Narrative techniques in The Life Before Her Eyes

Technique	Description	Effect (in term of driving forward the narrative of the film)	Example from a film
1. Exposition	Fills in the back story of the characters and their situations	Lets us know the motivation of the characters.	When she says “hi” t Amanda there’s a flashback so that we know she’s a friend from school.
2. Dangling cause	Information or action that leads to no effect or resolution until much later in the film	So that your going to watch the film until the end so that you know what happened. Allows for the film to in lots of different levels.	What happened to Maureen and her family.
3. Obstacle	Stands in the way of the characters reaching their goal	Makes it more interesting & dramatic. It demands things to happen.	It is the anniversary of the shooting at her school which makes her very emotional.
4. Deadline	A time limit placed on a protagonist to accomplish a goal	Increases tension. It makes the film more “goal” orientated.	Michael Patrick pressures them to decide who will die.
5. Dialogue hook	Creates a link between two consecutive scenes	Allows to scenes to have continuity and make sense.	Diane says she’s going to take Emma to school and in the next shot we see her at the school