mind game film and forking path film. It is
precisely their procedures that we will address at the end of this study.
Key words:
Digital film. Forking-path film. Mind-game film. Plot. Puzzle film. Story. Storytelling. Narration.
Narrative.
Introduction: Narratology - narration - digital film
Narratology is originally a literary-theoretical discipline dealing with narratives and narration. It is
sometimes referred to as a narrative theory.
1
The way of narration was studied by Plato and
Aristotle: they defined the content (logos) form and the way (lexis) of narration (diegesis),
distinguished whether it was mimetic imaging (dia mimeséos) that uses exclusively the characters'
speech or only the narrator (haple diegesis) ) or a combination of both. Narratology is a set of
"tools (concepts) that help to name and determine the basic qualities of narrative and their
interrelationships. It is a method of analysis that makes it possible to understand the structural links
between the individual components of narration in the process of engaging them for meaningful
construction.”
2
Despite the differentiation of narratological research, narratives remain at the center of the
attention: this includes the sum of narrative events (i.e., the main building blocks of the story
capturing the change of state), as well as the means to convey these events. Today, narrative -
originally a text that is viewed as a network of characters producing meaning - is defined
extensively as "telling (result and process, object and act, structure and structuring) of one or more
real or fictional events told by one or more (more or less clear) narrators to one, two or more (more
1
Naratológia. [online]. [2020-04-09]. Available at: <http://hyperlexikon.sav.sk/sk/pojem/zobrazit/autor/11/naratolo
gia>.
2
KUBÍČEK, T.: Vypravěč. Kategorie narativní analýzy. Brno : Host, 2007, p. 12.
74
or less clear) addresses.”
3
This all-encompassing definition seems to herald that narration will
become an important discourse also in film art. The film is generally a narrative medium or at least
a medium with a high narrative ability. Almost every film - perhaps except for specific
experimental or documentary works - contains at least basic narrative structures.
The story in the film has a specific mode of plurimedial presentation - that is, through a distinct
blending and mixing of temporal and spatial elements, which differs it from the narrative, which is
based primarily on a language. The narrative inventory used in the film must incorporate and
combine a large number of creative techniques to construct the story world.
4
Taking the
presentation of the state of change as an essential prerequisite for narrative - and hence following a
broad definition of narrative - the film has at least two basic narrative presentation options: a) to
present movements (and hence changes) within one frame; b) confront two (or more) comparable
states by combining shots into sequences (i.e., the editing or assembly process in terms of classical
film theory). Both narrative presentation modes have both visual and audio dimensions.
The term 'digital film' is now partly synonymous with the word 'film', because without exaggeration
it can be said that today all films are digital. Why, then, do we insist on an adjective? In this
widespread connection, we highlight the absolute penetration of digital technology into all levels of
film production. Only a few years ago it was purposefully investigated which film was digitally
produced and which was not. Today, almost every film becomes digital at some stage of its
creation. This is because, although there is still the possibility of twisting the primary material onto
an analog carrier (celluloid), finishing (editing, sounding, color correction, and projection) is
already done exclusively by digital means. Many of the activities using digital tools are hidden
behind the scenes of production activities and the viewer without specific experience does not
notice them. Thus, the visual aspect of the film as seen in the cinema is hardly distinguishable from
the previous - non-digital form. Digital film aesthetics are affected by the process of transforming
both light and sound in a digital camera and digital recorder, including the software used. The
camera becomes a computer and therefore the creator has to deal differently with the scene, actors,
space, choice of shots - his tools and his personal digital and computer literacy allow for increasing
the complexity of the story, new forms of events, better presentation of the story. In this context, the
narration is subjected to innumerable attempts to innovate.
1 Film narration and its development
The feature film is basically based on narrative structure, on story telling. Logically, we can say that
there is no talking without a narrator. So the question arises, who is the narrator in the film? One of
the most famous "cinema-eye" theories of V. I. Pudovkin says that the optics of the camera
represent the eyes of the observer watching the action, and the director's choice of images forces the
viewer to observe the most important details of the event. Changing the shot is a natural transfer of
the imaginary observer's attention. Later he extended the theory to sound - considering the
microphone that is placed in the observer's ears. The outcome of the theory was to convey narration
to the "observer wandering in space and time".
5
3
PRINCE, G.: A Dictionary of Narratology. Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 1987, p. 58.
4
KUHN, M., SCHMIDT, J. N.: Narration in Film (revised version; uploaded 22 April 2014). In HÜHN, P. et al.
(eds.): The living handbook of narratology. Hamburg : Hamburg University. [online]. [2020-04-09]. Available at:
<https://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de/node/64.html>.
5
PUDOVKIN, I.: Film Technique and Film Acting . Tranp. and edited by Ivor Montagu. New York : Grove, 1970, p.
70-71.
75
Neuroscientist A. Damasio says that "the natural pre-verbal storytelling occurrence" may be the
reason why dramas and later written stories appeared, "and why much of humanity is now
dependent on cinemas and television screens".
6
His words reflect what H. Münsterberg said almost
a hundred years ago: "Films are the closest external representation of how stories unfold in our
minds."
7
Films are (with some exceptions) the work of a large group of people. The film is the result of the
synergy of many technical, artistic, interpretative and aesthetic strategies that combine and merge in
a hybrid medium to create interconnected storytelling conventions. The narrative structure of the
film also reflects the historical state of technology at the time it was created - whether it is a silent
film or a film with perfect digital multi-track audio and high definition images, or the image is static
or dynamic. Not only the production process but also the emergence of very diverse formats in film
history have changed the narrative paradigms that previously seemed unchanged.
8
Ambitious and non-canonical art films, especially after 1945, reject the hegemonic story of classic
Hollywood films by imposing conditions of media and art and not using literary strategies. They
disrupt the narrative continuum and turn the principle of succession into simultaneity. For example,
by repeating the same event from different angles (Rashomon dir. A. Kurosawa, 1950) or relocating
the traditional regimes of temporal and spatial presentation (Last Year in Marienbad dir. A.
Resnais, 1961). In each of these films, there is a growing gap between story and discourse.
9
Modern
cinematography has brought a rapid shift in narration - anticipation of action, jumps in time and
space (Breathless dir. J. L. Godard, 1960), non-linear collages, blurred borders between "objective"
diegetic reality and subjective perception. Some films have worked with a change of character
continuity convention, (Adventure dir. M. Antonioni, 1960), or have used ironic forms of blending
verbal and audiovisual narration (Jules and Jim dir. F. Truffaut, 1962). Even in the context of
Hollywood film, more complex forms of narration can be found, partly due to influences and
directors from Europe in the classical period (Citizen Kane 1941; Touch of Evil, 1958, dir. O.
Welles ) or later in films from a later period (Graduate dir. M. Nichols, 1967 and Taxi Driver dir.
M. Scorsese, 1976).
One of the decisive cinematographic processes of narrative film organization is image editing: it
combines assembly (image editing, combining and reassembling visual segments) with a mix of
sound elements and selection of strategic points in space (angle, perspective). The most prominent
examples of displaying in a picture narrative of a film narrative are a) simple editing from one scene
to another; (b) a cut which alternates between shots from two spaces when watching scenes; (c)
parallel mounting to emphasize similarity or contrast; (d) the composition of counter-acts between
two persons speaking together; (e) 'centerline' cut that illustrate significant detail or action.
6
DAMASIO, A.: The Feeling of What Happenp. Body, Emotion and the Making of Consciousnesp. London : Vintage,
2000, p. 188.
7
Ibid, p. 188.
8
KUHN, M., SCHMIDT, J. N.: Narration in Film (revised version; uploaded 22 April 2014). In HÜHN, P. et al.
(eds.): The living handbook of narratology. Hamburg : Hamburg University. [online]. [2020-04-09]. Available at:
<https://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de/node/64.html>.
9
Ibid.
76
2 New forms of film narration
An essential criterion for distinguishing between classical and post-classical, resp. modern methods
is a way of dealing with two essential elements of the story structure: the story and plot.
10
Simple
plots are mimetic (and hence classical) because they involve organizing events into a single
continuous event unified by the beginning (exposure), through the middle (including the plot - the
complication of the action) and to the end (denouement). The audience considers such a network to
be easy to understand.
Neuroscientist A. Damasio says that "the natural pre-verbal storytelling occurrence" may be the
reason why dramas and later written stories appeared, "and why much of humanity is now
dependent on cinemas and television screens".
11
His words reflect what H. Münsterberg said almost
a hundred years ago: "movies are the closest outward representation of how stories unfold in our
minds."
12
An important theorist D. Bordwell - who in his book examines in detail the development and state
of narration in a feature film - says that an important period for the development of narration was
the so-called Hollywood film production studio period - roughly from 1917 to 1960. Large film
studios and their production system have created an ideal environment for organizing rules for a
clear and understandable plot that consists of obvious causes and their consequences, where
psychology plays a very important role. The protagonist of American film has clear and consistent
character traits, is typically goal-oriented, trying to achieve success in personal life, at work, etc.
His needs and goals meet with the desires of other characters, creating a plot and conflict that is
resolved at the end. The plot also raises tensions by setting deadlines for “meeting” goals, grading
conflict, and resolving conflicts at the last minute. These principles guaranteed the success of
American films for a long time.
13
The period after 1960 is referred to as the New Hollywood era, which became a typical kind of
continuation of film practice, but with new (young) directors (M. Scorsese, F..F. Coppola,
R. Altman, W. Allen, etc.), new technical possibilities (steadicam, time code synchronization,
multi-track audio recording, etc.) as well as a new approach to genre conventions. P. Lloyd
described the main features of the coming era, arguing that in the new Hollywood style, the
narrative structure disintegrated, genre conventions dissolved, the linearity of the narrative was
disrupted by ambiguity, and the individual protagonist could no longer be considered heroic.
14
Movies like Thieves like us (dir. R. Altman), Easy Rider (dir. D. Hopper), and American Graffiti
(dir. G. Lucas) P. Lloyd and T. Elseasser considered evidence that New Hollywood was inspired by
international art film and brought unmotivated protagonists, intricate story structures, and "the
10
Story follows storyline as it happened over time, plot is a way of sequencing as individual events follow each other in
the film.
11
DAMASIO, A.: The Feeling of What Happenp. Body, Emotion and the Making of Conscious-nesp. London : Vintage.
2000, p. 188.
12
Ibidem, p. 188.
13
BORDWELL, D., THOMPSON, K.: Umění filmu. Praha : Akademie múzických umění, 2011, p. 80.
14
LLOYD, P.: The American Cinema: An outlook. In Monogram, No. 1, 1971, p. 11. [online]. [2020-04-10]. Available
at:
˂https://books.google.sk/books?id=BXiIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA733&lpg=PA733&dq=LLOYD,+P.:+The+American+Ci
nema:+An+outlook.+Monogram,+No.+1,+1971,+p.+11.&source=bl&ots=gWRzJ-W-8f&sig=ACfU3U1rPLb45DnC˃.
e
77
pathos of failure."
15
We can state that the next significant period bringing changes in the way of
film narration came about two decades later, when digital technologies began to change film.
The theorist J. Mittell says in his book that the complexity of narration has become the norm in
American television production since 1990. The gradual emergence of on-demand television
channels aimed at providing quality television production for which the viewer pays has led to the
birth (?) of an active, responsive and engaged viewer. In addition to quality television production, it
also acknowledges the role and effects of video and computer games. Many films made for cinemas
since the 1990s tell stories that are 'complex': Pulp Fiction (dir. Q. Tarantino, 1994), The Usual
Suspects (dir. B. Singer,1995), Matrix (dir. Wachowski, 1999), The Sixth Sense (dir. M. Night
Shyamalan, 1999), Memento (dir. Ch. Nolan, 2000), Mulholland Drive (dir. D. Lynch, 2001),
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (dir. M. Gondry, 2004) and Inception (dir. Ch. Nolan, 2010).
These films "adopted an aesthetic play and encourage the audience to play it with the creators to
crack interpretative codes, to understand their complex narrative strategies."
16
He explained that "narrative complex films" were "constructed without fear of temporarily
disorienting viewers," yet they induced such a feeling in viewers, but at the same time provoked
them and allowed them to build their skills and understanding through long-term viewing and active
involvement." Eventually, these complex programs turned viewers into what Mittell described as
“amateur narratologists”.
17
Also, generally speaking, people in most cultures understand their
experiences and identities by acquiring foreign stories and creating their own. In today's culture
dominated by new media, however, experience has become unclear, ambiguous and fragmented.
That is also why the stories have become opaque and complex in an adequate way trying to present
these experiences. These complex stories reverse common psychological ways of understanding
and instead represent radically new experiences and identities that are usually perceived as
disturbing and traumatic.
In November 2012, A. O. Scott and M. Dargis, two major film critics from the New York Times,
published a joint analysis of several currently successful films - Cloud Atlas dir. T. Tykwer, L. and
L. Wachowski, 2012; The Master dir. P.T. Anderson, 2012. The authors wonder how it is possible
that films are so successful when, unlike most commercial productions, they lack a recognizable
story and an understandable causal narrative structure.
18
Recently, this phenomenon has been
recognized by film theorists who began to refer to this type of narration as "puzzle film" or "mind
game film". Their analyses focus on the narrative innovations that such films bring, often lacking in
explaining the apparent ease with which the audience accepts them.
Based on the summary of the authors' opinions, we can state that the cognitive mechanisms used in
recognizing the narrative line of film based on understanding causal or logical narration (complex
narration) in a new generation of viewers who have not experienced this type of narration seem to
disappear at the expense mostly on digital and interactive communication features. These are
15
ELSAESSER, T.: The pathos of failure. American Films in the 70s. Monogram, No. 6, 1975, p. 13. [online]. [2020-
04-10]. Available at:
˂https://books.google.sk/books?id=19mmZIqaqhgC&pg=PA107&lpg=PA107&dq=ELSAESSER,+T.:+The+pathos+of
+failure.+American+Films+in+the+70s.+Monogram,+No.+6,+1975,+p.+13.&source=bl&ots=Autd23bxDW&sig=ACf
U3U3EmhdcKJslP52jRNP3xvDC50rV9A&hl˃.
16
MITTELL, J.: Narrative Complexicity in Contemporary American Television. p. 29-40. [online]. [2020-04-10].
Available at: ˂https://justtv.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/mittell-narrative-complexity.pdf˃.
17
Ibid, p. 29-40.
18
SCOTT, A. O., DARGIS, M.: When Do We ‘Get It’? published 21. 11. 2012. [online]. [2020-04-10]. Available at:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/movies/films-dispense-with-storytelling- conventions.html? pagewanted=all>.
78
known to the viewers from the environment of computer games and video content on the Internet
and social networks. Stories - are an inevitable and key theme of modern media discourse, not only
in traditional “narrative” entertainment media such as television, cinema, and theatre, but also in
social media (social networking, blogging) and “new media” (online games, virtual reality).
In researching digital film narratology over the past two decades, a remarkable number of new
theories have emerged describing the complex narrative techniques of a digital film: W. Buckland
developed the theory of "puzzle film"
19
, D. Bordwell's theory of "forking-path film",
20
T. Elseasser
"mind-game" film."
21
However, we also find other names of similar phenomena in film narration:
they are "multiple-draft film", "modular-narrative film" or "twisted-narrative film"
22
- which can
only be considered as differentiated names of similar phenomena, with differences only when
selecting specific films used to analyze and prove individual investigations. What unites them is a
deviation from the rules of a classic film story - especially in the direction of non-linear or
multilayer narrative. Let us briefly stop for at least the first three theoretical concepts.
The term “puzzle film” appeared around the year 1990. This kind of narration rejects classical
narrative techniques and replaces them with a more so-called “complex style of talking”. Puzzle
films are a follow-up to the post-classical narrative that appeared in the early 1960p. The post-
classical films from 1960 up to puzzle films are based on the narrative principles established in the
studio era, besides classic Hollywood, they are influenced by the European art films of the 1950s
and 1960p. Their symptoms are, in particular, a more relaxed chain of causes and consequences, a
hero without a clear target and open end. Post-classical reading of films, however, is not based on
their deflection from the canonical format of the three-stroke or four-stroke structure.
23
This may or
may not be followed. In the 1960s, one of the most striking innovations was the definition of the
main character with character cracks, flaws, the dark side and the past with which he has to deal
with throughout the film.
24
These films do not heroize the hero but focus on his mistakes. These
principles and goals are equally characteristic of puzzle film. Since its inception, the post-classical
narration has increased the prestige of “B-class” sci-fi and horror films – common genres among
many puzzle films today, which make the creators come alive with fresh genre ingredients.
25
Since
the 1990s, the advancement of computer technology has gone hand in hand with these innovations,
which has helped greatly facilitate the depiction of all the features of puzzle film. Editing a film
non-chronologically seems suddenly so simple, visually transferring to the protagonist's mind does
not require any decoration cost, just sit behind a computer. How else would we enter into the
dreams of dreams so smoothly (Inception, dir. Ch. Nolan, 2010), how easier would we understand
the feelings of schizophrenic (Donnie Darko, dir. R. Kelly, 2001).
19
BUCKLAND, W.: Puzzle Films. Complex Storytelling in Contemporary Cinema. Chichester : Blackwell Publishing
Ltd, 2009, p. 3.
20
BORDWELL, D.: Film Futures. In SubStance, Vol. 31, no. 1, 2002, p. 88-104. [online]. [2020-04-09]. Available at:
˂https://muse.jhu.edu/article/32313/pdf˃.
21
ELSAESSER, T.: The Mind-Game Film. In BUCKLAND, W. (ed.): Puzzle Films: Complex Storytelling in
Contemporary Cinema, New York : Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, p. 13-14.
22
STERRITT, D.: Puzzle Pictures, Quarterly Review of Film and Video. 33:5, p. 478-481. [online]. [2020-04-09].
Available at: <https://doi.org/10.1080/10509208.2016.1176473>.
23
BUCKLAND, W., ELSAESSER, T. : Studying contemporary American film: A guide to movie analysis. [online].
[2020-04-09]. Available at:
<https://archive.org/stream/Studying_Contemporary_American_Film_A_Guide_To_Movie_Analysis_Thomas_Elsaess
erW/Studying_Contemporary_American_Film_A_Guide_To_Movie_Analysis_Thomas_Elsaesser__Warren_Buckl_dj
vu.txt>.
24
BORDWELL, D.: The Way Hollywood Tells It: Story and Style in Modern Movies. Berkley and Los Angeles,
California : University of California Press, 2006, p. 30.
25
Ibid.
79
An important inspirational element in making puzzle films is undoubtedly computer games. Their
different levels of reality resemble different fictional worlds within a single story. In several films,
we experience the same event several times just to find out, together with the hero, where we made
a mistake, how to make it up and achieve the goal. For characters, their fictional world is a kind of
computer game that we only witness as we can't influence it. The interactivity between the viewer
and the film is only apparent. Plot twists concerning travel in time and more realities are ideal, but
as interactive we can describe the relationship of film and a game production based on common
themes (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Terminator or Lord of the Rings) and vice versa, films shot based
on a computer game (Mortal Combat, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Final Fantasy: The Essence of Life,
etc.)
New digital forms of distribution have allowed viewers to watch a film without a smooth sequence
like there is in cinema screening. Digital media allowed us to playback a film, view it sequentially
or frame-by-frame and stop it (as in DVD and Blu-ray) to use the digitalized navigation space. They
even allow us to watch film versions with edited scene sequencing or "build" a new film with
deleted scenes or alternate ending.
The second modern storytelling concept is the so-called mind-game films formally described by
theoretician T. Elsaesser. He did not describe them as a sub-genre, but rather as a tendency or a
phenomenon in contemporary cinematography.
26
This type of film “plays” with the viewer. In his
text, Elsaesser presents a few typical motives that appear in mind-game films: there is no concrete
boundary between the real, fictional or subjective world. The main character is often solving the
question of his/her being, looking for who he/she is, or finding himself in a parallel reality (e.g.
Stranger Than Fiction, dir. M. Forster, 2006). Other features of mind-game films are multiple
universes, multiple times, causality between coincidence and conjunction, feedback - repeated and
retroactive causalities, insertion of a story into another story, placement of an observer as the object
of observation. This all creates kind of a metafiction which is the strongest representative in the
tendencies of mind-game film.
27
Mind-game films can be attractive not only for watching the story but also for several kinds of
challenges: becoming active, getting involved and solving obvious discrepancies, while trusting the
film and its creator. The audience is prepared for the new "rules of the game" and accepts them for
the "higher goal" - on behalf of the game itself. Mind game films can encourage audiences to
entertain hypotheses that prove false or remain unproven at the end.
28
Films that may be associated
with this modern digital film genre are The Usual Suspects (dir. B. Singer, 1995), The Sixth Sense
(dir. M. Night Shyamalan), The Village (dir. M. Night Shyamalan, 2004), Vanilla Sky, (dir. C.
Crowe, 2001), Donnie Darko (dir. R. Kelly, 2001), Memento (dir. Ch. Nolan, 2000), Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (dir. M. Gondry, 2004), 2046, (dir. Kar-wai Wong), Oldboy (dir.
Chan-wook Park), Inception (dir. Ch. Nolan, 2010), Source Code (dir. D. Jones) and some of the
twenty titles agreed by critics and theorists.
29
26
ELSAESSER, T.: The Mind-Game Film. In: BUCKLAND, W. (ed.): Puzzle Films: Complex Storytelling in
Contemporary Cinema. New York : Wiley-Blackwell, p. 13-14.
27
Ibid.
28
ELSAESSER. T.: Contingency, causality, complexity: distributed agency in the mind-game film, New Review of
Film and Television Studies, Published: 20 Dec 2017. [online]. [2020-04-05]. Available at:
<https://doi.org/10.1080/17400309.2017.1411870>.
29
Ibid.
80
The third form of new storytelling practices in the digital film is the so-called 'forking path film'.
The author of this title is an excellent film theorist D. Bordwell, who derived it from the title of a
short story by Argentinian writer J. L. Borghes "The Garden of Forking Paths" written by the author
in 1941. Bordwell did so in 2002 when he published his study "Film Futures". It describes the
narrative style of some films in which the linear distribution of stories is subject to a branched
(bifurcating) story structure. The model embodying his concept is, according to Bordwell, a film by
director T. Tykwer Run Lola Run (1998). Based on the classic narratological distinction between
story and theme, it supports the widespread claim that an innovative form is often compensated by
simplicity at the story level. He further argues that Run Lola Run, "which is very experimental in
some respects, is also very traditional in many respects."
30
It works with a three-story fairytale
motive, the last one being the right [...] I mean, it is very much in line with the spirit of the classic
film. ”
31
According to Bordwell's cognitive formalism, Run Lola Run serves as a prime example of
how the stories in the film were branched and 'adapted to cognitively manageable dimensions […]
meant for quick understanding'.
32
In addition to this, Bordwell also presents other films that,
according to him, fulfill the attributes of a branched narrative: Blind Chance (dir. K. Kieślowski,
1987), Groundhog Day (dir. H. Ramis, 1993) Sliding Doors (dir. P. Howitt, 1998). Director K.
Kieślowski notes - describing the essence of the forking path of the film: “Every day we encounter
a choice that could end our entire life. We don't really know what our destiny is.”
33
Recognizing
that each film develops its own story by specific means and style, Bordwell postulated seven
conventions of forking path stories: 1. the storylines are linear; 2. the storylines are marked; 3. the
storylines cross sooner or later; 4. the stories are united by traditional means of film language (for
the sake of clarity for the viewer); 5. stories often run in parallel; 6. the stories are not equal (the last
finished or narrated implies another); 7. the stories are not equal, the last seen or finished is least
hypothetical (hence the most likely).
34
Had the reader watched films that Bordwell had assigned to this storytelling category (but also
others that we did not name), he would find that they were of diverse origin (USA, Europe, Asia)
and also of different genres. They all have a common philosophical view of our being, an
interpretation of the existence of man in a parallel world, an alternative passage of time, and
different approaches to the processing of the story. And surprisingly, a large part of them does not
use special digital effects.
Stories are, of course, a crucial part of the film. Philosophers and theorists, such as S. Chatman,
35
D.
Bordwell,
36
and N. Carroll,
37
see one of the strongest and most relevant features of the film in the
presence of narrative context. "When a viewer watches a movie, they try to recognize the clues
which are offered, remember the information, and anticipate future events. (…) The film shapes
concrete expectations by arousing curiosity, tension, and surprise. The end of the film is intended to
30
BORDWELL, D.: Film Futures. In SubStance, Vol. 31, no. 1, 2002, p. 88-104. [online]. [2020-04-09]. Available at:
˂https://muse.jhu.edu/article/32313/pdf˃.
31
BORDWELL, D.: Narrative Constructions in Tom Tykwer’s Run, Lola, Run. München : GRIN Verlag, 2005, p. 1.
32
BORDWELL, D.: Film Futures. In SubStance, Vol. 31, no. 1, 2002, p. 91. [online]. [2020-04-09]. Available at:
˂https://muse.jhu.edu/article/32313/pdf˃.
33
Ibid.
34
BORDWELL, D.: Film Futures. In SubStance, Vol. 31, no. 1, 2002, p. 88-104. [online]. [2020-04-09]. Available at:
˂https://muse.jhu.edu/article/32313/pdf˃.
35
CHATMAN, S.: Story and Discourse: Narrative structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca : Cornel UP, 1978, p. 56.
36
BORDWELL, D. : The Way Hollywood Tells It: Story and Style in Modern Movies. Berkeley : University of
California Press, 2006, p. 94.
37
CARROLL, N., GIBSON, J. (eds.): Narrative, Emotion, and Insight. Pennsylvania : Pennsylvania State University
Press, 2011, p. 23.
81
satisfy or refute the expectations that the film as a whole has built in up. Similarly, the conclusion
may appeal to the viewer's memory and encourage it to revise or contemplate previous events in
new contexts.”
38
In this way, one can assume that the viewer is involved in creating a film form.
Based on this expectation, the creators are looking for new forms of storytelling, making use of the
newly acquired skills of an audience based on computer skills, active gaming experience in digital
and internet communication and online (VOD) film distribution.
Conclusion
Since the mid-1990s, more and more popular mainstream films have used several unusual tools of
audiovisual narration to achieve dense and complex narrativep. They tried to create tension through
style and stylistics of narration rather than through the stories themselvep. Previous conventions of
classical film narration have become the subject of media reflective play through the use of several
narrative levels - (e.g. Open the Eye / Abre Los Oyos, dir. A. Amenábar, 1997; Adaptation, dir. P.
Jonze, 2002), - various forms of narrative unreliability (The Usual Suspects, dir. B. Singer, 1995), -
sudden last twists (The Sixth Sense, dir. M. Night Shyamalan, 1999), - creatively used genre
conventions (Pulp Fiction, dir. Q. Tarantino, 1994); - or interrelated film-in-film and narration-in-
narration structures (Bad Education / La mala educación, dir. P. Almodóvar, 2004), etc.
39
When
discussing these forms of narration in the feature in feature films of the 1990s and the 10s of the
21st century, we should not forget that films with self-reflective, paradoxical and ambivalent
narrative structures are not entirely new - that their different forms, corresponding to the media and
the viewer's experience of the time, accompany the film for about eighty years.
We know how crucial and important it is to have a story - in advertising, business, and society.
Storytelling was clearly crucial for the development of cinema and television as well as of new
forms of print and graphic media in the early twentieth century.
40
Digital means of creation are
relatively affordable and have the potential to approach independent filmmakers and amateurs, to
facilitate the film making process and to provide them with almost unlimited mobility.
41
Incentives
coming from the environment of independent film or new media, online space, networked media
culture have become a source for the professional sphere in recent years. If the narration is a major
problem in the film's meaning, its logic must be re-examined with new ways of talking in the film
that plays games with the viewer or leads the viewer to a maze of ontological uncertainty.
Narrativity, audience engagement, and resourceful presentation techniques come together to create
a 'film discourse' that – up to a certain point – can only be understood by synchronous formal
analysis of narrative strategies. The current approach should discuss current forms of film
storytelling against the background of the historical development of film storytelling, inextricably
linked to the successes and capacities of the media.
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Contact data:
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University of S. Cyril and methodius in Trnava
Faculty of Mass Media Communication
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917 01 Trnava
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
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Assoc. Prof. PhDr. Zora Hudíková, PhD.
University of S. Cyril and methodius in Trnava
Faculty of Mass Media Communication
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SLOVAK REPUBLIC
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