After reading Chapter 3 of Film Art titled, “Narrative Form,” I was surprised by how much we as viewers of films play a role in the process of storytelling. Although it is up to the director to choose the various elements of the plot including cause and effect, time, and space, once those elements are put in front of us in the form of a plot, it is up to us to piece it all together. As someone who loves writing, I was waiting for when we began to address the narrative and plot of a film because I have always found that part of filmmaking to be very interesting.  A lot of what I learned in Narrative Form felt rather intuitive, but it was quite interesting to both hear the technical terms of various parts of narrative form and learn more about the impact of narrative form. 

One element I found to be very fascinating is the way that the director can control our knowledge of the conflicts through cause and effect within film. Bordwell and Thompson discuss how directors can choose to either show the viewers the causes and withhold the effects within the plot or show the viewers the effects and withhold the causes (79). Both of these choices will lead to elements of suspense. If we know what has caused a catastrophe, but we don’t know how specific people are impacted, we as viewers are WAITING to find out. And, if we know that people have been impacted by something, but we don’t know what happened, we as viewers are also WAITING to find out what happened. Either way, viewers are interested and curious, but it is up to the director when it comes to what they want to withhold or tell us. Bordwell and Thompson also mention open-ended plots. This is when some part of the plot is left unanswered or with a big question mark at the end, leaving viewers thinking. In my opinion, films with open-ended plots are equally moving and frustrating.

Speaking of open-ended plots, after reading this chapter, I was interested in the ways that anticlimactic endings and open-ended plots relate. As I discussed above, an open-ended plot is when the director doesn’t fully conclude the plot, leaving questions unanswered and making the viewers think about what happens next. An anticlimactic end is when the film doesn’t fully settle the cause and effect throughout the movie (88). Typically, anticlimactic endings are more frustrating than an open-ended plot is. I typically find myself extremely annoyed by anticlimactic endings as they just feel kinda bland. When I don’t get to see the end of the cause and effect, it makes me wonder why I even watched the whole movie. Whereas when a movie ends on more of an unanswered question, I am left thinking. These devices are very similar, but the way I decipher between them is by the audiences’ reactions. I feel like sometimes open-ended plots can be viewed as more artistic and anticlimactic endings can be seen as annoying and lazy. However, because these two elements are so similar I wonder if they can be bunched together completely? Can we refer to them as one? Are they really just one thing and it is us viewers that separate them? I am curious to discuss this in class!

What feels the most important as it pertains to open-ended plots and anticlimactic endings is that typically what makes them perhaps more unconventional in film is that viewers like to see the resolution of things. When we go to the movies we set a certain expectation that we will watch something with conflicts and thought provoking themes, and by the end, everything will be perfectly tied into a bow and all is well. These kinds of movies are very entertaining, but what is the fun if every single movie does the same thing? I think it is important to leave us thinking and impede on our expectations sometimes. Tom Gunning speaks of similar ideas when he discusses different kinds of cinema and their purposes in his article, “The Cinema of Attraction: Early Film, Its Spectator, and the Avant-Garde.” What I found most interesting in this piece was his discussion of non-narrative films and shows such as trick films or Vaudeville shows. He discusses that instead of looking straight past old films and productions that were less aimed at a narrative driven plot, we should look at them closely and observe the art and possibilities they have to offer. I think this is extremely important and also ties into the different, less conventional parts of narrative film like open-ended plots and anticlimactic endings!