Unrestricted & Restricted Plot Ideas

Unrestricted Plot Idea

Beginning: A person is walking down a corridor with their phone in their hand paying no attention to their environment. Another person is eating a chocolate bar.

Middle: The person drops their chocolate bar on the floor.

End: The person on the phone pays no attention and stamps on the chocolate bar and keeps walking.

Restricted Plot Idea

Beginning:  A person is eating a chocolate bar.

Middle: The person drops the chocolate bar.

End: The person's chocolate bar is stood on. 

Unrestricted & Restricted Narration

Restricted Narration

Unrestricted narration gives as much information as possible to the audience. Restricted narration limits the information it provides the viewer to things known only to a single character. This approach encourages the viewer to identify with the character’s singular perspective. Restricted narration limits the viewer to what characters know, which helps create greater curiosity in the viewer and can lead to surprise.

 Unrestricted Narration

Restricted narration only offers minimal information regarding the narrative which helps the audience create enigmas and offer shock points. Unrestricted narration has unrestricted access to all aspects of the narrative. It can provide any character’s experiences and perceptions, as well as information that no character has. The viewer knows more, sees more, and hears more than any of the characters. Unrestricted narration is when the viewer knows more than the character, which helps build suspense.

Title Sequence

American Horror Story (2011)

Plot: It is an anthology series that focuses upon different characters and locations to create interesting effects. Furthermore, it includes a house consisting of a murderous past, insane asylum, a witch coven, a freak show, a hotel and a sinister farmhouse.

This first image taken from the popular series, American Horror Story, shows the creators of this. Furthermore, it creates an interesting effect due to the type of graphology used which creates tension and suspense upon the viewers. The graphology is white so it looks to be standing out, as it is imprinted on to a black background. Also, the white usually symbolises light, hope, purity and safety as opposed to black therefore, it juxtaposes them. Black has connotations of darkness and death therefore, this could create tension upon the viewers. Within this, you can see a new image starting to appear therefore, it could portray a horrific scene is going to occur. If you look closely, the writing looks to be slightly tilted therefore, the audience feel disorientated. Although, it looks to be presenting a shadow within the lighting which could create tension and suspense as it could hint to the audience that something mysterious will happen. The font is presented to be bold and huge in order to create emphasise and appeals towards the viewer. Also, as the screen just displays the text it makes the audience focus upon the key aspects upon who created the film. As this image is shown within the sequence non - diegetic music is used which is quite upbeat and fast paced to create a frightening and sinister tone which supports the horror conventions. 

This image taken from the sequence, reflects the use of props however, juxtaposed with this is blood stains which further supports the genre of horror although, it contains conventions of a thriller as it suggests a crime scene due to the blood stains and knifes which suggest a sense of threat towards another victim. The knifes which are used as props shown within the image are symbolic as they are associated with thrillers as they have connotations of crime. In addition, to further reflect the danger the red blood stains have negative connotations leading towards death, insecurity and a sense of action. Therefore, this could suggest that within the sequence there is a murderer involved which links to the narrative due to the past of the characters being quite horrific and brutal so, this could indicate that the clip contains various sadistic scenes throughout. The lighting is portrayed to be low key as it presents a dramatic atmosphere however, it illuminates to the shadowed areas in order to form a contrast. Fast paced editing is used in order to capture a quick glimpse of the composed secrets within the murderer however, it hides the concepts of the props used. On the other hand, it could also hide the murderers sense of belonging. 

This image taken from the sequence represents an isolated and compact room which is evident through the window as a light source. Low key lighting is often used in thrillers and are used as mise - en scene to emphasise mystery through the significance of the darkness. Furthermore, the use of this light source helps to capture the dull, and frightening locations portrayed throughout. Here, an establishing shot is used to create setting and portray the darkness within also, it depicts the dismal and bleak mood. This sense of mood could foreshadow that something mysterious however, monstrous might occur therefore, it engages the viewer as they could feel fear, as tension is beginning to build upon them. On the other hand, the audience could feel disturbed and uncomfortable as they are unaware as to what will happen later on. Within many horror films darkness is symbolic due to the fact that it portrays death therefore, it shows personal thoughts upon this for example, feeling scared and anxious.

Unrestricted & Restricted Narration

Unrestricted Narration:  This type of narration has multiple unrestricted features within the narrative. Furthermore, there is a sense of omniscience as it engages the audience and allows them to experience the characters experiences whilst providing certain aspects and perceptions within the narrative. Although, within the unrestricted narrative the viewer is entitled to see more and have an insight to hear more than the other characters therefore, this allows the audience to understand the complex stories. 

Plot idea for an Unrestricted Narrative:

• Beginning: The character is walking round a corner.
  
• Middle: The person then drops his phone.
  
• End: The characters phone is then smashed as it is stood on.

Restricted Narration:  Is usually portrayed within a film which tends to be filmed from a point of view of the protagonist or one character therefore, the audience is only entitled to know as much as the character. This narration is typically portrayed through the use of point of view shots to reflect what the character is focusing upon. 

Plot idea for a Restricted Narrative:

• Beginning: The protagonist is positioned walking through a woods with a knife in their hand.
• Middle: Then the protagonist notices something unfamiliar happening in the distance of the woods and begins to run over.
• End: Finally, the male character framed with a knife commits a crime scene.

Unrestricted and restricted narration

Unrestricted narration:
This gives the audience more idea of whats going to happen compared to what the characters within the movie know about whats going to happen. This gives the audience two viewpoints of a insitent.

Restricted narration: 
This shows the audience only one point of view which grows the suspense of whats going to happen to the character. The viewer only knows as much as the character does.

Unrestricted and restricted narration plot idea

Unrestricted and Restricted Narration

Restricted and Unrestricted Narration



Unrestricted narration is where by there is a sense of omniscience, as an audience we know more, see more and hear more than any of the other characters participating in the plot. This can provide any character’s experiences and perceptions, as well as information that no character has. This may be that the audience know someone is hiding from someone in a specific place, however that character does not know, this may be used in thrillers or horrors, to make the audience threat for a persons life, building up a sense of tension and suspense.Some films tend to combine objectivity and subjectivity to create ambiguity, with certain scenes such as what wer may think to be a flashback, however it may perhaps be part of the plot, this may be where certain scenes are left unclear. A film having a unrestricted narrative may have a narrator, which is
a character who recounts the events occurring.


Unrestricted narrative idea: A man is hiding in the bathroom due to hearing unfamiliar noises, the audience are aware that the man is in this location however the woman who has just entered the house is unaware of his bearings, therefore as a viewer we know more than the rest of the characters involved in the plot. The woman then has to search the house in order to find him as she doesn't know beforehand, as we do. This is used particularly to create a sense of anticipation as she gets closer to the antagonist.

Restricted narration is where by we don't see, hear or know anymore than the main character, therefore they may perhaps know information before us, meaning we are oblivious to certain parts until later on in the narrative. Restricted narration limits information  provided to the viewer.This may encourages the viewer to identify with the character’s singular perspective and no other perspectives. This  helps create curiosity in the viewer and can lead to surprise, and heightened emotions as the viewer may be thinking of what may perhaps happen however may be wrong. This type of plot gives us access to what characters see and hear (e.g. point-of-view shot) which gives viewers perceptual subjectivity. A character’s inner thoughts or  images representing dreams, memories, etc. the psychological state of a character is shown. Subjectivity can lead us to feel certain emotions towards different characters, or have certain expectations.  


Restricted narrative idea: A woman is walking down the street to a location which is unnamed and unexplained to an audience. This creates a sense of ambiguity as she knows the location she is traveling to however as viewers we are unaware of this. This means when she reaches the mans house, the audience are questioning who is the man? why is she here? this actively involves an audience, as they have to think about the plot which engages them and immerses them within the movie.