[SKRIVA] Wikipedia om intriger
- From: "ahrvid@xxxxxxxxxxxx" <ahrvid@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: skriva@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:55:10 +0200 (CEST)
Hm, det visste jag inte - men allas vår Wikipedia (iaf den engelska versionen)
har en hel uppsättning beskrivningar av olika intrigelement. Gå till:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Plot
Läs t ex om den MacGuffin, som Hitchcock ofta använde, eller om "plot
immunity", eller "story within a story", eller varför inte den intressanta
artikeln om de olika mekanismerna bakom s k "twist-ending:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twist_ending
Njae, det är lika bra att köra huvuddelen av den artiklen här. Wikipedias
intrigsida har iaf massor av intressant material. Enjoy:
Mechanics of the twist ending
[edit] Literary devices
Anagnorisis, or discovery, is the protagonist's sudden recognition of their
own or another character's true identity or nature. Through this technique,
previously unforeseen character information is revealed. A notable example of
anagorisis occurs in Oedipus Rex: Oedipus kills his father and marries his
mother in ignorance, learning the truth only toward the climax of the play.
This technique is very commonly used in J K Rowling's Harry Potter series,
where the main antagonist's identity is usually disguised as an ally to the
protagonist until the very end.[1]
Flashback, or analepsis, is a sudden, vivid reversion to a past event. It is
used to surprise the reader with previously unknown information that provides
the answer to a mystery, places a character in a different light, or reveals
the reason for a previously inexplicable action. The TV show Lost utilizes this
technique frequently, as the show's mythos relies heavily on flashbacks. The
finale of its third season used a twist on the flashback revelation; a
flashforward revelation. The acclaimed Alfred Hitchcock film Marnie also
employed this type of twist ending. Another example of reversing a flashback
for dramatic effect is used in the anime film Grave of the Fireflies. The House
of Yes uses this device, in the form of home video footage. See also Racconto.
An unreliable narrator twists the ending by revealing, almost always at the
end of the narrative, that the narrator has manipulated or fabricated the
preceding story, thus forcing the reader to question their prior assumptions
about the text. This motif is often used within noir fiction and films, notably
in the film The Usual Suspects (which, in turn, produced multiple imitators
such as The Rich Man's Wife and Lucky Number Slevin). An unreliable narrator
motif was employed by Agatha Christie in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, a novel
that generated much controversy due to critics' contention that it was unfair
to trick the reader in such a manipulative manner [2].
Peripeteia is a sudden reversal of the protagonist's fortune, whether for good
or ill, that emerges naturally from the character's circumstances. Unlike the
deus ex machina device, peripeteia must be logical within the frame of the
story. An example of a reversal for good would be the transition of Wart from
subservience to sovereignty in The Sword and the Stone. An example of a
reversal for ill would be Agamemnon's sudden murder at the hands of his wife
Clytemnestra in Aeschylus' The Oresteia. Peripeteia is an extreme type of plot
point. The film, Match Point, also uses Peripeteia when the protagonist is
about to be caught for his crime, when an earlier action (presumed to be a
mistake) turns out for the better. Also, in the film Shawshank Redemption the
main character Andy seems to have lost hope after purchasing a length of rope
presumably for a suicide but suddenly escapes from jail and goes on to live his
dream of freedom.
Deus ex machina is a Latin term meaning "god out of a machine." It refers to
an unexpected, artificial or improbable character, device or event introduced
suddenly in a work of fiction to resolve a situation or untangle a plot. In
Ancient Greek theater, the "deus ex machina" ('??? ??????? ????') was the
character of a Greek god literally brought onto the stage via a crane (????????
mechanes), after which a seemingly insoluble problem is brought to a
satisfactory resolution by the god's will. In its modern, figurative sense, the
"deus ex machina" brings about an ending to a narrative through unexpected
(generally happy) resolution to what appears to be a problem that cannot be
overcome. This device is often used to end a bleak story on a more positive
note. For example, in William Golding's Lord of the Flies, a ship arrives at
the island to rescue the boys just in time to prevent the band of "hunters"
from killing the protagonist, Ralph.[3] Sometimes, the deus ex machina approach
is used to end a story on a non-positive note, as in Catherine Breillat's A ma
soeur.
Irony creates a gap or incongruity between what the writer presents and what
is understood. This often works in narratives to create a twist of fate, in
which an eventual event reverts back to a previous one.
Poetic justice is a literary device in which virtue is ultimately rewarded or
vice punished in such a way that the reward or punishment has a logical
connection to the deed. In modern literature, this device is often used to
create an ironic twist of fate in which the villain gets caught up in his/her
own trap. For example, in C. S. Lewis' The Horse and His Boy, Prince Rabadash
climbs upon a mounting block during the battle in Archenland. Upon jumping down
while shouting "The bolt of Tash falls from above," his hauberk catches on a
hook and leaves him hanging there, humiliated and trapped. A more recent
example of poetic justice is in the film The Departed, in which Sullivan (Matt
Damon), the cop who is a double agent for the mafia, is ultimately and
unexpectedly killed for his crimes. Sullivan somewhat expects his poetic
justice; when he confronts his killer, he says the movie's last line: "...
Okay."
Chekhov's gun refers to a situation in which a character or plot element is
introduced early in the narrative, then not referenced again until much later.
Often the usefulness of the item is not immediately apparent until it suddenly
attains pivotal significance. A perfect example of this is the tapir trap in
Apocalypto, which serves as a way to fool and stop the Holcane leader from
chasing Jaguar Paw permanently. A similar mechanism is the "plant," a
preparatory device that repeats throughout the story. During the resolution,
the true significance of the plant is revealed. Both Chekhov?s gun and plants
are used as elements of foreshadowing. Villains in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
were often Chekhov's guns?they would be introduced early on as "innocuous
secondary characters" (as remarked by Jason Fox), then ignored until they
turned out to be the one in the scary costume driving people away to get at a
hidden fortune.
A red herring is a false clue intended to lead investigators toward an
incorrect solution. This device usually appears in detective novels and mystery
fiction. The red herring is a type of misdirection, a device intended to
distract the protagonist, and by extension the reader, away from the correct
answer or from the site of pertinent clues or action. An example would be the
way such information is used in the film Saw (2004).[4]. TV series Law & Order
and its spin-off, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit use red herrings repeatedly
in several episodes. A red herring can also be used as a form of false
foreshadowing.
A cliffhanger is an abrupt ending that leaves the main characters in a
precarious or difficult situation, creating a strong feeling of suspense that
provokes the reader to ask, "What will happen next?" Cliffhangers often
frustrate the reader, since they offer no resolution at all; however, the
device does have the advantage of creating the Zeigarnik effect. A cliffhanger
is often employed at the end of an installment of serialized novels, movies, or
in most cases, TV series. A literal cliffhanger can be seen at the end of The
Italian Job. also R.L Stein's Goosebumps (children's book series), often
utilizes this technique.
In medias res (Latin, "into the middle of things") is a literary technique in
which narrative proceeds from the middle of the story rather than its
beginning. Information such characterization, setting, and motive is revealed
through a series of flashbacks. This technique creates a twist when the cause
for the inciting incident is not revealed until the climax. Perhaps the
earliest notable instance of this technique's use is in The Iliad, which begins
in medias res, about nine and a half years into the ten year Trojan War. This
technique is used effectively within the film The Prestige in which the opening
scenes show one of the main characters drowning and the other being imprisoned.
Subsequent scenes reveal the events leading up to these situations through a
series of flashbacks. Another interesting version of this is in the Star Wars
movies series: the story begins in the middle, in "Episode IV" rather than
"Episode I", so that the truth about Luke and Leia's parentage is unknown to
the viewer. Parts I through III were subsequently made to fill in the
backstory, revealing the information that would be plot twists in the later
stories. In medias res is often used to provide a narrative hook.
Nonlinear narration works by revealing plot and character in non-chronological
order. This technique requires the reader to attempt to piece together the
timeline in order to fully understand the story. A twist ending can occur as
the result of information which is held until the climax and which places
characters or events in a different perspective. One of the earliest known uses
of non-linear story telling occurs in The Odyssey, a work that is largely told
in flashback via the narrator Odysseus. The nonlinear approach has been used in
works such as the films Highlander, Mulholland Drive, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp
Fiction and the books Catch-22 and The Corrections.[5][6]
Reverse chronology works by revealing the plot in reverse order, i.e., from
final event to initial event. Unlike traditional chronological storylines,
which progress through causes before reaching a final effect, reverse
chronological storylines reveal the final effect before tracing the causes
leading up to it; therefore, the initial cause represents a "twist ending."
Examples employing this technique include the film Irréversible and the color
sequences from the film Memento, and the play "Betrayal" by Harold Pinter.
Repetition is a plot device in which the events that have taken place continue
to repeat themselves, sometimes with different characters. Examples include the
Twilight Zone episode Dead Man's Shoes. Czech Surrealist Jan Svankmajer has
used this plot device frequently.
[edit] Narrative elements
Amnesia (particularly retrograde amnesia, the inability to recollect long-term
memories) is often used to create mysteries in which the protagonist must
attempt to recover his or her identity. Usually his quest leads him to
surprising revelations about himself and others. The protagonist may also
experience strong feelings of paranoia, since he is unsure whom he can trust.
An example is the film Spellbound, in which the protagonist has amnesia. The
film Memento alters the standard technique slightly, using reverse
chronological order to depict a character with anterograde amnesia. Repressed
memory, Alzheimer's disease, and Lacunar amnesia may also be employed in a
similar fashion.[7][8][9][10]
The gynoid/android element is similar to the puppet element, in that an
apparently human character is ultimately revealed to be a robot. Due to the
advanced technology needed to produce such a robot, this element is almost
exclusively utilized within science fiction. Examples of films that feature the
gynoid/android element include Alien and its sequel Alien: Resurrection. In
Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner, an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's short story
"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", it is suggested that the protagonist,
Rick Deckard, is an android or replicant.
In a narrative with multiple antagonists, the reader is led to believe there
is one villain when in fact there are two or more, a fact that is usually not
revealed until the climax. The first Scream film is a notable example of this.
Agatha Christie utilized this ploy several times in her mysteries by revealing
the murderer (through her detective/narrator), then going on to reveal the
murderer's accomplice(s). The film Saw II reveals that Amanda was not a victim
of the games, but an apprentice, In Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The
villain you chase most of the game turns out to be a henchman of sorts to
Link's arch-enemy Ganondorf.
Betrayal, also called the "double cross," is when one character trusts another
character for most of the story, only to have that trust betrayed later in the
story. Betrayal can become more complex when the writer chooses to have the
character who was double-crossed betray the other character as well, then
referred to as a "triple cross." Writers rarely employ more counter-betrayals,
as it is considered to be overly complex (such as in the films Employee of the
Month (2004) and Circus (2000) in which the characters cross one another
several times). Another prime example would be the films Wild Things and The
Eyes Of Laura Mars. Betrayal is often coupled with the con artist motif, since
trust must be initially present in order for a scam to be successful.
Blackout, similar to amnesia, is used to withhold information from both the
protagonist and the observer. However, instead of the loss of the character's
entire memory, only a short portion is missing. A blackout is often the result
of a blow to the head, a medical disorder, or excessive alcohol consumption. A
blackout contributes to a twist ending when a key event occurs during the
missing moments and is not revealed until the conclusion. For example, in the
film noir classic Black Angel, a character is unable to remember the night of a
murder due to excessive alcohol consumption. The film The Butterfly Effect
features a protagonist who experiences multiple blackouts, and later finds
himself in drastically changed timelines. Eventually he discovers that during
these blackouts he went back in time and made changes that altered his present.
In the video game Silent Hill 2, the main character erases from his mind the
fact that he killed his ill wife, replacing it with a memory of her dying in a
hospital.
The dispelling of a character shield through the death of a major character
almost always shocks the audience because it is relatively uncommon for the
protagonist or other major character to die. The death of Janet Leigh's
character partway through Psycho is widely regarded as the first and best
instance of this device in popular film. Additionally, in The Departed, both
Sullivan and Costigan are ultimately bereft of character shields. Scream
featured the best-known star to appear in the film, Drew Barrymore, being
killed off in the initial sequence. The later novels of the Harry Potter series
by J. K. Rowling also readily dispelled the shields of a number of major
characters, some quite unceremoniously. The killing of a major character also
emphasizes to the audience that the villain, or the unfortunate situation in
general, is to be taken seriously. In Romeo and Juliet, the death of Mercutio
provides the central turn of the plot towards tragedy. In some franchises,
character shields are valid only for the duration of a single film, as major
characters are killed off to wipe the slate clean for a new film. Alien 3, for
example, begins with the deaths of Newt and Hicks, although the whole point of
the previous film was their rescue. This device appears frequently in the work
of Joss Whedon. It is also used in long-running television series when an actor
decides to leave before the series ends, e.g. Tasha Yar's death in Star Trek
TNG and Henry Blake's death in the M*A*S*H series. This technique is frequently
overused in daytime drama, where there actor turnover is high. It can also be
used multiple times on the same character for a comic absurdist effect, e.g.
Kenny's deaths and the deaths of the main character in Groundhog Day.
A twist in the story's presentation of chronology may occur at the end of a
film. For example, in Saw II, two storylines are shown as if occurring
simultaneously, one in which several people trapped inside a house die one
after another while in the other police observe the events on security camera
monitors. However, it is later revealed that the events inside the house occur
two hours before the police view the footage.
When cloning, often an element of science fiction, is used, the protagonist
ultimately discovers that they are either a clone of another character or that
they have been genetically altered in some manner (such as in the book The
Barcode Rebellion or the film The 6th Day). Alternately, cloning may be used by
the antagonist to create multiple copies of themself. This plot element has
become more commonly used in contemporary literature to illustrate the ethical
issues surrounding the advances in technology that make human cloning
theoretically possible. See also Doppelgänger and Evil twin.
A con artist intentionally misleads another character (known as a "mark"),
usually for the purpose of financial gain. In a twist, the con artist first
tricks the mark into believing that they will work together to con a third
party, while, in reality, the mark themself has been conned. The writer most
often associated with this tactic is David Mamet, whose films such as House of
Games con both the characters and the audience with a clever scam. In
Matchstick Men, one con artist successfully cons another, further twisting the
plot.
Conspiracies use rumors, lies, cover-ups, propaganda and counter-propaganda to
frustrate the characters and to obscure the truth and reality. Conspiracies in
fiction can be similar to simulated reality in that hidden organizations
manipulate what the characters perceive to be true and factual. Conspiracies
are often used in political thrillers as means to provide commentary upon a
governmental system (such as John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate and
Alan J. Pakula's The Parallax View). False perception of conspiracy is one form
of paranoia. A double-twist on the conspiracy element is used in the Richard
Donner film Conspiracy Theory, in which the viewer is challenged to determine
which of the conspiracies are real. The video game Deus Ex also makes notable
use of this twist, forcing the protagonist to decide which path is a
conspiracy.
Cults can be used similarly to conspiracies. In a work of fiction, the cult is
often a secret, sinister organization or group that is not revealed until the
climax, usually in order to explain how characters are connected or how events
and characters have been manipulated. Ira Levin's novel Rosemary's Baby is a
notable example of the use of cults in fiction. The Wicker Man contains cult
elements that are parodied in Hot Fuzz, in which the antagonists are revealed
to be members of a murderous cult rather than of a real estate conspiracy as
implied.
Dissociative identity disorder (formerly "multiple personality disorder" and
often incorrectly called schizophrenia) typically involves the protagonist's
ultimate discovery that the killer they have been searching for is in fact
themselves, a fact of which their disorder made them unaware. This disorder
often manifests in the protagonist's perception of other characters who are not
really there. Dissociative identity disorder is used most notably in Robert
Bloch's Psycho, which was so effective in its execution of the twist ending
that it inspired a stream of imitations, almost to the point of overuse and
cliché (such as William Castle's Homicidal and several Hammer Film Productions
such as Maniac and Nightmare). Other examples include Chuck Palahniuk's Fight
Club, French film Switchblade Romance/Haute Tension, the Robert De Niro film
Hide and Seek, Stephen King's Secret Window, Secret Garden, and Joel
Schumacher's The Number 23. For more examples, see Dissociative identity
disorder in fiction.
A dream sequence can be used to create a twist ending when the writer reveals
that a significant portion of the previous narrative was actually a dream, a
combination of flashbacks, fantasies, and visions that created a sort of
simulated reality initiated by the character's own mind. Film director David
Lynch is known for utilizing this element, most notably within his film
Mulholland Drive. In Terry Gilliam's Brazil ("The Director's Cut"), the drive-
into-the-sunset, happy ending scene turns out to be a dream. In the final
episode of the television sitcom Newhart, it is revealed that the entire series
was simply a dream in the mind of Bob Newhart's character from his earlier
sitcom The Bob Newhart Show. Another example would be the television series St.
Elsewhere, which created controversy when the final episode revealed that the
entire series occurred only in the imagination of Tommy Westphall.
Gender confusion creates a twist ending by revealing at a pivotal moment that
a particular character is not of his or her apparent sex, as when a woman has
been masquerading as a man, or vice versa. This motif is notably used in The
Crying Game and in the Italian giallo genre. See also Transsexualism and
Transgender.
Imitation is an element by which one character pretends to be another
character, thereby tricking both the other characters and the reader, until
their true identity is ultimately revealed. In the murder mystery The Last of
Sheila, one character imitates the voice of another in order to mask his
identity. In Anthony Shaffer's Absolution, a student fools a priest into
believing that he is a different student. A variation on imitation is
ventriloquism, in which a character manipulates his voice to make it appear to
come from elsewhere. A famous example is the ending of Invasion of the Body
Snatchers, in which Donald Sutherland is revealed to have been converted by the
aliens and points out the non-transformed Veronica Cartwright in the film's
final seconds. Another famous example is the role of the T-1000 in the film
Terminator 2: Judgment Day, where the shapeshifter is able to mimic the
appearance and behavior of characters from police officers to its target's own
mother. See also Impressions.
Incest can be an effective twist ending, since it violates the expectation
that sexual activity should not be performed among members of the same family.
Sexual relationships among closely-related members (such as mother and son) are
especially shocking. Examples of this element include Roman Polanski's
Chinatown, Park Chan-wook's Oldboy, and Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden
Flower.
Multiple births can create a twist ending when a character is revealed to have
an identical twin or even identical triplets. Often the conclusion reveals that
the siblings were working together throughout the narrative, unbeknownst to the
other characters. Multiple birth resolutions are common in many works of
Gilbert and Sullivan. Other examples include The Prestige, House of Wax and The
Crimson Rivers. See also Evil twin.
Pseudocide, the reverse of the undead twist (see below), is a situation in
which a character thought to be dead is revealed to be alive. Examples include
the film adaptation of the classic Mission: Impossible television series and
the first Saw film.
In the puppetry twist, the protagonist discovers that another character is
only a puppet being controlled by a puppeteer, rather than the actual human
being they appear to be. This element is most often found within horror
fiction. An episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents entitled The Glass Eye twisted
this further, revealing that the story's puppeteer was the puppet, while the
puppet was the actual puppeteer. A more recent example is the horror film Dead
Silence, in which a character who appears to be alive is revealed to be dead,
his corpse having been turned into a puppet.
A quibble occurs when a character discovers a crucial flaw or technicality
that changes an expected outcome. For example, in the Shakespeare play The
Merchant of Venice, Shylock's triumph appears certain until Portia observes
that his bargain called only for flesh, effectively preventing him from
shedding Antonio's blood. In Ruddigore, the baronets of a certain line are
doomed to die if they do not commit a horrible crime every day; however, by
failing to commit a crime, they are effectively committing suicide, which is a
horrible crime.
The Rashomon effect (named after Akira Kurosawa's film Rash?mon) refers to the
way that the subjectivity of perception affects recollection, i.e., multiple
observers produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of the
same event because they perceive the event in different ways. This concept
works in film and literature by altering key elements and details to present a
single event as unfolding in different ways, according to the perceptions of
different characters. Some recent examples include Courage Under Fire, A Very
Long Engagement, The Outrage , Hero and Vantage Point.[11]
In a self-deception twist, it is revealed that a character was not only
deceiving other characters or possibly the audience, but also themselves; for
example, in the film Memento, it is revealed in the film's climax that,
although throughout the film it appeared that the protagonist was actually
hunting for his wife's murderer (which was hindered by his anterograde
amnesia), actually he had already discovered who was responsible for her death,
but convinced himself otherwise so as to give his life direction and meaning.
In a sexual orientation twist, a character is presumed to be heterosexual
until ultimately revealed to be homosexual, or vice versa. Examples include the
films Heights and Clue.
Simulated reality describes a situation in which a hypothetical environment is
experienced as real but is actually a highly-detailed simulation of reality and
not reality itself. Narratives that utilize this plot element usually present
the simulated world as a real setting, not revealing its true nature until the
end. This motif is often found within science fiction literature (most notably
in Philip K. Dick's works) and science fiction films (such as The Thirteenth
Floor or the Matrix films), as the simulated world is usually created through
technological means. Simulated reality also features in the film The Game.
Species reversal creates a twist ending by leading the audience to believe
that a character is human until the climax, at which point they are revealed to
be an animal, supernatural being or alien or vice versa. The character's true
nature is revealed through metamorphosis (biological change), shapeshifting
(supernatural or magical change), or mere costuming (such as in Men In Black,
in which some humans are simply aliens wearing disguises). Species reversal is
a common motif of Gothic fiction, such as Ann Radcliffe's A Sicilian Romance in
which apparently supernatural events have rational explanations, the children's
animation series Scooby Doo, and science fiction, such as Edmond Hamilton's
story The Dead Planet and the episode of The Twilight Zone, Eye of the
Beholder. Goosebumps author R. L. Stine has employed this in several of the
Goosebumps novels such as My Best Friend Is Invisible and Welcome to Camp
Nightmare.
Spiritual possession is used to create twist endings in horror and fantasy
fiction by revealing late in the narrative that a character is acting under
control of spiritual forces rather than their own free will. An example is the
Asian horror film Dead Friend. Less often, the twist is that a presumably
possessed character is in fact not under paranormal coercion, such as in the
film Vertigo.
An undead character is one who is presumed alive but is ultimately revealed to
be a member of the "living dead." This device has seen a recent resurgence due
to the success of M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense. Other examples include
Dead & Buried, Giuseppe Tornatore's A Pure Formality, 1962's Carnival of Souls
and several episodes of The Twilight Zone.
Suspension of disbelief must exist for a twist ending to be accepted by the
reader. Extreme implausibility may cause an audience to become frustrated or
lose interest.
The reader may experience confusion if the twist ending is unnecessarily
complex, possibly providing too many twists or a twist that does not make sense
within the context of the story. As a result, the reader will not understand
what has occurred and will be left unsatisfied. Some authors may use confusion
as a deliberate device, meaning that the reader (or viewer) can only fully
understand the story by re-reading or re-watching. Examples include the works
of Gene Wolfe, and the film Primer.
Actions which are out of character, i.e., inconsistent with a character's
previously established characterization, are usually seen as negative, possibly
destructive to the narrative's credibility and foundation, and possibly
indicative of the writer's lack of focus.
Plot holes may emerge when a twist ending is utilized at the story's
conclusion. Narratives may have a twist ending purely for shock value and may,
as a result, become inconsistent with events that occurred earlier in the
story. This also causes disruptions in continuity.
The use of a cliffhanger may lead to the lack of any resolution, creating an
anticlimax to a story in which the reader has already invested much time. The
horror film genre frequently employs cliffhangers?often by revealing that the
villain is not dead?in order to ensure material for sequel films.
--Ahrvid
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