Affiliation:
1. Özyeğin University, Turkey
Abstract
The television miniseries ‘The Last Dance' is a sports documentary that narrates the success story of the Chicago Bulls, starting with the drafting of Michael Jordan in the 1980s and culminating in six NBA championships during the 1990s. Each of the ten 50-minute episodes features a non-linear narrative, incorporating interviews, archival footage, observational shots, and graphical applications. The story of the 1997-98 season, from which the documentary draws its title, unfolds in parallel with the team's ascent to prominence starting in the 1980s. The interplay between these two eras is narrated through the main characters' personal stories, with Michael Jordan notably taking center stage. The series employs a complex narrative structure, yet hooks, graphics, and montage sequences effectively render the intricate storyline comprehensible. As an exemplar of classical narrative, ‘The Last Dance' is episodic, hybrid, and paced—essential characteristics in contemporary sports documentaries.
Reference9 articles.
1. Memories, Temporalities, Fictions: Temporal Displacement in Contemporary Television
2. DunleavyT. (2018). Complex Serial Drama and Multiplatform Television. Routledge.
3. Narrative Theory and Television;S.Kozloff;Channels of Discourse, Reassembled,1992
4. MittelJ. (2015). Complex TV: The Poetics of Contemporary Television Storytelling. New York University Press.
5. The Last Dance.;D. A.Nathan;The Journal of American History, Oxford University Press,2021