Tuesday, April 26, 2016

V is for Voice Over

It's April and that means the A to Z Blogging Challenge! This year my theme is film terms.


Voice Over refers to recorded dialogue, usually narration, that comes from an unseen, off-screen voice, character or narrator that can be heard by the audience but not by the film characters themselves.


Sunset Boulevard (1950)
JOE GILLIS (V.O.)
Yes, this is Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. It’s about five o’clock in the morning. That’s the Homicide Squad, complete with detectives and newspaper men. A murder has been reported from one of those great big houses in the ten thousand block. You’ll read all about it in the late editions, I’m sure.



The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Based on the short story by Stephen King "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," this film portrays the life of Andy Dufresne, a man wrongly imprisoned for his wife's murder. The judge gives him a life sentence at Shawshank. When Andy manages to acquire a record album of Italian opera, he plays the music over the loudspeaker so the men in the yard can hear it. Andy gets caught and ends up in solitary, but for him it was worth it. Red tells the story.

RED (V.O.)
I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.




Ethan Hawke in Gattaca (1997)
Gattaca is a futuristic story of a genetically inferior man who assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.

VINCENT (V.O.)
It's funny, you work so hard, you do everything you can to get away from a place, and when you finally get your chance to leave, you find a reason to stay.

13 comments:

  1. I became interested in the VO industry when my daughter got into it a few years ago. It is fascinating. Gone are the days of lucking into a career because you were born with a 'radio voice'. It's a tremendous amount of work. I'm enjoying watching her progress. And as an unexpected benefit, I have more appreciation for good VO work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lissa, I totally get it about voice over careers. I went to a workshop once to learn about the business. There is a lot of hustle involved. I've always wanted to do cartoon voice overs for Disney or Pixar.

      Delete
    2. Oh yes def the VO Holy Grail LOL

      Delete
  2. Back to visit you. Cool theme. And I am A film buff. Very good choices

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Joanne. Thanks for dropping by. Film is fun, creative, exciting and deeply significant in so many ways. Have fun this final week of the challenge.

      Delete
  3. I always enjoy a movie starting with a voice over. Sets the tone in just the right way. Interesting post--thanks for sharing some new information!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Voice over is great for the viewers, it gives us a better idea of the plot when the setting and the characters may not be able to tell us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elizabeth, I agree. A great technique for certain kinds of films.

      Delete
  5. Valerie, so true. It's really draws the viewer into the story right away.

    ReplyDelete
  6. i have visited your blog only recently. i have to go through all stories at leisure

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for visiting me! I am planning on doing voice overs as an adventure vlog series. Struggling with time though. Wow, you're a filmmaker! I am going to check out your films!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Abbie, thanks for stopping by. I know what you mean by having time to do things. I have a list a mile long of things I want to do.

      Delete