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Audiovisual Narrative

Code: 105019 ECTS Credits: 12
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Audiovisual Communication OB 1

Contact

Name:
Ludovico Longhi
Email:
ludovico.longhi@uab.cat

Teachers

Joaquin Puig Gonzalez
Ángel Custodio Gómez González

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

Basic Knowledge of:

1) History of universal literature and art

2) General theory of image and audiovisual construction 

3) Operation of simple video and audio editors

 
 

Objectives and Contextualisation

The aim of the subject is to approach different narrative theories and to encourage students to make audiovisual contents based on specific narrative models, focusing in dramaturgy and expressive nature of the audiovisual languages.


Learning Outcomes

  1. CM02 (Competence) To create new ways of telling stories through audiovisual products by integrating the gender perspective based on a synthesis of the various narrative models.
  2. CM02 (Competence) To create new ways of telling stories through audiovisual products by integrating the gender perspective based on a synthesis of the various narrative models.
  3. KM04 (Knowledge) To identify the basic narrative elements present in audiovisual products.
  4. KM05 (Knowledge) To link literary narrative models and narrative models specific to Audiovisual Communication.
  5. KM05 (Knowledge) To link literary narrative models and narrative models specific to Audiovisual Communication.
  6. KM06 (Knowledge) To recognise the characteristics of radio, audiovisual and transmedia storytelling.
  7. SM03 (Skill) To analyse the narrative of radio, audiovisual and transmedia products.

Content

The course "Audiovisual Narrative" focuses on the study of the mechanisms and narrative elements involved in the construction of audiovisual stories. Its theoretical and practical dimensions result in dual objectives: first, to acquire the necessary knowledge for constructing audiovisual narratives, and second, to apply this knowledge in both written and audiovisual construction processes.

Although the course is annual, it is divided into two parts, each of which will cover the following theoretical contents:

1st Semester: The Origin of Cinema as a Narrative Device

1. Historiographical principles: the new history

2. From display cinema to narrative cinema
- The primitive mode of representation: Lumière Brothers and the first French companies, Edison and the first American companies.
- The Brighton School
- Nordic productions
- Italian innovations
David Wark Griffith


2nd Semester: Basic Concepts of Narrative

1) Introduction to Audiovisual Narrative: Definition and Perspectives of Study. World Models. Codes and Structures of Audiovisual Narration.

Narration as a Process: Theme, Plot, and Story.
Mimesis and Diegesis-
The Narrator and the Voice in Audiovisual Narration.
Characters: Roles and Functions
2) Space and Time in Audiovisual Narration: Characteristics and Perspectives of Temporal and Spatial Coordinates.

3. Audiovisual enunciation. Main enunciative figures. Point of view and focalization

4. The components of the story: characters, actions, and transformations in an audiovisual narrative.

5. Theories of adaptation and intermediality

Literary adaptation: from novel to film and television
Theatrical adaptation: from theater to film and televisión.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lecture 30 1.2
Practices and project 75 3
Type: Supervised      
Exam 6 0.24
Type: Autonomous      
Autonomous workload 174 6.96

The course sessions will be conducted through different types of activities, grouped into lectures, seminars, and practical sessions. The lectures will be given in the same classroom with the entire group; the seminars and practical sessions will be conducted in three separate subgroups, each in its classroom and practice laboratories, with a different profesor.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Active attendance in classes and screenings 1st semester 10% of the 1st semester grade 3 0.12 KM04, KM05
Planning and Writing of the Remake 1st semester 70% on the 1st semester grade 3 0.12 CM02, KM04, KM05, KM06
Practical Work 2nd semester 50% of the 2nd semester grade 3 0.12 KM04, KM05, KM06, SM03
Seminars 2nd semester 30% on the 2nd semester grade 2 0.08 CM02, KM05
Theory Exam 1st semester 20% on the 1st semester grade 2 0.08 KM06, SM03
Theory Exam 2nd semester 20% on the final grade 2nd semester 2 0.08 KM04, KM05, KM06, SM03

The final grade for the course will be calculated as the average of the final marks obtained in the two parts that comprise it, each weighted at 50%, according to the following criteria:

Assessment – First Semester

  1. Active attendance at classes and screenings: 10%

  2. Theoretical exam: 20%

  3. Analysis and rewriting of a silent film sequence:
    a) Writing of the breakdown script: 30%
    b) Audiovisual rewriting: 40%

Attendance at classes and all tutorial sessions related to the remake process is mandatory in order to pass the course.

Only the theoretical exam may be retaken.

Assessment – Second Semester

  • Participation in seminars, completion of seminar tasks, and seminar presentations: 30%

  • Theoretical exam: 20%

  • Practical assignments: 50%

In order to pass the course, attendance at classes is compulsory, as is the submission of all assessed activities. Students must pass at least two of the three assessable components to be eligible for the overall course average.

The following components may be retaken:

a) The theoretical exam, provided the student requests it and has obtained a minimum overall mark of 3.

b) Practical assignments, provided the student requests it.

c) The final grade may be improved if the student, having achieved at least an 8, takes a synthesis exam at the end of the resit period, provided they request it.

Seminars focused on analysis are not subject to reassessment, nor is the final practical assignment.

 

Bibliography

Required Bibliography

First Semester

TALENS, Jenaro and ZUNZUNEGUI, Santos (eds.) (1998): Historia general del cine. Volumen I: Orígenes del cine. Madrid: Cátedra.
BURCH, Noël (2006): El tragaluz del infinito: Contribución a la genealogía del lenguaje cinematográfico. Madrid: Cátedra.
GUBERN, Román (2016): Historia del cine. Barcelona: Anagrama.
THOMPSON, Kristin and BORDWELL, David (1996): El arte cinematográfico. Madrid: Cátedra.

Second Semester

CUEVAS, Efrén (2014): La narratología audiovisual como método de análisis. Portal de la Comunicación Incom: UAB. (Lectures). Available at: https://incom.uab.cat/portalcom/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/53_esp.pdf
STAM, Robert (2009): Teoría y práctica de la adaptación. Mexico: Textos de difusión cultural / UNAM. Available at: https://guion2.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/0/9/15091428/teora_y_practica_de_la_adaptacin.pdf

Basic Bibliography

First Semester

FIELD, Syd (1994): El libro del guion: Fundamentos de la escritura de guiones. Madrid: Plot Ediciones.
SNYDER, Blake (2010): ¡Salva al gato!: El libro definitivo para la creación de un guion. Barcelona: Alba.
GARCÍA, Raúl (2023): Manual del artista de Storyboard. Barcelona: La Cúpula.

Second Semester

BORDWELL, David. La narración en el cine de ficción. Barcelona: Paidós, 1996.
CHATMAN, Seymour. Historia y discurso. La estructura narrativa en la novela y en el cine. Madrid: Taurus, 1990.
CRUZ, Coral. Imágenes Narradas: Cómo hacer visible lo invisible en un guión de cine. Barcelona: Laertes, 2014.
GAUDREAULT, André; JOST, François. El relato cinematográfico. Barcelona: Paidós, 1995.
GENETTE, Gérard. Figuras III. Barcelona: Lumen, 1989.
McCULLERS, Carson. “El mudo” y otros textos. Barcelona: Seix Barral, 2017.
SÁNCHEZ PIÑOL, Albert (2021): Les estructures elementals de la narrativa. Barcelona: La Campana.

Supplementary Bibliography

First Semester

RUIZ ÁLVAREZ, Luis Enrique (2000): Obras Pioneras Del Cine Mudo. Orígenes y Primeros Pasos (1895-1917). Bilbao: Ediciones Mensajero.
RUIZ ÁLVAREZ, Luis Enrique (1997): Obras maestras del cine mudo: época dorada (1918-1930). Bilbao: Ediciones Mensajero.
ABEL, Richard (ed.) (2005): Encyclopedia of Early Cinema. London: Routledge.

Second Semester

BALLÓ, J. and Pérez, X. (1995): La semilla inmortal: los argumentos universales en el cine. Barcelona: Anagrama.
CATALÀ, Josep M. (2001): La puesta en imágenes. Barcelona: Paidós.
CATALÀ, Josep M. (2009): Pasión y conocimiento. El nuevo realismo melodramático. Madrid: Cátedra.
DARLEY, Andrew (2002): Cultura Visual digital. Espectáculo y nuevos géneros en los medios de comunicación. Barcelona: Paidós.
GORDILLO, Inmaculada (2009): Manual de narrativa televisiva. Madrid: Editorial Síntesis.
GUARINOS, Virginia (2009): Manual de narrativa radiofónica. Madrid: Editorial Síntesis.
LAVANDIER, Yves (2003): La dramaturgia. Los mecanismos del relato: cine, teatro, ópera, televisión, cómic. Madrid: Ediciones Internacionales Universitarias.
SÁNCHEZ NAVARRO, Jordi (2006): Narrativa audiovisual. Barcelona: Editorial UOC.


Software

Celtx, DaVinci Resolve

 

Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PLAB) Practical laboratories 41 Catalan/Spanish annual morning-mixed
(PLAB) Practical laboratories 42 Catalan/Spanish annual morning-mixed
(PLAB) Practical laboratories 43 Catalan/Spanish annual morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 4 Spanish annual morning-mixed