Narration - You Can Never Start Too Early

Wise words from Richard Thomas. Narration can really make (or break) a film. As he puts it "Narration is not Polyfilla you smear on at the end. " Richard is pictured here (right) with the famous Dr. Nick Macintosh. Richard had these pointers on narration that inspired me:

DO

• use present tense
• use simple words and short sentences
• use potent, spare language
  
• use signposts to help the viewer know where the story is going
• remove excess words
• spend lots of time on openings and endings
• enrich the picture, tell what can't be shown
• love the silence, love the space, words aren't everything!

DON'T

• tell what is shown in the picture
• give too much (information overload)
• use many figures, e.g. 900lbs of 10ft planks on a 5 tonne boat
• use jargon or technical words
• use cliches
• give the story away
  
• put words over pictures that can stand alone

Other great tips were:

- Get shots while filming to illustrate particular narration you have thought about on site or during the shooting script period

- Lock the picture AFTER you have finalised your narration

- Write narration OVER cuts to make transitions smooth

As you can see from this picture, Alastair and I have taken Richard's advice to heart, and are busy working on a buzzards narration trying to employ all the techniques.