Phil ClarkeTaking a rare day off, so making myself available to anyone who wants to talk #screenwriting, has a craft question, or wishes to chat about their work. Feel free to DM me.
Or alternatively, contact me at: www.philmscribe.com/contact
Kevryanperson@philmscribe hey Phil how are you doing?
I'll chat writing. You know what I dislike? When a V.O is used in a script but it isn't tied to anything. Like it is just a character speaking as if it's just their own thoughts we hear (but it's really speaking directly to the viewer)
I only write V.O if it fits into the story. Like a V.O in one scene fades into the character giving a lecture or something. The cleverer the better.
@Kevryanperson Fair enough. Totally agree that voiceover narration should have a clear purpose, but I've certainly seen it used effectively to convey a character's thoughts. It's about bringing us something extra to what we're seeing on screen. That's the key.
@philmscribe do you read many scripts that break the fourth wall?
Whether in the storyline itself or just how the writer is choosing to write their action lines?
@Kevryanperson Occasionally. And it rarely (if at all) works.
@philmscribe that's what I'm challenging to do with a script rewrite at the moment. (Though I will argue breaking the fourth wall to the reader makes sense for the story itself)
I did it to some extent with a spoof comedy I had written. It wasn't necessarily intentional but readers seemed to get a kick out of it. I would guess though that it's one thing to do it in a spoof comedy script, another thing entirely to do it in some more serious type of story
@Kevryanperson Absolutely. It can be genre dependent. At the end of the day, you need to have a very good story-pertinent reason for doing something otherwise it'll feel unnecessary.