Michael McShane

In this essay I am to look at the techniques used by the producers of the award winning film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" to try to interpret and present the legend of Robin Hood in a way that is relevant and interesting to a modern audience. I will deal with: how the 12th Century was created, the Actors Performance, How Sympathy is created, the order of events, the use of suspense, the use of cameras to create special effects, the use of sound, use of flashback and I shall also give a personal view on the effect that the film had on me.

The Villain - sport

The film I have chosen to outline and discuss with regard to narrative construction is Taxi Driver (1976). However, before I can look further I shall need to briefly define 'narrative. ' The Media Students Book defines narrative as "a complex term referring to a sequence of events organised into a story with a particular structure. " Feature films, for example, are narratives as they tell a story using a structure. Although films may differ in the medium used and the representational conventions, they share structural similarities with tales and stories produced by other cultures.