Narration

What is Narration/Voiceovers?
Narration or voiceovers are the use of non-diegetic spoken commentary to convey a story or information to the audience. Narration focuses on telling a story whereas a voice over is just commentary in general, including narration. Narration can help the film become easier to understand and digest - as the audience doesn't just rely on visual cues and dialogue to understand what's happening. It can be used to relay what has happened in a film. It helps create some form of intelligence, interpretation and verbal perspective and a window not just into a specific character's mind but perhaps even the writer's/director's mind too. It can be the director's methods of addressing the audience without actually breaking the 4th wall. Voice overs may also be a way to keep the film engaging, as just the footage alone may not be entertaining enough. They generally relate to the footage.

The simplest role of the narrator is exposition. They summarise key points rather than actually showing events unfolding etc. This speeds a sequence up so that the story can progress fast enough. The narrator may be a character featured in the narrative or an omniscient storyteller detached from the story itself. An example of an omniscient storyteller is the narrator from 'The Virgin Suides'. Narrators may be characters in different time periods to where the footage is set, for example, the protagonist when they're old in the future and relaying events. Narrators help shape characters by conveying inner thoughts. Narrators can often deal with meaningful concepts.

Examples of Narration in Specific Genres 

• Comedy - Narration in comedy films, although not that common, can often be humorous eg. in the Inbetweeners. Comedy narrators often tell the story from a particular character's account whilst expressing thoughts from them as it's often the protagonist who is narrating. In parodies, storytelling narration may be used to mock the style in more serious films that use an omniscient narrator outside of the narrative to tell the audience the story. The voices in comedy are often more expressive and animated to fit the lighthearted theme of comedy. The language used is very casual and informal.

Clueless (1995, Amy Heckerling) 

Clueless is a good example of a comedy that utilizes narration to create an exposition, help the audience understand the character and their attitudes and thoughts as well as tell the story.  The first thing we notice about the narration is how lively and animated the voice is - this can be heard through the many words that are exaggerated and emphasized in volume, pitch and length. We learn so much about the character and her life from just listening to the narration and without watching the footage and listening to the music that accompanies it. We learn that she's a teenager, her father's occupation, income (they're very wealthy) and general grumpy nature. She describes the extent of her wealth when describing her fully accessorized, expensive car, before describing her best friend and her eccentric fashion tastes. We also learn what she thinks of herself - she's very vain and thinks everyone is jealous of her. This shows that it was a very simple method of helping form the exposition as we learn a lot about the character. Moreover, her tone of voice and general naive and ditsy attitude suggests that she conforms to a stereotype. We can tell where its set based on her generic American accent and dialect. This opening uses narration for comedy purposes by making the audience laugh with her exaggerated ditsy comments. 

• Horror - Narration in horror is very uncommon, this is because narration slightly detaches the audience from what's going on in the film and therefore makes it less scary. Moreover, narration can often serve as a sense of security, this doesn't suit the theme of a horror. On the other hand, narration can be used to unnerve the audience by using an unstable or disturbing voice to shake the audience. Voices used in horror will have a chilling aura to them - the tone will be slightly derisive or overly exaggerated - low tones may be used to appear intimidating - or they may sound disturbed and frightened.  

American Psycho (2000, Mary Harron)

Although using narration is particularly uncommon in horrors, American Psycho manages to utilize it successfully. This is because there's some how a very chilling aura to it despite every calming aspect in the scene. We hear an over exaggerated, generic Amerian accent - the way everything is pronounced is so crisp, proper and perfect. Almost every word is emphasized, creating this overly professional voice that's reminiscent of an advertisement, not to mention the precision in every product he describes eg. 'water activated gel cleanser'. It's definitely not a casual way of speaking and this has a rather unnerving effect as it makes the character appear inhuman, despite them just describing very ordinary (though over the top with routine) parts of a person's day. We learn a lot about the character in this sequence because of the narration - we learn every single aspect that's part of their routine, as well as the fact that he's very organised and precise. Towards the end of the sequence, his voice suddenly lowers and its as though someone else is speaking, despite it obviously coming from the same person. They begin to talk about 'simply not being there', which turns the suddenly relaxing (yet unnerving) mood to cold and calculating. When he says, 'I simply am not there', he uses a lot of pauses and elongation to drag it out and emphasize the phrase. This makes it memorable, as though this is what defines this character despite all of the mundane activities he was listing throughout the entirety of the sequence. The purpose in this narration is to introduce what the character is like. 

• Action - Action films often don't use narration as it draws away from the action happening in the film. When it is used (often in uneventful sequences in the film), it can be used to express the protagonists inner thoughts. This gives the protagonist a chance to open up and allow the audience to get to know them as protagonists in action films are often closed off and 'hard', therefore, they won't get a chance to open up with other characters as it goes against convention and their own nature. Voices used to narrate in action are often more gruff and sound tough - they're more low pitched than most genres.

Looper (2012, Rian Johnson)

Warning! - Spoilers ahead (in video)

As there was no narration in the opening sequence I decided to analyse an iconic scene from the film that does involve narration. When there's action going down, it suddenly slows down and goes silent. This makes it easier to add important narration to the film without distracting the viewers from any fast paced action happening onscreen. The character's voice is low and gruff/hoarse (the actor is definitely putting this voice on) - he's almost whispering as though he's confiding in the audience. This has a dramatic effect as despite his general flat tone and the low, hoarse pitch, there's still evidently emotion in his voice. The purpose in this narration is to explain the events and his mind process - from this narration we find out that he's very honorable as he does the selfless thing as he explains he changes the situation he's recognized.

• Drama - Drama often always uses narration, this is because it's commonly used to express a character's inner thoughts as the purposes of a drama film is to depict a character's emotional journey. It may be used to tell a story as dramas are quite slow and ordinary and narration may be required to make it more engaging and entertaining. Voices used in drama narration is often very emotional sounding, however, it may be quite monotonous to suit the serious tone of the film.

American Beauty (1999, Sam Mendes)

In the American Beauty sequence, narration is used for both expositional purposes and to establish a character's thoughts, feelings and attitudes. The character describes his neighborhood, his wife and daughter and his life in general. His tone sounds derisive and very unenthusiastic, already suggesting his attitudes towards everything in his life. He doesn't, however, directly say how he feels about things, but by the tone of his voice etc. the audience can interpret what he thinks eg. when he says about his wife 'see how the way the handle on those pruning sheers matches her gardening clogs... that's not an accident.' This may also suggest his lowkey distaste for materialistic values, foreshadowing the later events of the film. He continues to talk about how mundane and ordinary his life is, this plays on the themes of realism typical in dramas.

• Romance - Romance narration is often utilized to depict a character's thoughts on another character, as romance's focus on the relationship between characters. It may be used to show a character's emotion. They do sometimes tell the story, particularly in romances that feature a character remembering a story from their past and therefore recite it to another person. Voices used in romance are often quite emotional. 

The Notebook (2004, Nick Cassavetes) 

This scene in The Notebook shows the idea of an omniscient (in regards to the story, as they know everything that's going to happen) narrator. Although the narrator is apart of the narrative, they're telling their account of the past from a future perspective. Their role as the narrator is to tell the story as it happened, rather than convey thoughts and feelings of characters. This is an effective narrating style as the audience gets a non-bias (although it is from one account, it is still an omniscient perspective) full view of what happened. Their voice is neither animated nor monotonous - they're reading it like a storybook as opposed to with personal emotion - this prevents the audience forming a bias viewpoint. 

What is Required for a Good Piece of Film Narration? 

• The Narrator's Voice/Delivery etc. Firstly, film narration must be coherent. This is because everything the narrator says must be relevant to the film and therefore the audience will probably need to hear it. Using a high quality microphone without any background noises is the best way to achieve a crisp and coherent sound, as well as the actor pronouncing things clearly. Not only does the voice actor have to pronounce things clearly, but they also have to sound natural. If they sound forced or uncomfortable then it'll make the audience feel uncomfortable - but not in the way a film ever should, i.e not a horror film kind of uncomfortable. This'll make them less inclined to enjoy the film. Moreover, their voice should probably not be irritating - except maybe for comical purposes but even this is risky. Using an annoying voice will annoy the audience, obviously, and may even be so extreme that the audience refuses to watch the rest of the film. The narrator's voice must suit the mood of the film. For example, if a serious mood is being portrayed than a narrator with an overly enthusiastic voice will not suit it, whereas in a very cheery film, monotonous or depressing tones of voice tends not to be used. The delivery of the lines must have the perfect speed and rhythm, otherwise it may sound out of place, particularly when accompanied with music. 

• Content etc. it is very important not to use narration pointlessly, for example, when its used to describe exactly what is happening on screen. It should probably be used to tell the audience something new that cannot be told visually, otherwise the audience are just hearing what they're seeing, it's important to show and not tell to maintain subtlety and not distract the audience away from the action. If a film does not need narration - if the narration doesn't impact the film - then voiceover is generally unnecissary. The content of narration must also be realistic - if the way it is written is too unnatural sounding then it'll negatively impact how convincing the film is. If the audience is unable to believe the film than they won't engross themself in the film and is therefore unlikely to enjoy it. Using overly casual narration will be too irritating for the audience whereas using overly formal narration will be too unnatural for the audience. Documentary style narrating can be effective if utilized properly, however, otherwise is unlikely to be taken seriously or be too boring for the viewer. Voiceovers must not be too consistent - otherwise it will distract the audience from the footage and detach them from the film. Although, using it for this purpose may be effective eg. in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Films that effectively utilise voiceover narration are films that have been adapted from books - this is because the narration has already been effectively written which means using relevant quotes can create a powerful effect on the film. 

Is Voiceovers Something You Will Contemplate in Your Coursework?

In short, yes. I have multiple ideas for film openings that involve voiceover narration, as it's a perfect way to aid the exposition in the short two minutes we have as well as help set a mood through the way its delivered - this is why it's something that I don't think should be written out of consideration like so many film experts suggest. Although, from conducting all this research, I have realised that it's a hard technique to pull off successfully, so would have to take into consideration the many factors that make voiceover narration effective. But otherwise its a good style to show a characters feelings, aid the exposition and help enhance the mood of the film.