Briefly explain how monologues and voice-over narration are used in film

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: The ideal answer should include:
1. Movies contain two types of spoken language: the monologue and dialogue.
2. Monologues are often associated with documentaries, in which an off-screen narrator provides the audience with factual information accompanying the visuals. Most documentary theorists are agreed that the cardinal rule in the use of this technique is to avoid duplicating the information given in the image itself. The commentary should provide what’s not apparent on the screen. The audience, in short, is provided with two types of information: one concrete (visuals), the other abstract (narration).
3. Monologues have also been used in fiction films. This technique is especially useful for condensing events and time.
4. Narrative monologues can also be used omnisciently to provide an ironic contrast with the visuals. Almost inevitably, such contrasts suggest a sense of destiny or fate.
5. Such voice-overs are especially effective in presenting us with a contrast between what’s said socially and what’s thought privately.
6. Off-screen narration tends to give a movie a sense of objectivity and often an air of predestination. Many of the works of Billy Wilder are structured in flashbacks, with ironic monologues emphasizing fatality: The main interest is not what happened, but how and why.