CHAPTER 14
STRUCTURE, PLOT, AND TIME
STRUCTURE
The definitive structure of a film results from the interplay of many considerations, starting with the script and its handling of time. However, during editing, a film may change drastically. Even the eventual shape of a single unit such as a sequence is determined late in the process by its dramatic content, composition, visual and aural rhythms, amount and complexity of movement within the frame, and length and placement of shots. Little of this can be more than hazily present in the filmmaker's mind at the outset. Therefore, the intention of this chapter is to deal only with the largest determinants of a movie's structure—plot, time, and thematic purpose.
Many filmmakers (though not general ...
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