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Voiceover - Is it ever a good idea?
- Thread starter rahmed3
- Start date
As WalterB said, Voice Over works when it works.
Have you watched Adaptation by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman? Voice over is a key feature of that film, and it is beautifully written.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268126/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Have you watched Adaptation by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman? Voice over is a key feature of that film, and it is beautifully written.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268126/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Agree. Good example.
I think where V.O. get a long and bad rap goes back to the old Bogey Film Noir films of the 40's.
Those films were trying to put the audience INSIDE the head and thoughts of the P.I. as they sought to find out "whodunnit" and film has evolved since then. Back then the V.O. told the story and the visuals just served the purpose of action and confrontation.
That mentality was behind the decision to V.O. Blade Runner but by that time, film and audiences had evolved to where we didn't need to be told the story but could be shown and audiences were smart enough to see and digest that the next step in plot led to the next scene instead of having a V.O. say something like,
"Now with that information in hand, it was time to go back and visit Ms. Devaux. I had a few questions for her. Why did she lie to me previously about knowing Mr. Deadman? Where was she really on the night of the murder and why are you reading this in Humphrey Bogart's voice?"
I agree - voiceovers/narration are a tool to be used wisely like any other tools in the film makers box. A badly used VO always sticks out like a sore thumb though. It's one of those things that a scriptwriter, for example, should utilise when creating the script though, rather than someone bunging one on mid production (or end production: Bladerunner!).
With any tool at your disposal though, it's always worth referring to the expert in that field. Even though I earn a living from creating narration/VO, I will speak up if I think it's just not going to work.
With any tool at your disposal though, it's always worth referring to the expert in that field. Even though I earn a living from creating narration/VO, I will speak up if I think it's just not going to work.
Funny thing is, the main character scoffs at voice overs the whole film.... Haha! I love Adaptation. Part of me thinks the "rules" from scriptwriters comes from this movie sometimes.