My graduate post this week was to compare the films Psycho and Pulp Fiction. I will be honest here and let everyone know that I had a similar project last semester and wrote a 2k word paper on the matter. I have attached the work below and please feel free to cite it or use it as a reference to find other research on the topic. But for the purposes of this post I will summarize some of the key story structure ideas.
After watching these two films it is easy to see that the structure of the films are very different. Psycho is very straight forward in its telling. It goes from point A to point B in a straight line. Pulp Fiction on the other hand is a non-linear design, the story is cut up and out of sequence. It is interesting that both these films tell an interesting story, but use different narrative designs to accomplish their task. So what style is better? I think for the sake of the average movie/moviegoer a liner story is better. This is because it can be more relaxing for the viewer and can appeal to a wider range of audience demographics. I am not saying that non-liner movies are no good or cannot work. I just think that it has to be done well. With a sub-par scrip or director a move that moves all over the timeline will probably turn out a large disaster. However when you have a competent director and a strong script it can make the whole experience more engaging.
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