Shaun K A Rawding
The Eyes Have It: Affective Identification via Filmic Narration and ‘Over
Exposure’ in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan
Filmic narration can be used to affect the way in which a viewer relates to the protagonist, or
interprets the events depicted on screen, in a number of ways. Listed below is a summary of
the terms raised over the course of my paper.
Verstraten’s Theory of Filmic Focalisation and Narration
Peter Verstraten has adapted the literary theories of his compatriot Mieke Bal to mould an
approach to narratology specific to the field of film studies. He argues that all shots are
‘focalised’ and represent either the perspective of an extradiegetic character or agent – in which
case the events are deemed to be externally focalised – or represent the visual or psychological
perspective of a diegetic character, in which case the images are considered internally focalised
or embedded.(2009: 9-10)
Verstraten also proposes that role of filmic narration is delegated to two narrative agents: a
visual narrator and an auditive narrator, and that these sub-narrators are regulated by a filmic
narrator. This agent ultimately selects which images and sounds are presented to the viewer
(2009: 127).
Jean Mitry: Four types of Camera
Mitry, who put his theory down in the early Sixties, categorises cinematography into four
different types of ‘Images’ (or ‘shots’). Applying Verstraten’s terminology, the former two
types are considered to exhibit forms of external focalisation, while the latter two define shots
which represent internal, or embedded, focalisation (1998: 210-18).
The Objective (or ‘Descriptive’) Image: This refers to “straightforward” external shots of the
actants involved, or events which take place, in any scene. Although presented from an
ostensibly objective perspective, such shots and scenes are subjective insofar as they have been
selected above other scenes/shots which may also have been chosen.
The Symbolic (or ‘Personal’) Image: These shots represent, or reflect, the opinions or
perspective of the filmic narrator, who may wish to draw the viewer’s attention to a certain
element in a scene, or an aspect of a character’s personality.
The Subjective (or ‘Analytic’) Image: This image represents the veridical point-of-view of a
character participating in the narrative.
The Semisubjective Image: Representing a blend of objective reality and the protagonist’s
own psychological interpretation of the narrative space, Mitry (1998: 218) considers this to be
the ‘total image,’ as it embodies all the elements of the other three types of shot he
distinguishes. It is ‘descriptive’ (through what it shows), ‘analytic’ (identified with the
character’s vision) and symbolic (though the resulting compositional structures).
George Wilson’s Philosophy
The philosopher George Wilson (2011: 151-52) introduces two terms which refer to how an
internally focalised scene may differ from objective reality. Subjective inflection refers to
instances where ‘visual outcroppings’ of an embedded focaliser’s conscience become
embedded in the diegesis (and may be indistinguishable from the objective components). In
the most extreme cases of subjective inflection subjective saturation may occur, whereby
everything presented on screen has been filtered through the gaze of a focaliser.
Bibliography
Aronofsky, Darren. 2010. Black Swan (USA: Fox Searchlight Pictures) [on DVD]
Gaut, Berys. 1999. ‘Identification and Emotion in Narrative Film’, in Plantinga, Carl & Greg
M. Smith, Passionate Views: Film, Cognition, and Emotion (New York: Johns Hopkins
University Press) pp. 200-16
Plantinga, Carl. 1999. ‘The Science of Empathy and the Human Face on Film’, in Plantinga &
Smith, Passionate Views, pp. 239-56
Smith, Greg M. 1999. ‘Local Emotions, Global Moods, and Film Structure’, in Plantinga &
Smith. Passionate Views, pp.103-27
Verstraten, Peter. 2009. Film Narratology, Trans. Stefan van der Lecq (London: University of
Toronto Press)
Wilson, George M. 2011. Seeing Fictions in Film: The Epistemology of Movies (Oxford:
Oxford University Press)