Planning Sound
Sound is important in films as it creates the atmosphere intended. Without sound, everything including the narrative would not make sense and would be extremely difficult for an audience to follow. Planning sound is required in order to produce excellent sequences because each sound inputted or existent in a sequence has to have a purpose and planning these sounds ensures that the purpose is achieved. Sound is vital to compliment what is on screen at the time, so that parallel sound is created - which makes the scenes a lot easier to follow and understand.
This is evidence from my group's planning of sound:
One sound technique in which we will use in our opening sequence will be a non-diegetic soundtrack. This will be eerie and dark to create a sense of discomfort and an unpleasant feeling from the audience's point of view, as it will compliment the distressing scenes of the victim being stalked/chased - this is the reason why we will be using this type of sound. It will be used when the antagonist is in shot and also the build up of a 'jump' scene where the antagonist pops up unexpectedly. We are aiming to make the audience feel the same as the victim (fearful, weary and on edge) from the use of this eerie soundtrack. The slow tempo of the soundtrack at the beginning reflects the calm emotions in which the victim is feeling. However, when the victim realises she is being followed, her emotions start to demonstrate panic and stress which is mirrored in the soundtrack from the quicker tempo and the crescendo build up. The soundtrack emphasises the situation currently in the scene and what the vicim is experiencing so makes a relationship between the audience and the victim to develop more easily as they feel empathetic towards the victim. Our non-diegetic eerie soundtrack is conventional to the thriller genre as it's not a natural sounding soundtrack that is nice to listen to. It's unpleasant and uncomfortable to listen to, making the audience feel a sense of foreboding from the dark and dreary atmosphere in which the soundtrack creates. In thrillers, it is conventional to have the audience feeling on edge and empathetic towards characters and this is what our soundtrack achieves.
Another use of sound included in our sequence will be off screen sound. We will use it in numerous ways, one of them being for the frequent hearing of the voice of the antagonist and the crunching of the leaves from the footsteps of the antagonist. We will use it here as it gives a hint that the antagonist is present in the scene but nobody is sure whereabouts as there he is not visibly in shot. Therefore, this creates a build up of tension and suspense as well as causing a relationship to be built between the audience and the victim as the audience feel sympathetic towards her, making them feel worried for her and thinking about how they would feel in her position and what they would do. The way the voices and leaves crunching is sound that doesn't have the support of a cause shown visibly, it makes the audience also feel on edge and surprises them as at certain places, these sounds are unexpected. The voices in-particular demonstrate the emotions of the antagonist from the tone of the voices in which are heard. This ives the audience a better feel for the antagonist, giving them more insight to their identity, however, this increases their suspense as they feel they want to find out more about this mysterious character. Off screen sounds show no primary source as to where they are coming from which is a great way to build suspense as you have to make inferences as an audience as to where they are coming from. Creating suspense, surprise and shock is vital in making a thriller successful and so this is why our off screen sounds are conventional to the thriller genre.
Non-diegetic sound effects will also be included in our thriller sequence. For example, we will be using a heartbeat that will be representing the heartbeat of the victim. We will use this to emphasise her panic and distress which will be easier to get across to the audience. The audience are then able to build a relationship with the victim through this non-diegetic sound effect, as the emotion is portrayed clearly and they feel as if they know the victim a lot more. Therefore, the heartbeat will also reflect onto how the audience feels. The quick tempo of the heartbeat will also build up tension and will build up to a climax where the antagonist will experience shock and surprise as a result, which will also mirror onto the audience. Therefore, this use of non-diegetic sound effect is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates suspense and surprise with also creating more of an impact once the result of the climax has occurred.
A further sound technique that will be used in our sequence is diegetic sound effects. For example, from the sounds of panicking, heavy breathing and screams from the victim, it will express the fearful situation in which the victim is in. This will therefore create a more empathetic feel towards the character and get across the specific emotions that this character is expressing - this is what we intend. It creates a sense of realism from the fact that the sounds are diegetic, so they are not edited into the scene. The audience are able to build a relationship between the victim and themselves as they feel as if they know the victim a lot more and have more of an in-depth knowing of how they really feel. Furthermore, the panicking, heavy breathing and screams created a distressing feeling making the audience feel uneasy as the victim's fear is shown through these particular sounds. Screams specifically are conventional to the thriller genre as there is always a victim in danger and a scream is a typical, recognisable way to illustrate this. The audience are familiar with a scream's purpose and cause and so this therefore gives them a better understanding of how the victim is feeling. Therefore, with this in mind, this is why our diegetic sound effects are conventional to the thriller genre.
Our sequence will be effective through the way it will engage the audience making them empathise a lot more with the characters. This means that they will impact more when certain events occur as the connection with the scene and characters is a lot stronger, so they are affected a lot more personally. Planning sound has helped me as it has given me and my group a good idea as to what we will need to edit it in, what we need to make sure is included and why each sound is going to be used and so why certain sounds need to be emphasised.
Sound is important in films as it creates the atmosphere intended. Without sound, everything including the narrative would not make sense and would be extremely difficult for an audience to follow. Planning sound is required in order to produce excellent sequences because each sound inputted or existent in a sequence has to have a purpose and planning these sounds ensures that the purpose is achieved. Sound is vital to compliment what is on screen at the time, so that parallel sound is created - which makes the scenes a lot easier to follow and understand.
This is evidence from my group's planning of sound:
One sound technique in which we will use in our opening sequence will be a non-diegetic soundtrack. This will be eerie and dark to create a sense of discomfort and an unpleasant feeling from the audience's point of view, as it will compliment the distressing scenes of the victim being stalked/chased - this is the reason why we will be using this type of sound. It will be used when the antagonist is in shot and also the build up of a 'jump' scene where the antagonist pops up unexpectedly. We are aiming to make the audience feel the same as the victim (fearful, weary and on edge) from the use of this eerie soundtrack. The slow tempo of the soundtrack at the beginning reflects the calm emotions in which the victim is feeling. However, when the victim realises she is being followed, her emotions start to demonstrate panic and stress which is mirrored in the soundtrack from the quicker tempo and the crescendo build up. The soundtrack emphasises the situation currently in the scene and what the vicim is experiencing so makes a relationship between the audience and the victim to develop more easily as they feel empathetic towards the victim. Our non-diegetic eerie soundtrack is conventional to the thriller genre as it's not a natural sounding soundtrack that is nice to listen to. It's unpleasant and uncomfortable to listen to, making the audience feel a sense of foreboding from the dark and dreary atmosphere in which the soundtrack creates. In thrillers, it is conventional to have the audience feeling on edge and empathetic towards characters and this is what our soundtrack achieves.
Another use of sound included in our sequence will be off screen sound. We will use it in numerous ways, one of them being for the frequent hearing of the voice of the antagonist and the crunching of the leaves from the footsteps of the antagonist. We will use it here as it gives a hint that the antagonist is present in the scene but nobody is sure whereabouts as there he is not visibly in shot. Therefore, this creates a build up of tension and suspense as well as causing a relationship to be built between the audience and the victim as the audience feel sympathetic towards her, making them feel worried for her and thinking about how they would feel in her position and what they would do. The way the voices and leaves crunching is sound that doesn't have the support of a cause shown visibly, it makes the audience also feel on edge and surprises them as at certain places, these sounds are unexpected. The voices in-particular demonstrate the emotions of the antagonist from the tone of the voices in which are heard. This ives the audience a better feel for the antagonist, giving them more insight to their identity, however, this increases their suspense as they feel they want to find out more about this mysterious character. Off screen sounds show no primary source as to where they are coming from which is a great way to build suspense as you have to make inferences as an audience as to where they are coming from. Creating suspense, surprise and shock is vital in making a thriller successful and so this is why our off screen sounds are conventional to the thriller genre.
Non-diegetic sound effects will also be included in our thriller sequence. For example, we will be using a heartbeat that will be representing the heartbeat of the victim. We will use this to emphasise her panic and distress which will be easier to get across to the audience. The audience are then able to build a relationship with the victim through this non-diegetic sound effect, as the emotion is portrayed clearly and they feel as if they know the victim a lot more. Therefore, the heartbeat will also reflect onto how the audience feels. The quick tempo of the heartbeat will also build up tension and will build up to a climax where the antagonist will experience shock and surprise as a result, which will also mirror onto the audience. Therefore, this use of non-diegetic sound effect is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates suspense and surprise with also creating more of an impact once the result of the climax has occurred.
A further sound technique that will be used in our sequence is diegetic sound effects. For example, from the sounds of panicking, heavy breathing and screams from the victim, it will express the fearful situation in which the victim is in. This will therefore create a more empathetic feel towards the character and get across the specific emotions that this character is expressing - this is what we intend. It creates a sense of realism from the fact that the sounds are diegetic, so they are not edited into the scene. The audience are able to build a relationship between the victim and themselves as they feel as if they know the victim a lot more and have more of an in-depth knowing of how they really feel. Furthermore, the panicking, heavy breathing and screams created a distressing feeling making the audience feel uneasy as the victim's fear is shown through these particular sounds. Screams specifically are conventional to the thriller genre as there is always a victim in danger and a scream is a typical, recognisable way to illustrate this. The audience are familiar with a scream's purpose and cause and so this therefore gives them a better understanding of how the victim is feeling. Therefore, with this in mind, this is why our diegetic sound effects are conventional to the thriller genre.
Our sequence will be effective through the way it will engage the audience making them empathise a lot more with the characters. This means that they will impact more when certain events occur as the connection with the scene and characters is a lot stronger, so they are affected a lot more personally. Planning sound has helped me as it has given me and my group a good idea as to what we will need to edit it in, what we need to make sure is included and why each sound is going to be used and so why certain sounds need to be emphasised.
You have provided an excellent analysis of the sounds you intend to use within your sequence, explaining what they should create and how a relationship can be built effectively
ReplyDeleteYou need to:
1) Change your example of the heartbeat to parallel sound instead of non-diegetic to provide a different example of another sound technique
2) Check spelling