Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Chloe Eustace

Planning Sound

Introduction: 

Sound is highly important within films not just within the thriller genre because if there is no sound then the film would be very boring and wouldn't get the audiences attention. Sound is important within thriller films because if there is no sound then it doesn't really create the tension for the audience or keep there attention. For example if there was a scene in a thriller film where someone gets stabbed and there was no sound of the stabbing, the audience wouldn't find this tense or shocking because they are just watching whats happening, however if there is the sound of the stabbing then it emphasises the moment to the audience and makes them more shocked. 

Non Diegetic Sound 

We have decided as an a group to include Non Diegetic sound into our thriller sequence. Non diegetic sound is sound which is not part of the film or in the film, it is the sound that is added later on in the editing stage. We decided to use Diegetic sound of Eerie music in the background as the main antagonist is walking away from the scene where he has just murdered the victim. We decided that the eerie music would be good because it creates more tension for the audience as he is walking away from this moment. The audience have just seen the murder of the victim from the antagonists point of view and the sound of the eerie music in the background makes the audience feel tense because it is the first time for the whole of the scene that they see what the antagonist looks like and the eerie music helps this to be a suspicious moment for the audience. The audience can build a relationship with the character through this eerie music in the background because they are wondering now what the reason behind this murder is and the audience have developed a relationship already with the victim as the stalker/antagonist has been watching her so they may feel sorry for her that this has even happened. This is conventional of the thriller genre because the use of diegetic sound in thriller films to create tension for the audience by adding in a back track is done in a lot of thriller films to make the audience feel shocked or tense within the scene and keep the audiences attention.

Diegetic Sound

We also decided as a group that another sound that we will use in our opening thriller sequence to create effect to the audience is Diegetic sound. Diegetic sound is sound which is part of the film, for instance dialogue or sound from the radio. We have decided that in our thriller opening sequence Diegetic sound will be used when there is upbeat music playing from the radio while the two victims are in the car on the way to a party. The music that is on the radio is an upbeat track because the two victims are singing along. This tricks the audience into almost thinking that everything is fine and that nothing bad is going to happen, so she the car does break down and the music stops the audience are surprised that the tension and the scene has changed dramatically. This helps the audience to develop a relationship with the two characters who are there two victims however the audience are not aware of this yet. The audience can build a relationship with them because they can see that they are excited and all upbeat to go to a party and the upbeat music tricks the audience into thinking that they are okay so when the car breaks down and they are then portrayed as more vulnerable the audience can feel more sorry for them and when something bad happens they can feel more sorry for them and what has happened. This is conventional to the thriller genre because there is typically in all thriller films some kind of Diegetic sound like the radio and makes the audience feel more tense and shocked at whats happening.

Parallel Sound:

We decided as a group that we would use Parallel sound (on screen sound also) of the antagonist walking through the forest stalking the girls prior to the murder. Parallel sound is sound that the audience would expect to hear in the scene, and knowing that the antagonist is hiding and stalking the girls the audience would expect the noise of crunching leaves to create tension. There will be a view of the antagonists feet as he is walking because he is following the girls, we only see and hear his feet because it is from the antagonists point of view. This is conventional to a thriller sequence because the audience feel tense for the two victims. The sound of leaves crunching in the dark will make the audience nervous for the two victims and this helps them to build a relationship with the characters because the audience feel sorry for them as they know they are being stalked but the girls don't realise this. The effect that the use of parallel sound creates in our opening sequence generates tension for the audience as they question his purpose for being in the forest and why he isn't walking slowly, because if you were out to kill someone and were stalking someone then you wouldn't want to be caught doing it and so it makes the audience wonder why the antagonist isn't being discreet when he walks through the forest which is why the audience hear the crunching of the leaves and know where he is and how close to the two girls he is. It makes the audience wonder and question if these characters will encounter each other and if the antagonist is out to get them.

On Screen Sound:

We chose to also use On screen sound in our thriller opening sequence. On screen sound that is seen on screen and where this sound is coming from in the scene. We will use on screen sound in our thriller opening sequence when the engine noises are made and the audience can see the car come to a halt, so there is the chinking of the radio sound when the car breaks down. This is conventional of the thriller genre because the sound that is on screen and that the audience can see is the car and as soon as it breaks down they then know that something bad is going to happen. The effect that this creates for the audience includes making the audience themselves nervous for the victims. This then evokes the questions to the audience as why this has happened and makes them wonder whats going to happen next as the girls are now portrayed as vulnerable,. This helps the audience to build a relationship with the charcaters because the noise of the car breaking down into silence strongly evokes that something bad is going to happen to these two girls and makes the audience worried or scared for them.

Conclusion:

Overall I believe that our thriller opening sequence will be more effective from the use of some of our chosen sounds because sound is important in a thriller film in order for there to be somewhere for the storyline to go and makes it easier for the audience to understand and want to keep there attention. The sounds that we have chosen to use are effective and conventional of the thriller genre because effects such as tension and surprise are created for the audience. The planning of these sounds will make things easier prior to our filming because it means that we had the chance to gain an overall idea of the sounds that will be on screen that we need to find, and any sounds that might be parallel (sounds that are expected in the film.) so that we can find these sounds where we decide to film. Also the planning of sound has allowed us to combine this to cinematography and how we are going to link these together to create the best effect and leave the audience with the enigma that is conventional of the thriller genre.