LEARNING NARRATION IN DOCUMENTARIES TODAY

Learning narration in documentaries today

Learning narration in documentaries today

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Choosing the narration format is amongst the most significant decisions of documentary production.


Documentaries are productions for cinema, television, or radio that are used to document truth in some way. They might have a variety of purposes, such as informing individuals about a specific cause or telling a dramatic real story. They might even be mainly without narrative and simply be documenting the mood or reality of the particular place and time. Nonetheless, because they routinely have a purpose centring around informing or explaining, it is very typical for there to be some kind of tool to guide the audience. Tim Parker will realise that voiceover narration was incredibly popular since sound was added to cinema, immediately being included in the newsreels which were popular at that time. The narrator does not show up on screen and their role is just focused on reading a script that describes or complements the footage. The narrator can also be active in the production, such as by being the director, however it is also common for them to have no other participation.


The first few decades of the history of cinema consisted solely of silent movies. This changed just under a hundred years ago, once sound was first added and filmmakers had a completely new additional element they could add to their films. But, simply because sound is available does not mean that filmmakers need to oversaturate their movies with every possible sound imaginable. Some films just count on natural sounds, for example, while some add no music at all. Rachel Wang will be well aware that some documentaries include no narration. These silent narration documentaries alternatively educate viewers by a combination of the information gained from interviews and title screens. Also called intertitles or title cards, they are screens held for several seconds to allow words to appear for the viewers to see.


Documentaries have typically been viewed as a more anonymous form of filmmaking. This will be in stark contrast to narrative feature films, in which both the cast and crew could be filled up with world-famous A-listers. In fact, there actually have been people that have made a name for themselves through documentary filmmaking. A number of these individuals have done this through the use of hosted narration. Soleta Rogan will be able to let you know that the narrator host is an individual who conducts interviews, appears on camera, and completes voiceovers for the documentary. This can make the documentary seem like the hosts personal journey and will give a natural impression, as more typically behind the scenes elements can be included into the final cut. This is because other narration styles require more editing to make sure members of the production are not on-screen. The hosted method consequently allows shooting footage of the difficulties productions have, like having interviews unexpectedly rejected or threatening encounters with people who do not want to be filmed.

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