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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles The Narration of Beginnings in Classical Cinema A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Film and Television by Jason Paul Wasserman Gendler 2014 © Copyright by Jason Paul Wasserman Gendler 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Narration of Beginnings in Classical Cinema by Jason Paul Wasserman Gendler Doctor of Philosophy in Film and Television University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Stephen D. Mamber, Chair This dissertation is about how the beginnings of films tell stories. Beginnings are extremely important for narratives, more so than has been previously acknowledged, both because beginnings are carefully designed to introduce story information in specific ways, and because viewers perceive, comprehend, and respond to information in the beginning differently than they do later in the narrative. Two primary questions guide its approach: What sort of storytelling principles are normally found in the beginnings of films? What sort of cognitive processes do viewers bring to films that make the beginning important for understanding entire narratives? I focus on classical beginnings in the American tradition, where “classical” refers to the mode of narration normatively employed by mainstream films, which strive for ease of comprehension and the concealment of artifice, and attempts to solicit easily accessible and precise aesthetic, cognitive, and emotional responses from viewers. ii I argue that the normative, formal properties of classical beginnings include the establishment of characters, the introduction of exposition, and the setting up of conditions that are causally necessary for later events. In accounting for why these formal properties are normative for classical beginnings, this dissertation considers the cognitive processes viewers use to understand stories, including: how expectations about the narrative’s direction change as the narrative progresses; the organization of new information into abstract, preexisting mental categories; the influence of first impressions, and the assumptions inherent in identifying something as a “beginning.” Finally, it also examines how classical beginnings can mislead viewers by deviating from these norms. Ultimately, this dissertation makes the case that the answers to its primary questions are interrelated: A beginning’s form strongly influences how viewers understand a film’s narrative, while simultaneously, the cognitive processes viewers use to process narratives often inform why a beginning is designed the way it is. Films manipulate and distribute information to viewers, but viewers simultaneously perform mental activities on narratives. By combining both formal properties and cognitive processes, this dissertation achieves new insights and a fuller understanding of the function of narrative beginnings. iii The dissertation of Jason Paul Wasserman Gendler is approved. Janet L. Bergstrom Edward Branigan Vivian Sobchack Stephen D. Mamber, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements vi Chapter 1: Introduction: The Epistemology and Parameters of a Narrative Beginning 1 Chapter 2: Classical Beginnings and Fundamental Concepts in Cognition and Narration 46 Chapter 3: Exposition and Classical Beginnings in Cinema 149 Chapter 4: Character and Classical Beginnings 225 Chapter 5: Classical Beginnings in Films with Misleading Narration 340 Conclusion 376 Bibliography 379 v Acknowledgements I would not have been able to complete this dissertation without the guidance, help, and support of many of the people in my life. First and foremost I must thank my chair, Steve Mamber, as well as the rest of my dissertation committee, including Vivian Sobchack, Janet Bergstrom, and Edward Branigan for their invaluable feedback and support. They provided me not only with continuous encouragement throughout the researching and writing process, but also with the freedom to pursue the ideas that interested me, the flexibility to help me modify and course-correct my work as I progressed, and extremely insightful and constructive criticism about the organization and scope of my work. I am also deeply grateful to my doctoral cohort, Jonathan Cohn, Manohla Dargis, Dawn Fratini, Harrison Gish, and Jen Moorman, not only for providing me with feedback on drafts of some of my chapters, but for providing me with moral support, camaraderie, and companionship throughout the entire arduous research and writing process. I regularly marvel at my luck for having gone through the trials and tribulations of earning a doctorate with such wonderful people at my side. I must also thank Chon Noriega for helping me cultivate the seeds of the idea that would eventually become this dissertation. He helped me turn my focus on narrative beginnings into a prospectus that would serve as a road map for much of my writing process, and helped assuage my fears and concerns over the hurdles I needed to clear in order to advance to candidacy. I would also like to thank my colleague Daniel Steinhart for his friendship and council, and for gamely suffering through many one-sided conversations in which I attempted to work though various knotty problems with my ideas. Always a patient listener, he routinely offered me useful suggestions to help pull me out of my miasma of confusion. I also must thank Daniel for being such a good movie-watching companion; our post-screening conversations are always rich vi and rewarding, and serve a refreshing reminder that analyzing narrative and style can be a joyful experience. I must also thank Ross Melnick, who has served as a tireless friend and mentor to me since my very first year at UCLA. Time and again, his kindness, enthusiasm, generosity, and knowledgeability have proven to be a vital asset to my work and the way in which I approach various challenges. He continues to be a shining academic exemplar, and I am extremely fortunate to have had him be a part of both my professional and personal life. I would also like to thank the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image for granting me the opportunity to present my work to my esteemed colleagues from other universities and academic institutions throughout my entire writing process. Illustrating excerpts from my dissertation at the annual conference these past five years has been an extremely rewarding experience, providing me not only with useful feedback, but also with validation for ideas I had not yet shared with others. In particular, I would like to thank Carl Plantinga, who encouraged me to publish one of my papers in the Society’s journal, Paisley Livingston, who recommended to me useful resources, Jonathan Fromme, who regularly asked me intriguing questions and suggested ways in which I could improve my arguments, and Rory Kelly, Tim Smith, and Paul Taberham for accompanying me on a series of adventures in and around the conference locations each year. I also owe a deep debt of gratitude to David Bordwell, not only for attending my talks at SCSMI and providing me with encouragement over the years, but for first inspiring me to pursue academic film studies in the early 2000s, when I was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This dissertation is a testament both to his previous mentorship of me, his friendship in the years since, and his boundless passion for film studies, which he freely shares with his students and colleagues, and which serves as a continual source of inspiration. vii I must also thank the many friends and colleagues who have provided me with camaraderie, commiseration, support, and encouragement, and who have immeasurably enriched my life while researching and writing this dissertation: Keith Adams, Anne Austin, Noa Bolozky, Ethan Butler, Emily Camastra, Robert Cargill, Heather Collette-VanDeraa, Ben Cook, Francesco Dellisanti, Julia Echeverria, Lauren Eggert-Crowe, Dave Favero, Jose Gallegos, Lindsay Giggey, Parme Giuntini, Andrew Hall, Elisa Harkness, Maria Lander Cabrera, Aaron Lawrence, Maja Manojlovic, David O’Grady, Innhwa Park, Erica Phillips, Caitie Reid, Phil Rosenfield, Josh Sathre, Ben Sher, Akilesh Sridharan, Matthias Stork, Ivy Swenson, Joshua Tanz, Lauren Van Arsdall, Amanda Waldo, and Julia Wright. Finally, I would also like to thank my mother and father, Margie Wasserman and Neal Gendler, as well as my brother, Aaron Gendler, for their constant encouragement, unconditional love and support, and unwavering faith in my ability to complete my degree. I eagerly anticipate the day in which their pride in having a doctor in the family is overshadowed by their irritation over my inevitable tongue-in-cheek appeals to authority during family deliberations. viii Curriculum Vita Education UCLA Department of Film and Television Candidate in Philosophy, Cinema and Media Studies (2009) MA in Cinema and Media Studies (2007) University of Wisconsin, Madison BA in Communication Arts, Concentration in Radio, Television, Film (2004) Graduated with Distinction Awards and Honors UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship, 2013-14 Kemp R. Niver Scholarship, 2013 Harold Leonard Fund, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 Chancellor’s Prize Fellowship, 2007-09 Graduate Summer Research Mentorship, 2008 University of Wisconsin, Madison Dean’s List, four semesters, 2000-2004 Christopher Neal Heinlein Scholarship, 2003 Phi Beta Kappa member Publications “Where Does the Beginning End? Cognition, Form, and Classical Narrative Beginnings.” Projections.