Use of narration

Narration is the use or action of telling a story. so for example, there could be a voiceover speaking throughout the whole film telling you what is happening, if this were the case then the film would be a narrative, as it is dictated by the narrator. There are many very popular films which use narration within them. in this blog I will give examples of films using narration and write a brief reason as to why they may have used it and how this helps us understand the film.

My first example of use of narration within films is the hugely successful 'Forest Gump'. The film is based in America and revolves around a boy named 'Forest Gump', this film tells the story of this mans life and the challenges he has faced all told to us by the use of narration. The film starts fairly happy and then moves onto a more depressing tone nearer the end of the film. The way that they have used narration within this film is by using Forest to tell his story to random people he meets, while he is telling the story they show footage of him at the time, doing what he is explaining in the story he is telling. This works very well as not only are we being told what happened in his life we are also being shown it at the same time. The reason why they may have chosen to use narration in this film is because it makes it easier for us to understand and also attaches us to it more because we can see the person telling the story and what he will become by the end of it, this gives us a sense of realism to the story.

A second example where narration is used within a film is 'Stand by me'. This is a film of four boys journey to find a dead body in order to get in the newspapers and become famous, although they have difficulties on the way. The way in which they narate this film is presented by two characters talking to one another in their vehicles, both men are middle aged. 'Geordie' is the one telling the story and from this the film is the narrated and shown to us. One reason why they might have chosen to use narrative to tell the story is because it gives a good ending to the film, it gives the audience a insight into what the future was like for the boys who were looking for the dead body and how they ended up living their lives. they may have thought this was a better way to end it than finishing it when the boys were all still very young.

A third film which using narration is 'Big Fish, this film revolves around a father which is dying and his son who has never appreciated the stories, legends and myths which his father told, by the end of the film the son finally understands why his father told these myths however then his father dies. The film narrative is done by the father, he is the one who is telling stories of his life and then the film shows us these stories as he tell them. The stories are very far fetched and things happen which surely can't be reality. The impact this gives us is very good, it makes us see the whole life of the father with detail.

From writing about these 3 film examples i have realised that most films which use narrative are all about telling someones life story from when they are older, either about to die.