Planning sound - Miss Miller

Planning sound

 Many of us may consider film as a visual experience often under estimating the importance of sound within film. Often a meaningful soundtrack with a strong connection to the film can be as important as the actual image presented on screen. Thriller films are known for their daunting music which is able to create a more intense vibe hence adding such music to our opening sequence is conventional to a thriller. Sound is also able to highlight the emotion that a character or group of characters are experiencing/ feeling hence helping the audience to have a greater understanding towards said character/characters and the situation of which they find themselves in. Again this is conventional towards the thriller genre as it is important for the audience to create a relationship with characters so to create further suspense for them when hoping for the best possible outcome from the events shown.

Planning is required so to make sure we are making an opening sequence to the best of our full potential. Planning the sound as a whole with the group means that everyone is able to add input, we are able to add further to other peoples ideas and build upon them, as well as bringing brand new ideas forward. Through good planning/organisation we are then able to build the add all the best ideas together so to create our opening sequence.

The image above displays some of the planning my group did when considering the sound within our opening sequence. The image is of a poster we created when deciding on and finalizing our ideas and putting them all together as one. As you are able to see on the poster we wrote about which sound techniques we would be using throughout and how they were conventional to the thriller genre.

Dialogue is a massively important factor within film, often it is what the entire film revolves around, a lot of information in regards to the plot can be received through dialogue it also provides the audience with a chance to form their own opinion on characters and have a better understanding for them.

Within our thriller film opening sequence my team and I will be making sure that we show uses of diegetic sound for various different reasons, one type of diegetic sound we will be displaying within our opening sequence will be the background music which is something both myself and Emma have decided we need to use within our thriller as it something which is highly conventional to a thriller film for a number of reasons for example the effect it brings to the genre, such as the intense vibes and suspense which it can build, music is often used within thrillers to indicate that something is about to happen to the audience for instance something bad could be about to occur so music suggesting that would be played in the lead up to it foreshadowing these events hence building a stronger relationship for the viewer and the film as they become more involved through being able to guess what is taking place within the film. However Harry disagreed with us on the topic, myself and Emma agreed that we need to use music within our film as often  it is a major part of what helps to bring the story to life however Harry still didn't agree with us so we showed him a clip on you tube of a thriller and turned the mute button on we showed him how ineffective the story line appeared without any music to create a certain atmosphere so to suit the film. However Harry continued to argue that he thought silence would be an effective piece to have within our thriller. I agree with Harry that silence would be a good concept to have within our thriller as it can display many different things including elements of a thriller for instance having a silent moment during a crucial  part of the scene after a strong build up of music can display the seriousness of said moment and make a more tense atmosphere as we await whats about to happen next however I still think that we need music to create tension/suspense and indicate to the audience what may be about to happen hence I suggested that we kept the plan of having the music even asking our teacher Miss Miller to back me up on the point as well as deciding that we could shoot a part of our sequence in silence for dramatic effect. The different pieces of music we will use for different scenes will create a certain effect towards said scene it is used for and emphasis on that effect making it appear scarier as well as displaying the true horrendous of the place Brittany finds herself in. When Brittany finds that Carol has been murdered, there will be off screen music emphasizing on the shock Brittany is experiencing making her pain more relate-able hence coursing the audience to build an even stronger relationship with her which is in important in order to help viewers enjoy the film as well as to create a more intense vibe for them making it a good viewing of a thriller film as I said before being this relationship between the audience and characters is a very important convention of the genre as it applies the audience for further emotion for the characters making them more scared of what shall happen to these characters.

We will also be using off screen sound during our flashback scene whereby the audience hears the foot steps of the jogger/runner before actually seeing them, this highlights the  danger our victim is currently in as well as the condition Brittany's stalker has left her in. Not only is she fearing him even though she is not completely certain whether or not he really exists, she is also so paranoid that by simply hearing the sound of someone else's feet hitting the ground she fears that this person is after her. The use of off screen sound in this scene is also able to play with the audiences head and give them more of a feel of what is going on inside Brittany's. One minute this girl is terrified for her life certain that she is being watched the next she's questioning herself wondering whether this is all something that she has created within her own mind and nothing like this is really happening at all. Some audience members are set to become uncertain of whether what they are being shown is actually happening or whether they are simply viewing certain aspects of the film through Brittany's mind for instance scenes where it really looks as though she is being watched they will have to question what it is that they are actually seeing. Hearing the footsteps before seeing whom they belong to will also create fear for the audience as the ponder who the feet belong to hence later creating surprise as they realize that this person is not the evil antagonist that they were expecting but a innocent every day citizen. The element of surprise is conventional to a thriller and is used often throughout the genre as it is important to keep audience members guessing so to keep them interested.

Audience members will hear the sound of the knife when Carol is stabbed we will be displaying this form of parallel sound within our opening sequence as to emphasis the sharpness of the knife hence highlighting how much of a painful death she must have endured this shall upset the audience as Carol was a character they were made to see the absolute best of the kind, caring protagonist. As the antagonist could do this to such a lovable character it shows him to be even more of a monster and even more fearful. The act of him killing Carol in such a painful, careless way shows him to be even more of a sociopath. The sound of the knife is also conventional to the thriller genre as it is a popular weapon of choice for a character such as Steve the effect of highlighting it reminds thriller viewers of the fears this weapon has brought to them. This piece of iconography also shows the killer to be more sociopath than other weapons, for instance if the audience was to hear the shot of a gun it sort of suggests more of a cowards way out, he wouldn't have to had to get all that close to his victim nor would he have to physically hurt her with his own hands. Yet the sound of a knife going through her signifies how fearless this man is, he would have had to get very close to her in order to force a knife into her as well as actually mentally being able to perform such a task for many people simply the thought of doing so would make them feel sick. The sound of the knife will be used specifically to present the power of the antagonist our Steve as well as pre-shadowing the rising level of the danger that Brittany is involved in.

Diegetic sound will be used often through out our opening sequence for instance simply the dialogue between characters, the noise of the TV playing in the background during a flashback scene, heavy breathing from Brittany as she fears for her life throughout many of the scenes this will show just how panicked she is. The sound of the leaves being crunched upon by the antagonist and the sound of Brittany running represent the pace of the panic she is going through, show how fast paced her escapes need to be show the audience the importance of her every thought within this scenario's, if she runs the wrong way, runs slower than she needs to or simply doesn't notice the antagonists presence then it could result in the end for her. This is a clever way to express Brittany's troubles to the audience without using dialogue.  

Contrapuntal sound shall be used in the first of our flash backs, as Brittany is watching TV she will be watching a happy almost childish film or TV show working in juxtaposition to what else she is set to witness. Brittany will be towards the end of what she is watching so this will be the resoluteness section where generally everything is happy and all working itself out and fitting together when she feels that she is being watched via someone outside the house. The effect of what Brittany is watching will make her feel comforted and safe especially as she is viewing this within her own home creating a higher shock factor when she notices that a strange man looking at her through the glass pans of her windows hence completely changing the mood of said scene.

We will be using parallel sound also. This sound technique can be used within a thriller when you can hear sound from within a film which the audience would expect such as children playing the parallel sound heard would include the children laughing, talking and the sound of toys or running around etc. We shall we using this sound technique within our film as the sound of the knife so to emphasis on the pain that Carol suffers. We will be making the sound of the knife louder this shall elaborate the sharpness of the weapon (which is also a piece of our iconography) as well as the much terror is has already coursed and has the power to further course in the future. Again this shall be conventional to a thriller film as the use of a knife is a part of our iconography displaying a weapon. Displaying a weapon within a thriller film hints at both the instability of the owner and the future murders which shall occur. This weapon will be used specifically to highlight the power of our antagonist Steve as well as foreshadowing the danger that victim Brittany shall be put in. Naturally the audience shall immediately sympathise with Brittany and hope for the safety of her as there is an instinct to show the audience that the antagonist used Carol as bait for Brittany and to toy with her emotions. Again this is a convention of a thriller displaying the sickening mind of the antagonist is a good way to display just how dangerous the situation the victim is in as well as how scary the antagonist is as it shows that they will be willing to do some extreme things so to cast a reaction.

As you can see from my post the use of sound has a massive effect on the thriller genre, whether it be in order to empathize a key point towards the film, or simply through the use of background music to create a certain mood without sound many aspects of the genre would go without little if any notice.