Narration exterior

If the drama is presented as reportage rather than fiction, the audience will develop a different relationship with the dramatic material. This is not always a relationship of respect the journalistic narration can also undermine the credibility of the drama, or supersede it with a new reality. In either case, the exterior narration introduces another voice into the drama. If that voice is purposeful, it can strengthen the dramatic impact of the script. 

The specific language of the exterior narration tends to be objective, journalistic, even scientific. The narration is organized to enhance credibility, perhaps a credibility not present in the visuals. Consequently the use of past tense, conditional verbs, and subjunctive phrases all support the distancing goals of the exterior narration. If the writer pushes subjectivity and passion, the credibility that is often derived from information, usually statistical or scientific, can be undermined, or at least made suspect. 

The narrator may be onscreen, like the grandmother in Lisa Shapiro s Another Story (the script is reprinted in Appendix B). Or the narrator may be offscreen, a guide or interpreter for the story. The actual dramatic needs of the story will determine whether the narration will be interior or exterior. 

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