TASK 3 - Narrative Endings

Narrative Endings

Open ended films

One form of a narrative ending is an open ended film. An open ended film is film in which when coming to an end has a cliff-hanger or a scene which leaves the viewer/audience in suspense and questioning what could happen next.

An example of a film which has an open ended theme is the film 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'. This film is a horror film so already the  tension levels on the audience will be high. Due to this an open ended film would be the icing on the cake as it adds to all the suspense. The film towards the end had three people; a couple and a serial killer sailor. Throughout the scene the sailor was chasing the girlfriend as she was trying to escape his sight, whilst this was going on the boyfriend was trying to rescue his partner. This was all a massive build up in suspense and caused a lot of tension. As the scene went on the serial killer sailor was then caught on a wire and had his hand chopped off and then was thrown into the sea leaving the couple to be rescued. The film then cuts to one year later.

The scene then starts off with the girlfriend Hellen in the showers where she was on the phone to her boyfriend Ray, as soon as the conversation is over she heads back to the showers but in the fog that the heat has created written on the glass of the shower is written the words "I know what you did" as Helen gets closer to the writing a classic jump scare is added as a mysterious figure smashed through the glass and supposedly grabs her. This is where the film ends and leaves the audience in confusion as to what might of happened as we thought the antagonist was dead and who could possibly be still out for her one year later from the incident. This can lead to many unanswered questions as most open ended films do. A uses and gratification the audience can get from this can be some escapism from their own problems and into this world where this one individual is facing more severe problems. This to me is a great effect as it had me thinking and questioning even though the film had come to an end which I think makes a great movie.

The second example of an open ended film is The Incredibles, this film was made over 10 years ago and still to this day has left many of its viewers waiting in anticipation on what is going to happen next. The film ended with the super hero family defeating the antagonist and ending all happily ever after. However, towards the end a new super villain had appeared right before the ending leaving us just to wonder on what was going to happen next. This can be a downfall to some open ended films as it can end up making us wait some time before we can have an official answer to an open end. The audience can relate to some uses and gratifications as this may enable them to have social interaction because it allows audiences to talk about what could've happened or what could happen next. 

With the Incredibles  it was targeted at a younger audience being of course a Pixar film production. Because of this being an open ended film the anticipation in my opinion may of died to those who watched the film many years ago being younger. As it has taken such a long time for there to be a sequel the audience may have changed their views towards the film. However there have been rumours that the sequel will be coming out next year (2016)

Closed Ended films

A closed ended film is a production which has a clear cut end. There are no cliff hangers, there are no questions being held at the end of the film by the audience. Most close ended films end in happy endings and most close ended films are known as being fairy tales as they leave the audience subtle and in pleasure as they know their favourite protagonist is safe and sound. Close ended film are highly compared to open ended films but both are very effective.

An example of a close ended film is the film Aladdin. This film is a very well known Disney piece in which there is a poor thief who falls in love with a royal princess, the poor thief (Aladdin) then finds a magic lamp which a genie appears from granting him three wishes.

That is the basic summary of the film however towards the end as most closed ended films do the good guy always wins. In Aladdin Jafar (antagonist) is defeated and in the end the genie is set free to live life as he pleases and Aladdin and Jasmine ride off into the moonlight on their magic carpet. This is a classic example of a closed ending as there is no questions being asked based on the end and there is no confusion with what will happen next.


Another Film which has the closed ended theme is Shrek. Towards the end Fiona (The Princess) is about to get married to Lord Farquaad (Evil king), then Shrek barges in the church to yell "I object" at the last minute to stop the wedding from happening. Fiona is then surprised by this and ends up letting her feelings for Shrek show and then they kiss turning Fiona to her natural form which was also an Ogre. Shrek and Fiona end up having their own wedding and live happily ever after. This film as you could've guessed was bound to end in a happy ending as it is after all a fairy tale mixed with some modernisations. This film was loved by man for its quite unusual love story but adored for its cute happy ending which was a high important factor for the film to be at its best.

Many people compare the two themes closed and open ended films quite a lot. Some may say that closed ended films are better as they dont add to the stress of wondering what's going to happen next and there will be no need for us to wait in anticipation for the next movie to come out to have our questions answered. However, some people may think that open ended films are more interesting as they lead the audience on to think what might happen next or as some people say they hate it when their favourite film comes to an end. Whereas with open ended films the ideas are endless leaving the audience to talk with friends and family over what they might think will happen next. So there really is a diverse opinion on which style of ending is better but in my opinion both are that of high quality entertainment and both give the audience some escapism to enjoy some quality film entertainment.