A Discussion of the use of voiceovers in the opening scenes of 'Lock stock and two smoking barrels' and 'Sin City'.

A Discussion of the use of voiceovers in the opening scenes of 'Lock stock and two smoking barrels' and 'Sin City'.



Both ‘Lock Stock…’ and ‘Sin City’ use voiceovers in their opening scene. They are used to set the scene of the film and establish the mood for the audience.

Lock Stock’s use of voiceover has plays more than one role in the first scene of the film. Firstly it is used to introduce the characters. Instead of just having one constant voiceover however, it is broken up with dialogue between characters. This makes the film seem more interesting, helps the audience make more of a connection with the characters and keeps them wanting to watch the film. In the first five to six minutes of the film all of the main characters have been introduced to the audience. Firstly each character is introduced just to the screen, doing their everyday life things, then the picture either pauses or the sound is stopped so that the voiceover can introduce the character and tell the viewer a bit about them. This is a clever technique that makes the viewer feel as if they know the character and helps them establish an opinion about them

Sin City also uses a voiceover in the opening scene, and, just like Lock Stock it is used in between parts of dialogue between the characters. However it differs from Lock Stock because it’s actually one of the characters shown in the scene talking to the viewer. Just like Lock Stock, Sin City uses voiceover to captivate the audience and make them want to keep watching. Sin City uses a different technique to do this though. Instead of using it to introduce characters or what is going on, it does the opposite. Very little is said to the viewer about the situation or the characters, it goes straight into the film without any explanation. This means the audience aren’t fully aware of what is happening and why. Using this method makes the viewer want to keep watching so they can find out what has happened and what is going to happen in the rest of the film.

Both films’ use of voiceover is a very clever way of captivating the audience to keep them watching despite the fact that it is used in entirely different ways.