Department of Mass Communication of St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata (SXUK) conducted a guest lecture on ‘The Psychology behind Film Narrative Structure’ for its students on September 17, 2024 at the university campus.

The resource person was Mr. Somdev Chatterjee, an academician and filmmaker associated with the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata.

Mr. Chatterjee introduced the students to the common elements of a story and justified his argument with plethora of instances. He delineated on the concepts of a protagonist in a story, dilemma in a plotline, ideology of expectation and reality in a film, and provided the students with a psychological perspective of films. Using the quote of Muriel Rukeyser, he explained how the universe is made up of stories and not of atoms.

He elaborated on the various building blocks of a story- sudden reversal of fortune, casual chains connecting events, risks, crises and desires. He also shared examples to explain the various nuances of psychology of storytelling.

The highlights of his lecture were his discussion on the ‘The Door Study’, David Hoffman’s ‘Interface Theory of Perception’ and seductiveness of narratives.

Students of Semester 3 of both undergraduate and postgraduate sections, Dr. Susmita Halder, Dean of Arts and Social Sciences, and other faculty members from the department attended the programme. The programme ended with an interactive session with the students.

Dr. Nitesh Tripathi