Excellent article on the use of voiceover narration
I never understood Hollywood’s supposed antipathy, even disdain for voiceover narration in film. Some of the greatest movies ever made employ voiceover including (off the top of my head) The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, Forrest Gump, Sunset Blvd., The Apartment, even Casablanca starts with one. So I was glad to see this article. An excerpt:
A Defense and History of Voice-Over Narration
By Sarah Kozloff
In Spike Jonze’s 2002 film Adaptation, the principal character, Charlie Kaufman (Nicholas Cage), goes to a lecture on screenwriting given by popular authority and real-life figure Robert McKee, here impersonated by the actor Brian Cox. McKee delivers the standard diatribe against voice-over narration:
“And God help you if you use voice-over in your work, my friends. God help you. That’s flaccid, sloppy writing. Any idiot can write a voice-over narration to explain the thoughts of a character.”
In the movie, no one has the guts to debate this sweeping denunciation — McKee is portrayed as a bully who brooks no questioning of his prescriptions — and yet the movie as a whole, which relies heavily on giving the viewer access to Charlie’s thoughts, works as a slantwise rebuttal.
So it has been throughout the history of filmmaking. Many have issued pronouncements against voice-over, and few have murmured in its defense. Yet voice-over narration remains an integral part of moviemaking — so common that we often overlook its contribution and ignore its development.
Kozloff offers a good look back on the history of voiceover narration in cinema and based on that a defense of its use. Definitely worth a read.
Here’s my take: If it makes your story work better, use it. If not, don’t. However be a tough critic. If your decision to employ voiceover narration is based on a desire to make your writing easier, that’s probably a sign you shouldn’t be doing it. Use it only to enhance your story.
Special note: In some cases, such as Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption, movies with multiple time ellipses, there’s almost no other way than to use narrator V.O. to make the story work.
HT to Max Adams (@CelluloidBlonde) for Tweeting the link.