Throughout my research I have created the hypothesis that the use of a narrator, in particular a voice of god, within film is to create and/or encourage storytelling. Before audio recording, in films such as Coeur Fidèle (Jean Epstein,1923) intertitles were used to link narrative together and create a story. Now technology has advanced, diegetic audio from actors or non-diegetic soundtracks, created in post production, can be used to convey stories. As stated by Bill Nichols’s “Storytelling also elaborated the many ways in which an action or event could be told from different perspectives (from the perspective of an omniscient narrator, the perspective of a third-person observer, or the points of view of different characters)” (Nichols, B, 2017)
These examples stated by Nichols, are apparent in the first film I will be analysing “Exit through the gift shop”. The first example of narration comes from Banksy himself. The diegetic interview audio has been distorted to hide his identity, we hear a “1,2,1,2” microphone check which creates a informal scene that serves to construct the stage for the film. Visually we are presented with a montage of street artists creating, which Banksy is not commenting on, rather describing Thierry Guetta, our second narrator.
Theirry Guetta is a French-born film enthusiast and street artist that becomes the protagonist of Exit through the gift shop. Theirry has similar scenes to banksy where his diegetic interview audio is voiced-over found footage. The difference is Theirry is often heard within the found footage, narrating. This diegetic audio adds no importance or significance to the overall story, rather it serves to build upon Thierry’s character.
If we take these two example as their own layer, Thierry’s narrations creates a home-video style of movie, uninformative and lacking narrative. Banksy’s interview add a layer of information but still lacks the ability to string a story.
The third and most important narrator, Rhys Ifans, is easily forgettable in Exit through the gift shop but essential for the creation of a story line. He acts as the soft but authoritative “voice of god”that ties these scenes together with information not available in the interview and found footage. This allows the film to become cohesive, crossing a timespan of 20 years without confusing its audience, whilst also creating a story which is informative and entertaining. These layers stacked upon one another creates not only a story but reaffirms the idea of “the voice of documentary as a framework for delivering a social or political point of view” (Roe, H, 2019)
The second documentary I will be analysing is Planet Earth II which is presented and narrated by David Attenborough. This is an example of much more traditional narration. The use of a non-diegetic voice of god, which directly links to the images, creates story within the documentary. Attenborough’s voice is used to create the ‘journey’ behind the animals behaviour. Without it, there would be no story, just animal videos with little to no visible development. He acts as an investigator, dissecting the “truth” and conveys meaning to the images we see.
Something that is important to consider when talking about a famous narrator such as David Attenborough are the connotations and expectations that come with his voice. In this example, a level of trust and an assumption on the content will become probable due to Attenborough’s previous work. Alongside this, “we may also find vocal commentary attractive for it felicitous language, appealing verbal rhythms, or fresh expression of familiar sentiments.” (Wolfe, C 1997) which is feel is very clear when consider David Attenborough’s style of narration.
Bibliography:
Cœur fidèle. (1923). [film] Directed by J. Epstein. France: Pathé.
Nichols, B. (2017). Introduction to documentary. 3rd ed. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, p.97.
Exit Through the Gift Shop. (2010). [DVD] Directed by Banksy. UK: Revolver Entertainment.
Honess Roe, A. and Pramaggiore, M. (2019). ‘Introduction: Documentary’s Vocal Projections’,Vocal projections. 1st ed. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, p.6.
Planet Earth 2. (2016). [TV] Presented by David Attenborough. UK: BBC
Wolfe, C. (1997), ‘Historicising the ‘Voice of God’: The Place of Vocal Narration in Classical Documentary’, Film History, Vol. 9, No. 2, p.153.