NARRATION

WHAT IS NARRATION?

Narrating is what you do when you're giving a spoken commentary on the action taking place during a drama. It's a useful technique when you want to inform the audience of what is happening.

Narrating can make a drama more understandable in a number of ways:

• an actor can speak the commentary over the action happening in the drama.
• a character can speak out what they think the audience needs to know about the characters or the situation of which they are a part - this is called self-narrating.
• an actor can just tell the audience what they need to know in-between scenes.
• a character can read or write a diary or letter that informs the audience what is important for them to know about what is happening or going to happen.

EXAMPLES - USE OF NARRATION IN:

COMEDY...

Narration is used in comedies to keep the audience entertained while informing them about the characters and the setting. In the Inbetweeners movie, narration is used to set the scene and tell the audience about the characters. In this film, the narration is spoken by Will - a character in the film who talks about all of his friends current life situation, saying his own opinion and what the others think. this is good because the audience learns about their lives and engages them by wanting to know what happens to them next. Comedy is introduced during this by jokes and 'subtle comments' said by Will. this clip is not from the movie but from the series however there is still narration in this scene.

HORROR...

In horrors, narration is used to make the film seem more dramatic and add more tension. This is also used to give all essential background information to the audience. By using narration, it keeps the audience engaged as it makes them guess what is going to happen next when something may have been suggested in the narration. The audience is kept guessing and on the edge of their seats in American Psycho which shows that narration has worked effectively in this film.

ACTION...

Action films also use narration as an attempt to engage the audience. In action films, narration is used to emphasise the characters emotions and thoughts during each situation. This keeps the audience watching as they feel like they get to know the character and they want to see what happens to them in the action. Narration can also be used to set the scene about why that scene is happening what happened in the past without having to spend time showing it. Narration is used for al these reasons in Kickass and this could be the reason why it is such a popular film. The audience can feel the emotions of the character through narration, which then leads to an adrenaline rush in scenes like this.

DRAMA...

Narration is used in dramas to show what the characters are thinking. For example, in Titanic, the character Rose is the voice over however this is Rose from the future looking back at what happened. This is very effective because throughout the film we learn about her unusual love for a stowaway boy (Jack) and by the narration and dialogue in the film; then by the end, everyone feels for Rose as they have captured her change in emotion when Jack dies. Even thought there was very little narration where Rose is looking back, it is used effectively in the right parts. There is enough dialogue here to engage the audience as well. Many Dramas also have narration where it is looking back at events, this can engage the audience because they get to see a new viewpoint, where the characters talk about the situation and how they feel about it now that it's happened. As a result, the audience is trapped in the situation in scenes like this.

ROMANCE...

In romances, narration is used to let the audience know the characters true emotion so that they also feel these emotions. This means the audience can capture and feel the change when different things happen during the film to flip the characters emotions. Many emotions ae felt by the audience due to narration along with dialogue Bridget Jones Diary.

WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR A GOOD FILM NARRATION?

A good film narration has to keep the audience engaged to the film while also staying linked to the genre. For example, a comedy film would have narration with things such as jokes and sarcasm; whereas this wouldn't be used in romances as the aim is not to amuse the audience but make them feel the characters emotions, therefore the feelings would be spread to the audience instead. A good film narration also needs to be able to pull the missing pieces of a film together so that the audience get a full understanding of it. This is done by including background information and explanations of why thing are happening etc. Personally, in my opinion, I believe that the best films with narration are those where the characters are the narrators. I really enjoy this because you can feel there emotions better first hand and can see the difference between what they say in the narration compared to the dialogue which I find interesting.

ARE WE CONTEMPLATING USING NARRATION IN OUR COURSEWORK?

We have thought about using Narration in our film opening, however we have decided against it due to the fact we do not want to give too much information away. We will engage the audience instead by making them wonder what will happen next and leaving cliff-hangers. We also believe that the characters, dialogue and setting will all provide the audience with enough information to understand what is happening in our film.