Why I think audiences love VOICE OVER! Screenwriting tips
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- Опубликовано: 20 июл 2017
- Screenwriting tip = voice over might be your best friend!
I certainly don't use voice over in all my scripts -- only a few have it, but when it's appropriate to your story, it can be MAGIC. Many screenwriting guru's discourage screenwriters from using voice over. I think it's one of the BEST tools in your screenplay writing tool belt. Here's why.
Don't insert voice over just to have it -- it can't be redundant and add nothing to your story.
Movie clips:
ARRIVAL
AMERICAN BEAUTY
SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
MEMENTO
THE BIG SHORT
PRINCESS BRIDE
ADAPTATION
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Like you mentioned parents telling a story to their kids, I also think voice overs remind us about sitting around a fire at night and telling stories under a star lit sky. When you think of myths and legends being told you can almost visualise a group of people sitting around a fire and a narrator telling the story. It just hits something deep in the human consciousness.
You are a godsend
:)
This is a really great take on narration 👏👏
I've seen enough screenplay vids to know that VO is considered the kiss of death by various gurus. This would seem to run counter to the many outstanding films where VO is essential to the storytelling. Like any tool, VO could certainly be abused, but still I'm surprised by the bad rap.
It's just lazy writing in my opinion. Most of tge time there are better ways to convey information to the audience then the character just saying it.
I've never used Voice Over until recently. I used it in a short horror script.
I'm working on a screenplay at the moment and didn't know exactly how to work in a twist at the end, but I think a voice over will solve that issue! Thank you for taking the time to make these videos; I've watched every single one, and I feel so much more at ease with the screenwriting process. I've never attempted this type of writing before, but I'm on page 43 within four months of the idea springing up out of nowhere!
You are doing very well! Keep going!!
One of the best examples of how voice over works for a script is "Dragnet" -- both the 1950's black and white version and the 1960's version in color. The narration (by Jack Webb) sets up the scene, which division Friday and Smith/Gannon are working out of, the date, the weather, who's the commander, and what's about to happen.
Yes, it works because it's a police procedural, but it gives you what you need to get started.
This is exactly what I needed! THANK YOU
Thank you, Nicole!
very good psychological insight! I also fancy voice-over as long as it serves the story and doesn't take it away :-)
Yes..You are right ..We love voice over..
I love all the VO examples you gave. My route in this arena has been me taking an interest in my daughter's early early film journey. So I have watched a lot of budding new student filmmakers and the majority had VO and I always attributed it to they just don't have anyone good to act. It was was so prolific. Every time it was "oh not another VO". Just my experience which is very limited and soured me. Thanks for the video because it help remind me it can be done well and is not amateurish..
It helped. Thank you.
thank u wordancer.
That's why Martin Scorsese's movies - though by no means "guilty pleasure" and often about ruthless homicides and law-breakers - are so pleasurable.
I can't WAIT to go over this video. It's such an important part of my script. I don't want to over do it, and I don't want it to be pure exposition. But I'm with you.
Screenwriting teachers tend to scare writers away from VO and that's a shame because some stories really need it!
Word Dancer - How to write a screenplay I have a formatting question about voice over. What do I put first: the action that's happening followed by the voice over talking , or do I write the voice-over dialogue in the script followed by the action over which it narrates? On screen they happened at the same time. But which one gets written first on the page?
Thanks
In my wheel house it would be Arrested Development, My Name is Earl and Everyone Hates Chris. I think these are great examples for VO's. Chris Rock voice over? Come on who doesn't want that??
Do you have a video that shows how to write a VO while writing the action the VO is describing?
I want to read your scripts!!! WHERE!!????
👍👍👍👍
1:56 "My name is Molester Burnham"
I am a big fan of your videos and I generally agree to all of your ideas, but sorry if I disagree to this one.
For the last five-ten years, I have started finding it to be bad writing each time I met some voiceover in a movie. I think it always makes it too heavy either/both on:
- Emotions (for telling the emotions of the narrator, instead of leaving some mystery by only showing faces and dialogues)
- and/or on Information (because it is so much more elegant to wrap the background of a story within the actual actions of the story, don't you think?).
Because I believe that telling a story to a child is closer to a novel than to a movie.
I whish I could remind and tell you some classic movie names I used to love, that having re-watched recently, I surprisingly felt so dissappointed of, partly because of voiceover.
Anyways, I am writing a feature movie now, and watching your videos everyday really helps. Thank you very much.
You can totally disagree with me:) I don't use it all the time because it's not always appropriate. I think I have it in about 2 of my scripts- the rest don't. But in some movies it's crucial and I don't like how much screenwriting gurus scare writers away from it. It's powerful.
How do you do American Beauty, Adaptation, Trainspotting, Memento, Shawshank Redemption, A Christmas Story, Goodfellas, A Clockwork Orange, Forrest Gump, Fight Club, A Thin Red Line or Stand be Me without voice over? Would you have the character break the fourth wall? Explain things to other people as exposition? Especially Memento - he's usually alone in scenes. Have him talk to himself? Now that's my pet peeve -- scripts where people talk to themselves.
When it's done well, voice over is magic. But like anything, when done poorly -- it's crap.
You are so welcome! And you can disagree at any time -- part of what I highly encourage writers to do is trust their own instincts. Read books, watch videos, etc. but then go with your gut.
To think I didn't pay attention to voiceover in all those great movies because they were great. Now I realize I got traumatized by just a few movies which relied too much on voiceover to make a novelish romantic effect, which in the end , doesn't work. (e.g. maybe The House of the Spirits or The Duchess... and yeah, they are both adaptations lol ). Thinking again, now I think: maybe voiceover is cool only if it doesn't inform about the plot nor about the story background, but only if it delivers either the rules of a philosophical system or a fairy tales, which the story of the movie will make an echo to.
Could you ever do a video showing us actual script examples? I'm struggling with a scene where I'm unsure of the writing structure of what you just explained. It seems impossible to show two things happening at the same time. I hear some software has this capability and shows a split page to signify that two things are happening but granted we aren't working with more advance stuff like final draft any tips?
When u do a voice over u aren’t showing two things at the same time. You are showing one thing and we hear a voice over the scene from a person that isn’t in that scene.
I understand but that is two things. On person is talking while someone could be taking actions on the screen at the same time. When I write it in my script I am communicating to the actors, director etc how the scene should go/look. I guess my question is more a script formatting question. While I've found some great script formatting techniques I've searched utube and can't find the V.O. formatting mixed with the scene images
Typos sorry. But watching all your great videos. Really helpful! Can't wait to view your movies, coming soon is my guess from other comments I've read that you wrote.
The script for American Beauty starts with voice over- google that script
My fav is Antoine Fisher. Ill look for them both. Thanks. Do you plan to act, have acted, etc because you videos show you have great camera presence and humor too. Great tips! Thanks for responding
Half done with my script besides doing a final draft. All credit to all videos in screenwriting.
How do you write a VO to a scene?
On same line as character name in parentheses.
Well, can you give some well known example for what you said after 2:12 minute of this video. So that we can learn by practical example.
Regards. Thanks.
pls reply I am waiting.
Can i send you my script to edit? you are my hero. Please let me know thanks. Also, if you accept, let me know how to send it. please
Narrator: They hate voice overs.
Mam..Could you tell your name? I want to know my teacher's name.
"you're probably male" 😔 that's sad
Yep- but more guys than girls writing scripts:) I love it when I see comments from women.
Word Dancer - How to write a screenplay And I love to see women teaching screenplay writing :)
I just wanna watch you.
As a screenwriter I don't like voiceover. It just seems like a lazy way to explain the characters feelings/information to the audience.
For an example of bad Voice Over, have you seen the Ben-Hur remake? They used Morgan Freeman (best Voice for Voice Over ever?) and his spot in the beginning is all exposition. BORING!!!
Haven't seen Ben Hur:)
For me, screenplays are like snowflakes -- each one is different and gets written a different way. Others have a set routine. But I usually write the beginning first, then jump around - I don't write sequentially.
I'll be talking about resolutions later, not sure what I would say specific to a climax.
no,it`s not.
wrong