Storytelling deviations and attention disputes in Brazilian Netflix originals

Simone Rocha; Livia Arantes; Marcos Silva

doi:10.6092/issn.2421-454X/13247

Authors

Simone Rocha Federal University Of Minas Gerais - UFMG https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4415-8745

Associate Professor in the Graduate Program in Social Communication at Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and head of the research group Communication and Culture in Televisualities (COMCULT). She researches in the field of Television Studies in Brazil and Latin America with a focus on internet-distributed television, audiovisual poetics, Latin American audiovisual market strategies and Latin American critical social theory. She is the author of O estilo televisivo e sua pertinência para a TV como prática cultural (2016) and Análise da ficção televisiva (2019). She is a National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) fellow, which support she thanks.
Livia Arantes Federal University Of Minas Gerais - UFMG https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5726-0466

Doctoral Student in the Graduate Program in Social Communication at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG); Master’s Degree from the same institution. Member of the research group Communication and Culture in Televisualities (COMCULT). She conducts research in the field of Television Studies in Brazil and Latin America focused on the transformations in the productive field of serial fiction, especially those stimulated by the entry of streaming services into the market. She is a journalist in a public broadcast TV (Rede Minas de Televisão).
Marcos Silva Federal University Of Minas Gerais - UFMG https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8956-5547

Doctoral Student in the Graduate Program in Social Communication at Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG); Master’s Degree from the same institution. Member of the research group Communication and Culture in Televisualities (COMCULT). He conducts research in the field of television studies, focusing on telenovelas and their interface with culture and religion. Capes/Proex fellow.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2421-454X/13247

Keywords:

poetic analysis, gaining of attention, Netflix Brazil, storytelling deviation

Abstract

In this article, we seek to highlight and discuss some changes observed in Brazilian Netflix series since 2016 that play an important role in the complexity of the productions. Those changes are expansions in the classical narrative and plot model, with consequent changes in the strategies of information distribution, the effect on how viewer attention is gained and the thematic development of the productions. Regarding the methodology, we adopted a poetic reading based on David Bordwell’s considerations on the classical storytelling model. And we explore the following aspects in the Netflix original series Boca a Boca (2020): the expansion of anticipation of the inciting incident in the narrative structure; the change of the main line of action based on the Multiplot design in the plot structure; and we also analyze the staging solutions that stand out. We concluded that the expansions contributed to a greater demand for viewer attention, in addition to encouraging a diversity of points of view and greater complexity of the theme. The series seems to advance in a more technical way in its articulation of the reference world and the dramatic dimensions, making dramatic motifs preponderate over dramatic themes.

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Storytelling deviations and attention disputes in Brazilian Netflix originals

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