Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Sound is as crucial to a film as the motion pictures. It plays a critical part in a film, sounds such as dialogue are used to inform the reader. Other sound whether off-screen/on-screen sound add atmosphere to the film and make the film more realistic to life. It also creates a mood towards certain frames/scenes in a thriller. Sound also gets a reaction from the character as it can shock the audience and create tension/suspense. We need to plan what sound techniques we are going to include in our films, so we know what type of shots we need to take to include in the film. As shots/sound have to work together to make sense to the audience.


Sound Techniques

Diegetic sounds - Diegetic sound (actual sound) in film is sound whose source is visible on the screen. Diegetic sound includes effects and extra diegetic sounds. I have decided to use diegetic sound because it can emphasize or improve the scene. I will use this type of sound when I show shots of the microwave and kettle. I will use sound effects or artificially enhance the sound recorded. This type of sound is conventional to the thriller genre as it informs the reader that normal activities are going on whilst the villain is planning to attack the person. This is an example of contrapuntal sound putting good in the contrast of evil through sound.

Non-diegetic - Non-diegetic sound (commentary sound) is the sound whose source is not visible on the screen and not present in the action. Examples on non-diegetic sound include voice overs, theme music and background music.

I would like to include background music in my thriller opening in order to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scene. The background music would be natural sounds such as wind, owl sounds to create a eerie, mysterious setting. I hope that this will portray the mysteriousness of the antagonist. This type of sound is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates suspense and enigma.

More sound

I would also like to include sound like footsteps, footsteps create a consistent beat which keeps the audience in a mellow mood. I would then add a loud sound after it to make the audience jump/shocked. The reason I would like to include footsteps is because it shows that someone is there but you can't see who it is. This creates enigma and enigma is conventional to the thriller genre.

Whilst filming my thriller in one scene a police car drives by and it surprisingly fit in with out scene. Even though the police car was off-screen, you could see a bit of flashing blue/red lights. And it gave a symbolization of danger and trouble that is going to happen which was good. I may have to artificially increase the sound so the audience can hear it.

Another sound produced whilst filming was creaking, there was creaking of doors and windows. This creaking gives the audience a feel that someone else is out there. Creating terror and mystery again.

The planning really helped me to know what shots to include in my film so then the sound can make sense to the audience as the sound and shots will be connected. Planning also helped me develop further knowledge on whats conventional to the thriller genre. By knowing conventions it helped me relate that to sound so I know what the audience expect to hear in a thriller. The sound I have chosen is very conventional as it creates suspense, tension and mystery in all the typical thriller scenes such as the chase scene. Sound also helped me to understand the type of reactions and emotions I want to get out of my audience.  So