The first thing I did was look for videos based on the poem on YouTube. Almost immediately I found narration's by famous actor's such as Sean Bean and Stephen Fry.
First I listened to Sean Bean's version:
I found out his version was taken from a Remembrance Documentary on World War 1 so that will be something i'll have to seek out. When I listened to his version I thought it was very chilling, it sounded like it had come straight from his heart when he performed it.
Although I realised it before it brought to my attention just how powerful the original piece still is. A good world to describe it would be spine-chilling. The reading was served very well I feel by the background sounds of bombings and gun shots. It added some serious tension to an already powerful reading.
Next up I listened to Stephen Fry's version.
To be honest I was actually quite disappointed in his version. Which is unusual since Stephen Fry is one of my favourite TV actors. I think that it seemed a bit too scripted. By that I mean it didn't feel like he was putting his heart into it like in Bean's version. Don't get me wrong, it was a still a very solid reading. But it was just too scripted, too overly acted and too dull for someone of Fry's talent. The music accompaniment was also distracting and didn't add anything to it.
However looking at these two narratives it has made me decide that I want my finished film to have a powerful, tense reading by the V/O in which tension is mounted through the use of sound effects rather than an orchestra or piano accompanying it which I would find very distracting.
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