Viewfinder: Give Narrating a Try
The role of a narrator is to tell the viewers what they are seeing. Narrators allow videographers to have more control over the presentation of a video, to make it clearer. At its worst, narration can fix poor video storytelling. At its best, narration can double the amount of information your audience absorbs.Many people try to narrate as they shoot an event, and this takes away from any potential use of natural sound on the video. A good storyteller will shoot for both video and audio, then use a controlled setting to record the narration later.
Adding good voiceover narration is relatively easy. Most of us know someone with a good voice who can read from a script well enough to add sufficient value to a video. Using an off-camera narrator allows for convenient editing of paragraphs or even individual sentences. Editing an on-camera narrator is much more challenging, since your viewers will notice the edits. There isn't really a good solution to this problem (you can try using dissolves), but using a narrator who sometimes appears on screen is worth the effort.
Shooting on-camera interviews is a little more challenging than other types of documentary shooting. While shooting a narrator, you have to direct the on-camera talent. In the entertainment business, this is the role of the director, which, like all other roles, is complex enough to justify a …
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