---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Filmmakers who use narrators pay a price…"
description: "\"Filmmakers who use narrators pay a price for taking the easy way: narrated films date far more quickly than films without narrators.\" — Bruce Jackson"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/bruce-jackson-17743_cinema_filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price_1271556.jpg"
---

#  Filmmakers who use narrators pay a price for taking the…

![“Filmmakers who use narrators pay a price for taking the easy way: narrated films date far more quickly than films without narrators.” quote by Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/bruce-jackson-17743_cinema_filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price_1271556.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/bruce-jackson-17743_cinema_filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price_1271556.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/bruce-jackson-17743_cinema_filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price_1271556.jpg)

> “Filmmakers who use narrators pay a price for taking the easy way: narrated films date far more quickly than films without narrators.”

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Narration simplifies storytelling but can reduce a film's longevity and depth

**In simple terms:** Narrators make films easier but less lasting

Key Takeaway

Avoid overusing narration for depth

Themes

film theory storytelling depth

Mood

analytical critical

Type

observational philosophical

When to use this quote

- documentary filmmaking
- educational videos
- cinematic storytelling

Key Concepts

narrative structure audience engagement

Questions to Reflect On

- When does narration enhance a film?
- What alternatives preserve depth without narration?

A Different Perspective

Some audiences prefer narration for clarity

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Easy way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy-way/) [Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) [Filmmakers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filmmakers/) [Films](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/films/)

## Related quotes

> [Music is a very, very powerful tool that filmmakers use to sway people into emotions that they intend you to feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ransone/music-is-a-very-very-powerful-tool-that-filmmakers-use-to-sway-people/)

[James Ransone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ransone/)

> [I think that technological tools that filmmakers use to tell stories, in a perfect world, need to become invisible. When it's brand new and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-zemeckis/i-think-that-technological-tools-that-filmmakers-use-to-tell-stories/)

[Robert Zemeckis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-zemeckis/)

> [I've been encouraging documentary filmmakers to use more and more humor, and they're loath to do that because they think if it's a documentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moore/i-ve-been-encouraging-documentary-filmmakers-to-use-more-and-more/)

[Michael Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moore/)

> [There is so much corruption in India that some filmmakers were using political or administrative sources to get access.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivek-agnihotri/there-is-so-much-corruption-in-india-that-some-filmmakers-were-using/)

[Vivek Agnihotri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivek-agnihotri/)

> [It is important to keep the filmmakers interested in you so they can offer you everything and anything. We actors are not given work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randeep-hooda/it-is-important-to-keep-the-filmmakers-interested-in-you-so-they-can/)

[Randeep Hooda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randeep-hooda/)

> [Most filmmakers' entire body of knowledge is of other movies. When they describe things, they describe them in relation to other movies. That's why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-malkovich/most-filmmakers-entire-body-of-knowledge-is-of-other-movies-when-they/)

[John Malkovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-malkovich/)

> [I hear filmmakers saying, 'I wanted to make to make a film about this issue, or this theme,' but I never start like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-arnold/i-hear-filmmakers-saying-i-wanted-to-make-to-make-a-film-about-this/)

[Andrea Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-arnold/)

> [I really want to be the black Tina Fey, where I just am able to produce my own content and produce other content for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/issa-rae/i-really-want-to-be-the-black-tina-fey-where-i-just-am-able-to/)

[Issa Rae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/issa-rae/)

> [I'm transitioning to television and film, but ultimately, I want to have a stronger presence on the web and be able to curate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/issa-rae/i-m-transitioning-to-television-and-film-but-ultimately-i-want-to/)

[Issa Rae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/issa-rae/)

> [The people of U.P. are very simple and grounded. They take pleasure in admiring arts and cinema. This is why it is emerging as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiten-tejwani/the-people-of-u-p-are-very-simple-and-grounded-they-take-pleasure-in/)

[Hiten Tejwani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiten-tejwani/)

> [I guess it's easier to get things made when you know the story you want to tell, you know the characters you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-mara/i-guess-it-s-easier-to-get-things-made-when-you-know-the-story-you/)

[Kate Mara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-mara/)

> [You know, I feel like my job is to write a book. Then filmmakers come and they make a movie. And they're two really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayelet-waldman/you-know-i-feel-like-my-job-is-to-write-a-book-then-filmmakers-come/)

[Ayelet Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayelet-waldman/)

> [What I would say to filmmakers, if I may be so bold or so arrogant, is to draw inspiration from other filmmakers, but go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-bender/what-i-would-say-to-filmmakers-if-i-may-be-so-bold-or-so-arrogant-is/)

[Lawrence Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-bender/)

> [I don't think filmmakers want me in their projects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/urfi-javed/i-don-t-think-filmmakers-want-me-in-their-projects/)

[Urfi Javed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/urfi-javed/)

> [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/)

[Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/)

## More by Bruce Jackson

> [War is big and there are only so many reporters and only so many places for their words and images to appear. Choices are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/war-is-big-and-there-are-only-so-many-reporters-and-only-so-many/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [Which suggests something about media and war: it's not just that events happen and the media documents and presents them. There is a third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/which-suggests-something-about-media-and-war-it-s-not-just-that/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [War is grounded in the notion of triumph and defeat. It is zero-sum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/war-is-grounded-in-the-notion-of-triumph-and-defeat-it-is-zero-sum/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [Television broadcasts have, in the main, been more suggestive, less specific, more distant in their images than the print press: often you knew that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/television-broadcasts-have-in-the-main-been-more-suggestive-less/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [First, those images help us understand the general and specific magnitude of disaster caused by the tsunami. The huge outpouring of aid would not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/first-those-images-help-us-understand-the-general-and-specific/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [All too often, academic departments defend their territory with the passion of cornered animals, though with far less justification.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/all-too-often-academic-departments-defend-their-territory-with-the/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [When friends and lovers die and your world gets quieter; that's when the silence comes closer; that's when next isn't the least bit theoretical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/when-friends-and-lovers-die-and-your-world-gets-quieter-that-s-when/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [Documentary films are created in an inverted funnel of declining possibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/documentary-films-are-created-in-an-inverted-funnel-of-declining/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [The media bring our wars home, but only rarely have they been able to do it in complete freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/the-media-bring-our-wars-home-but-only-rarely-have-they-been-able-to/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [All governments in all wars have used all the means at their disposal to put their own motives, decisions and actions, and the actions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/all-governments-in-all-wars-have-used-all-the-means-at-their-disposal/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [The media is not at all homogeneous in the way it tells us about war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/the-media-is-not-at-all-homogeneous-in-the-way-it-tells-us-about-war/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [The web continues to be a source of important photographs you see nowhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/the-web-continues-to-be-a-source-of-important-photographs-you-see/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [The mainstream media showed, for example, no blood and guts resulting from the 9/11 attacks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/the-mainstream-media-showed-for-example-no-blood-and-guts-resulting/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [Bridges become frames for looking at the world around us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/bridges-become-frames-for-looking-at-the-world-around-us/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

> [The key fact missed most often by social scientists utilizing documentary films for data, is this: documentary films are not found or reported things;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/the-key-fact-missed-most-often-by-social-scientists-utilizing/)

[Bruce Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

[Explore all 36 Bruce Jackson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/)

## More Cinema quotes

> [I made, like, five movies while I was in college. I think they just weren't memorable movies. I've taken breaks as the years have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodie-foster/i-made-like-five-movies-while-i-was-in-college-i-think-they-just/)

[Jodie Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodie-foster/)

> [You have to have a great director to make a great movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thelma-schoonmaker/you-have-to-have-a-great-director-to-make-a-great-movie/)

[Thelma Schoonmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thelma-schoonmaker/)

> [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/)

[Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/)

> [I wasn't attracted to American cinema, but I fell in love with Los Angeles the minute I arrived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/i-wasn-t-attracted-to-american-cinema-but-i-fell-in-love-with-los/)

[Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/)

> [There was a time in the 1980s when I worked in 22 films a year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radha-ravi/there-was-a-time-in-the-1980s-when-i-worked-in-22-films-a-year/)

[Radha Ravi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radha-ravi/)

> [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. Next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crimp/to-an-ever-greater-extent-out-experience-is-governed-by-pictures/)

[Douglas Crimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crimp/)

> [In the future, I would like to do more films with contemporary themes. Perhaps comedy, which is something I have done in theater but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-evans/in-the-future-i-would-like-to-do-more-films-with-contemporary-themes/)

[Luke Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-evans/)

> [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/)

[Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/)

> [I love film people and actors and I am in the right world because I am one of those people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewan-mcgregor/i-love-film-people-and-actors-and-i-am-in-the-right-world-because-i/)

[Ewan McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewan-mcgregor/)

> [Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donnie-yen/personally-i-prefer-contemporary-films-but-the-market-calls-for-more/)

[Donnie Yen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donnie-yen/)

> [I'd love to work in the States; I'd love to work anywhere where you get a good script and a good part to play.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-carmichael/i-d-love-to-work-in-the-states-i-d-love-to-work-anywhere-where-you/)

[Laura Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-carmichael/)

> [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/)

[Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/)

> ['Rear Window' isn't really a horror film, but it is a psychological drama, which I love. It is very tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-silvers/rear-window-isn-t-really-a-horror-film-but-it-is-a-psychological/)

[Diana Silvers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-silvers/)

> [What a thrill. You know you've entered new territory when you realise that your outfit cost more than your film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yu/what-a-thrill-you-know-you-ve-entered-new-territory-when-you-realise/)

Jessica Yu

> [I am not interested in churning out a certain number of films every year. For me, it's about the quality of work. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepika-padukone/i-am-not-interested-in-churning-out-a-certain-number-of-films-every/)

[Deepika Padukone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepika-padukone/)

[Browse all 23,940 Cinema quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Filmmakers who use narrators pay a price for taking the easy way: narrated films date far more quickly than films without narrators.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Bruce Jackson"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price-for-taking-the-easy-way/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Cinema"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price-for-taking-the-easy-way/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/bruce-jackson-17743_cinema_filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price_1271556.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/bruce-jackson-17743_cinema_filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price_1271556.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/bruce-jackson-17743_cinema_filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price_1271556.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Filmmakers who use narrators pay a price for taking the easy way: narrated films date far more quickly than…” — Bruce Jackson",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Bruce Jackson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jackson/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Filmmakers who use narrators pay a...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price-for-taking-the-easy-way/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jackson/filmmakers-who-use-narrators-pay-a-price-for-taking-the-easy-way/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
