Voiceovers BLOG

Voiceovers are disembodied voices we hear throughout movies. A powerful tool in a filmmaker's arsenal.  Voice-over provides a new dimension to a story, offering benefits that visuals alone can't provide. One key benefit in filling in backstory or exposition. Imagine a complex film where understanding a character's past is crucial. A well-placed voiceover can give us flashbacks or insights into a character's motivations without interrupting the flow of the scene. Voiceovers intel the character's internal thoughts through a monologue, allowing the audience to directly interpret their feelings and emotional state. This is especially useful for portraying unreliable narrators or characters with complex inner lives. 

The Shawshank Redemption:

The voiceover in this movie sheds light on the character's emotions following the death of his comrade. The way various synchronized and ambient sounds can be heard in the background of the voiceover is what drew my attention to this voiceover. For instance, the protagonist is shown laboring with other inmates in a cemetery toward the conclusion. The voiceover is now playing, but you can just make out the faint sounds of the workers working on the grass in the background. Another instance is at the beginning when the voiceover is audible together with the background sound of the wind while a guy is seen operating an audible. The voiceover pausing during this scenario and the diegetic sound playing in between was another element that drew my attention. The voiceover paused while the men were eating, allowing you to see the character's facial expressions and hear the diegetic sound of the men joking and conversing. Since the audience is still listening to the surrounding sounds, I believe that this helps to make the voice-over feel more realistic, like you're actually inside the character's head.

My partner and I pitched the idea of a voice-over a few weeks ago to our teacher and she gave us the green light, however, alerting and warning us of her opinion. She believes voiceovers to be lazy and cliche, therefore, she opted and advised us to do a voiceover but not throughout the whole 2 minute film opening.