Tricking the ReaderComplications Ensue
Complications Ensue:
The Crafty Screenwriting, TV and Game Writing Blog




Archives

April 2004

May 2004

June 2004

July 2004

August 2004

September 2004

October 2004

November 2004

December 2004

January 2005

February 2005

March 2005

April 2005

May 2005

June 2005

July 2005

August 2005

September 2005

October 2005

November 2005

December 2005

January 2006

February 2006

March 2006

April 2006

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006

November 2006

December 2006

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

June 2012

July 2012

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

January 2014

February 2014

March 2014

April 2014

May 2014

June 2014

July 2014

August 2014

September 2014

October 2014

November 2014

December 2014

January 2015

February 2015

March 2015

April 2015

May 2015

June 2015

August 2015

September 2015

October 2015

November 2015

December 2015

January 2016

February 2016

March 2016

April 2016

May 2016

June 2016

July 2016

August 2016

September 2016

October 2016

November 2016

December 2016

January 2017

February 2017

March 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

August 2017

September 2017

October 2017

November 2017

December 2017

January 2018

March 2018

April 2018

June 2018

July 2018

October 2018

November 2018

December 2018

January 2019

February 2019

November 2019

February 2020

March 2020

April 2020

May 2020

August 2020

September 2020

October 2020

December 2020

January 2021

February 2021

March 2021

May 2021

June 2021

November 2021

December 2021

January 2022

February 2022

August 2022

September 2022

November 2022

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

July 2023

September 2023

November 2023

January 2024

February 2024

 

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Q. I have a script for a short film with no on-screen dialogue where we see the main character running errands in all the scenes, and hear a voiceover which we assume to be his voice, only to find out in the final scene when we actually see/hear his adversary speak that the voiceover belonged to him the whole time, and not to the main character.

The issue is with naming in the script. I need the reader to believe the same thing the viewer will believe, that the voice of the voiceover is the voice of the main character. There's no other dialogue in the script, and no indication of any of the characters' names.

If I name the narrator in the script, then I have to name the main character the same thing:
  • ROBERT holds his wife's hands.

  • ROBERT (V.O.)
  • I never believed in...

Then, in the "reveal," I could explain to the reader that the voice of the voiceover belongs to Robert's adversary, not to Robert.
  • The MAN AT THE DOOR speaks. We've been hearing his thoughts all along, not Robert's.

  • MAN AT THE DOOR
  • But now I have no choice but to...

But that seems clunky. So I'm wondering how to approach this.
Wow, yeah, that is a conundrum. Because if you label the voiceover "MAN'S VOICE" then the alert reader will immediately twig what you're going to do.

First of all, note that the above example won't quite do. If you are going to reveal the trick, make sure the reader can't possibly miss it.
  • The MAN AT THE DOOR speaks. And we realize it's his voice we've been hearing all along -- not Robert's!

I don't think there's a good answer here -- you have to pick one. I would probably be honest and say "We hear a MAN'S VOICE we assume to be Robert's."

I do wonder, though, if the most interesting way to go is the surprise at the end. Would it be more interesting if we start to get clues halfway through that it's not the onscreen hero's voice? Rather than pushing that revelation at the audience, would it be more fun for the audience if they start to twig on their own? Just thinking out loud...

Hey, readers... which way would you handle this one?

Labels: ,

16 Comments:

A friend of mine used the same concept for a short detective noir of his. His approach was to not name the main character at all. He just referred to the character as "man". And when it came to revealing the twist he pulled out a, "this is the man's voice we've been listening to all along, not this gent in black", something like that.

Could work?

By Blogger THE FLEMINIST, at 9:26 AM  

Right, so you could name the character MAN and simply label the voiceover VOICEOVER, but it still forces you to _explain_ to the reader what happens in that final scene. That's the part that feels clunky - the explanation to the reader.

Is there any way of writing it that would capture the same emotion the viewer would feel? Think of the reveal in The Sixth Sense.

By Blogger PP, at 10:51 AM  

FWIW, I would probably do something like Clifford suggests here.

And if, as a reader, I saw this, it would not bother me in the least.

By Blogger Fun Joel, at 11:20 AM  

I'm actually inclined to agree with everyone above, but I also REALLY like the idea of dropping clues for the audience to figure out, though that's a bit of a tightrope between dropping too many and not enough clues.

People LIKE to figure things out, it makes them feel smart, and who doesn't like feeling smart?

By Blogger Patrick Regan, at 12:33 PM  

I don't think the reveal has to be too clunky. You can do it with looks and perspective. And you can always give one or both of the characters a descriptive name:

As he walks down the street, a man in a fur hat looks up.

VOICEOVER
(v.o.)
And finally... there he was.

He doesn't notice the man in the fur hat until the guy blocks his path.

MAN IN FUR HAT
Hello, Robert.

The man in the fur hat... is our narrator.

By Blogger Seth, at 1:56 PM  

The few times I've enjoyed trick endings stories were when I got piles upon piles of clues to what I was missing, but I *still* missed it until the reveal (or -much better- until about 5 seconds before the reveal, so I got to feel smart because I picked it up before the other guy).

By Blogger Unknown, at 4:45 PM  

What seems to me to be missing is the reason we would assume the voiceover and the running man are the same person. If you cemented this to start with, eg by showing him looking at something and the VO describing it at the same time, you could start to subvert it, introducing some apparent incongruity which would be resolved by the reveal.

The danger is that if you didn't start off like that, smartasses like me would get it straight away, like I did The Sixth Sense, (from the trailer).

By Blogger blogward, at 5:34 PM  

Easy solution. Both men are named Robert.

j/k

By Blogger Keith, at 7:56 PM  

I would just go with 'Narrator'. If it lends itself naturally to the assumption that the actor and the narrator are one in the same, that probably means it will work on screen.
The danger with tricks, for me at least, is that they become the reason for telling the story rather than the means for telling the story. I'm not trying to make a style vs. substance argument, and of course I've not read the work in question, but I get really bored when story and character are given short shrift to a gimmick. In fact, apart from some noir novels, I can't remember enjoying that kind of storytelling. I'd be interested to know of some good cinematic examples.

By Blogger OutOfContext, at 9:20 AM  

Naming it NARRATOR makes it too removed from the character, naming it the character is dishonest, but naming it VOICEOVER, while unconventional, at least works.

As for dropping clues, the key is to write the entire voiceover so it makes perfect sense when understood from either character's perspective, but, after the reveal, for the interpretation of the lines to mean obviously different things to its actual source when viewed a second time.

S's suggestion for the reveal is probably the most elegant one. I always hate using "we" in the action, though.

Blogward, the reason why we'd assume they're the same person is because we have no reason not to. The voiceover is a first person monologue describing the character's feelings and beliefs. We're just programmed to put two and two together - "I'm watching this guy do all these things. He's not saying anything. The voiceover is in the first person. Clearly I must be listening to this character's inner thoughts." No?

As for outofcontext, the story could be told straight, without the "trick," but the story is actually about this exact kind of trick (in a way), so ending with the trick is intended to be a poetic way of driving the meaning of the story home. Perhaps a gamble in that it could be seen as a gimmick.

Good examples? The Sixth Sense and The Village. I'm rare in that I love The Village - not because of the Shyamalan ending, but because I think it's a beautiful love story. Yes, I know I'm in the minority on that one. Any other examples I can think of usually disappointed me because they did that flashback thing after the reveal to show the viewer exactly how and where they had been tricked, which, obviously, is lame. Lame as in uncool? No, lame as in unable to walk.

By Blogger PP, at 10:44 AM  

...the reason why we'd assume they're the same person is because we have no reason not to. The voiceover is a first person monologue describing the character's feelings and beliefs. We're just programmed to put two and two together - "I'm watching this guy do all these things. He's not saying anything. The voiceover is in the first person. Clearly I must be listening to this character's inner thoughts." No?

Not necessarily. Especially once it became obvious that the voiceover wasn't an exposition device and was going to the end. Personally I would have every reason to question whether the character and VO were the same. QED:) I would enjoy being led down the garden path, though.

By Blogger blogward, at 12:27 PM  

This comment has been removed by the author.

By Blogger Avlan, at 7:15 AM  

This comment has been removed by the author.

By Blogger Avlan, at 7:15 AM  

Naming the narrator NARRATOR or VOICEOVER(V.O.) runs the risk that the professional reader may think the writer does not understand his business...

Clifford's suggestion is a good one : Don't use names, use MAN IN COAT and MAN WITH HAT and use MAN(V.O.); this does not specify WHICH man but a reader will naturally assume it's the man we see.

About the reveal at the end : Beware that the rest of the story should be interesting too, so it's essential to show a few things that let's the reader wonder what's going on, as Alex suggests. Otherwise you may end up with a rather boring story with a brilliant twist no-one will see because they are asleep by that point ;-)

By Blogger Avlan, at 7:15 AM  

Eek - sorry about all the double posts, I missed the feedback that my post was saved :-(

By Blogger Avlan, at 7:17 AM  

May be confusing but howabout character: ROBERT, adversary: BOB, or JAMES and JIM.

The reader assumes it's the same person but then when we see BOB or JIM we'll have that same reveal.

?

By Blogger Eleanor, at 6:03 AM  

Post a Comment

Back to Complications Ensue main blog page.



This page is powered by Blogger.