A2 Unit 3 Hypertext

Hypertextual Film

Art Video Hypertextual stories allow the viewer/user to experience narrative in a chosen way. Stories often become fragmented or exist simultaneously. Hypertext is about fragments and connections, contingencies and roads not taken. Ted Nelson, who coined the term `hypertext,' defines it as:

‘…nonsequential writing--text that branches and allows choices to the reader, best read at an interactive screen. As popularly conceived, this is a series of text chunks connected by links which offer the reader different pathways’. [Nelson1981]. WEB 2.0. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g Hyperland 1990 Douglas Adams Douglas Adams’ 1990 documentary about the web before it was really there

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOsPKjbMvxY Nonlinear narrative Nonlinear narrative or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique, sometimes used in literature, film and other narratives, wherein events are portrayed out of chronological order. It is often used to mimic the structure and recall of human memory but has been applied for other reasons as well. TimeCode 1990 Mike Figgis L.A., real time. From her limo, the wealthy Lauren eavesdrops on her lover Rose's tryst with movie producer Alex Green. The assignation takes place in his company's screening room between meetings. Alex's 1

wife walks from therapy to his office, tells him she's leaving him, weeps in a bookstore restroom, and walks home with a cocaine-sniffing actress friend for what may lead to sex. Alex is drinking, wants to quit work and move to Tuscany, laughs at pretentious movie pitches, and puts off Rose when she asks for an audition. A film director sees Rose and decides she's perfect for his next picture; she takes a screen test. She's ecstatic and calls Lauren: jealousy takes over. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajNXfx4FBOI

Short Cuts Short Cuts does not conform to traditional narrative Hollywood cinema. There is narrative, to be sure, though the manner in which narrative operates moves far and away from classical Hollywood style. A brief detour: by "classic Hollywood style," I refer to a more "traditional" narrative where one character, or maybe a few, are privileged with the most screen time. Questions asked by the text are almost always answered, usually answered "sensibly." The ending usually resolves the story's conflicts. There is usually only one main story, which progresses from beginning to end without serious detour. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, the filmmaking style does not draw attention to itself in classic Hollywood cinema. Camera movements, edits, and acting serve to push the story forward to an eventual resolution. The means of production are largely or entirely kept from the viewer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwCA6tRl1hY Hypercinema Filmography

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Nashville (1975) After Hours (1985) The Player (1992) Short Cuts (1993) Before the Rain (1994) Pulp Fiction (1994) The Opposite of Sex (1998) Magnolia (1999) Timecode (2000) [1]

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Amores Perros (2000) [3] Traffic (2000) [7] Lantana (2001) [9] City of God (2002) [7] 21 Grams (2003) [3] Cape of Good Hope (2004)

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Crash (2004) [1] Happy Endings (2005) Syriana (2005) [2]

[7]

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Nine Lives (2005) [2] Look Both Ways (2006) Babel (2006) [3] Rendition (2007) [11] The Edge of Heaven (2007)

[10]

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The Air I Breathe (2008)

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Gomorrah (2008) [14] Mumbai Meri Jaan (2008)

[13]

[15]

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