Ellipsis, the revelation of time
This paper is taken from the September 2024 issue of Kaleidoscope, and deals with the notion of Time.
One day, I wanted to tackle the subject of time, I’ve opted for a figure of speech that consists in partially suppressing it, fragmenting it, breaking its course to enrich the narrative: the ellipsis. It marks a break in the logical thread of the fiction by deliberately omitting elements of its story. In narratology, there are different mechanisms for giving rhythm to the narrative: analepsis (or flashback), anticipation and ellipsis. The temporal, or narrative, ellipsis accelerates the narrative, and is found in literature, film and video games. Its purpose is always to create a gap in the narrative of a work, but don’t think that a gap in time is devoid of meaning.
This article spoils some of the elements of the history of the games covered. (Pentiment,
Yakuza, RDR 2, Fable 2)
To say and not to say
There are two distinct uses for the ellipsis. The first is to make the narrative flow more smoothly, without encumbering it with elements deemed unimportant or off-putting. Its purpose is to keep the narrative flowing. For example, in a film, when two characters get into a car, the film doesn’t linger on the journey; we meet our two companions directly at their destination. There’s no point in staging a banal journey. It’s also used to cross a longer period of time that has no specific plot point. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the film opens with a vision of Harry Potter as a baby being dropped off in front of the Dursleys’ house, then segues into a 10-year-old Harry about to receive his summons to Hogwarts. These 10 years of life have passed in the time of a black screen; the important thing is the before and after, not the during. After the 10 years, the film offers us a scene from everyday life as a record of Harry’s life with his aunt and uncle. Another, surely one of cinema’s best-known ellipses, is the opening scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey. After 4 minutes and 50 seconds depicting the discovery of the tool in prehistoric times, Stanley Kubrick sums up the history of the entire human race in a single shot. We go from a bone twirling in the air to a spaceship floating in space. This ellipsis provides a context for the film’s story, so there’s no need to set the scene with events we all know. In this way, the film announces itself as an extension of this shared history. Visually, in an instant, the tool of the past becomes the tool of the future.
The other use of the ellipsis is to intentionally conceal, suggest or leave in abeyance a part of the narrative. In this case, the ellipsis does not serve to make the narrative more fluid, but rather to add to its mystery. In fiction, as spectators, readers or players, we tend to have a kind of omniscience about the narrative. For example, we are regularly privy to events that have taken place without one or more of the characters being aware of them. The spectator is therefore in the author’s confidence, and can anticipate elements of the story through deduction. With an ellipsis, this omniscience can be removed. The author can then play with his audience. It’s a way of bouncing a story around, but also of creating surprise or drama. Some films use the narrative void as the heart of their story. I can only cite the film Memento, which makes ellipsis and narrative emptiness its main plot. Leonard Shelby is a man out to avenge his wife’s murder, but he’s a victim of anterograde amnesia. As a result of a head injury sustained during the attack in which his wife died, it’s impossible for him to create new memories. Every 20 minutes, he forgets what he has experienced since the attack. Leonardo’s vision of time is fragmented, as he cannot fully immerse himself in his memory. His memories, i.e. the time he has lived since the shock, are nothing more than a deconstructed mixture of flashes of images to which he has to make sense. The film’s editing and screenplay of moments interspersed with ellipses and analepses serve both the purpose and the viewer’s interest. Like Leonardo, we seek to understand a goal, to bring order to a sequence of events with an abstract temporality. We’re caught up in the chase between his notes, his tattoos and the events of the film. He confronts us with the malaise and distress of a character who no longer has a story. For the viewer, this sequence of ellipses and analepses is designed to disorientate him: he has no temporal reference point, he doesn’t know when is the before or the after. This type of breakdown also encourages the imagination, and thus immersion in the work. Our minds naturally seek to fill in the gaps in the story, to create links between scenes. This dynamic between the work and the audience leads to a deeper attachment to the story. Some see the ellipsis as a copy of reality, just as in life everything is not always clearly explained, but subject to our interpretation of clues.
the fascination of time passing.
If I chose to write about the ellipsis, it’s above all because I’m fascinated by the passage of time, by the imprint of time and by the observation of change. An ellipse is about seeing the consequences of choices or actions, and sometimes it’s also about rediscovering the good and the bad of the past. An ellipse is a narrative about the passage of time, a direct glance towards a more or less distant future that suddenly becomes the present. It is a frontal statement about the future. In Obsidian Studio’s Pentiment, we play the role of the young artist Andreas Maller, who arrives in the province of Tassing to complete his masterpiece. While in Tassing, he must solve a murder and deal with the tense relations between the villagers and the residents of Kiersau Abbey, which administers the region. Andreas will have to make choices that will have a direct impact on the lives of the region’s inhabitants. After an ellipse of several years, Andreas returns to Tassing, where he takes stock of the cold weather. The children have grown up, living conditions have deteriorated, and strained relations are turning into the seeds of a peasant revolt. Andreas, like the player, suffers the bitter consequences of his past decisions. Tassing exudes as much nostalgia as amazement for our artist. He observes the evolution of the lives of each of the village’s inhabitants, watching helplessly as Kiersau Abbey slowly falls into ruin, and the anger in the village rumbles on. Unfortunately, events take a turn for the worse, and another murder ignites the embers of the peasant revolt. This leads to the abbey fire, in which Andreas seems to have lost his life. Another ellipsis takes us 18 years later, this time into the shoes of Magdalene, daughter of Claus, the village printer, who is attacked and left for dead at the start of act 3. In her investigation to complete the village’s great historical fresco, she finds Andreas alive and well as a hermit haunting the ruins of the old abbey. This second ellipsis brings us back to an aged Andreas, racked by guilt over past events. The ellipsis here gives us a direct look at the torments of the passage of time. As much on the man, with the aging of our dear artist, as on the surroundings of Tassing. Andreas is a man broken by his eternal regret for past mistakes, mistakes for which he now seeks penance. Pentiment’s ellipses highlight the consequences of our choices, and in this role-playing game, the passage of time reveals the implications of each of our decisions. They depict profound changes over a long period of time, and each break is a new observation on the state of the Tassing region and its inhabitants.
Video games are a medium that plays a great deal with the notion of time, with temporal loops, flashbacks, suspended time and so on. The ellipsis is often used in the narrative of our favorite games. Rockstar, for example, doesn’t hesitate to use it after the introductory robbery in GTA V, as a way of introducing us to the bond between Michael and Trevor, but also to explain Michael’s status as a witness under protection at the start of the game. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the long run of Dutch Van der Linde’s famous gang is interspersed with ellipses. At first, they serve to introduce us to the various developments in our fugitives’ situation, before focusing on the evolution of Arthur’s declining health. Here, the alternation of longer and shorter ellipses serves a precise point in the narrative desired by Rockstar’s scriptwriters.
Revealing the world
Sometimes the ellipsis is a way of playing with the hero of a story while allowing viewers or players to discover the universe and its codes. In Yakuza I, Kiryu Kazuma is imprisoned from the very start of the game for ten long years. When he is released, although a Japanese citizen accustomed to the society in which he lives, he appears as a man out of time, who must rediscover the codes of a society that has evolved without him. This ellipsis during his time in prison serves a dual function. It adds to the drama of Kiryu’s character, who not only has nothing left after his release from prison, but also seems lost in a place and society that were once familiar. It’s a way of showing a character who has lost his way in life, who no longer has any reference points. Yakuza families have also greatly evolved, as have alliances and stakes. The ellipsis provides an introduction to the game’s universe for the player. Like an isekai, Kiryu and the player discover the stakes of this new world together, step by step, character by character. Each point of narrative tension is introduced, and the relationships between characters are made explicit. This ellipsis and questioning of friendships and enmities is also a means of creating plot twists. As Kiryu is no longer sure who he can trust, he has to navigate in a blur, with every conversation and encounter the occasion for a probable betrayal or sinister revelation.
Another game that makes brilliant use of the ellipsis is Fable 2. Lionhead Studio’s game is an example of an evolving universe. Its RPG aspect is designed so that the player’s choices have a direct influence on the visual aspect of the game world, but also on the character. The game tells the story of two siblings, Sparrow and Rose. We meet them as children in the slums of Bowerstone. After tragic events, Rose is murdered and Sparrow left for dead by Lord Lucien Fairfax. What follows is a quest for revenge that will take up a large part of Sparrow’s life. The story is interspersed with two long, ten-year ellipses. The first allows us to move from the hero as a child to a young man, and then to launch his quest for vengeance. From this first ellipsis, we see that the kingdom seems to be sinking into misery, as its lord falls into madness. One thing leads to another, and Sparrow must infiltrate the Arrow, a gigantic vertical prison off the coast of Albion, to free Garth, the Hero of Will. Another ellipsis propels us ten years later, when Sparrow, still undercover in the Arrow, finally succeeds in freeing Garth, and can now accomplish his final quest. In Fable 2, each ellipsis is an opportunity to show a new facet of Albion as a direct result of our choices. The world evolves according to Sparrow’s alignment. Not only do the visuals change, but also the behavior of citizens towards Sparrow. Our hero also ages, and his body changes to reflect his personality. A good hero will display angelic characteristics and live in a prosperous Albion, while an evil Sparrow will take on a repulsive appearance and Albion will descend into chaos. In Fable II, ellipses bring together the different functions seen above. They speed up the narrative and show the passage of time on a world and its characters. They are also a means of discovering a universe, while highlighting the title’s RPG mechanics.
As you can see, the ellipsis is much more than a void in a story; it’s part of the story. By taking a leap in time, the world, the characters and the entire universe tell us the story of this suppressed time. Between environmental narration and personal deduction, whether they last a few hours or several years, ellipses are a unique opportunity to tell the story of time.
To find out more :
Mathieu Ruard – www.courte-focale.fr – Memento : le coup de génie de Christopher Nolan
Memento : le coup de génie de Christopher Nolan
2001 L’Odyssée de l’Espace, un mythe cinématographique – Les nuits de France Culture – 2019 – 35 min
“2001, l’Odyssée de l’espace”, un mythe cinématographique | France Culture