Friday, 16 January 2015

Planning Sound - Miss Miller


Sound within films is extremely important as it highlights the effect of the emotion that the character is feeling or experiencing. Planning is required in order to produce excellent sequences as the whole group can input their ideas and then, with organisation; be put into one good idea, making a scene effective and creative. Planning links with the images used as it is evidence where me and my group have put all of our ideas into one. The image used above show some examples of which sound techniques we will be using to make our opening sequence conventional of a thriller.

Parallel
This sound is used to make an effective thriller when you can hear sound from within a film in which the audience would expect, for example; a scene with children playing on a beach, the parallel sounds would include laughter, talking and the sound of the sea. This sound technique will be used within the sound of a knife, to emphasise on the injury that Carol(protagonist) has just experienced. Making the sound o the noise louder, will elaborate upon the sharpness of the particular knife and how much terror it has caused. This is conventional towards a thriller film as using a knife is part of iconography, a use of a weapon. This is going to be used specifically to represent the power of the antagonist (Steve) and then foreshadows the danger the victim (Brittany) is going to be put in. The audience immediately sympathise for the safety of Brittany as there is an instinct to show the audience that the stalker uses Carol as bait to play with Brittanys emotions.

Contrapuntal
This sound is used within a film to juxtapose what is happening within a scene, when the sound and image do not compliment each other, for example:happy music played over something sad happening on the screen.) In my opening sequence, this sound technique is going to be used during the first flashback, when Brittany is watching t.v, a happy child's film will be played, this then foreshadows what the victim is about to witness as everything seems too happy during that particular scene. The part of the film she is watching when everything at the end is happy with no problems, making the character believe that she could too be in that perfect moment. This creates more comfort for Brittany, making herself feel more safe, and then creates much more of a shock when she. Touches the strange stalker watching her, unaware how long the antagonist has been watching her through the window. This then dramatically changes the mood of the scene making it more effective.

Diegetic/On-Screen
Diegetic sound is when the music or sound that belongs within the frame can be considered to be a natural apart of the narrative, not always visible on screen, for example: a car radio being played within a scene. On screen sound is when you can see and hear where the sound is coming from within a film.  An on screen sound technique is going to be used in the opening sequence by the noise of the t.v during the first flashback, this is going to be used to show props within he sequence and to also help to create a stronger bond between the character and audience and at this point, the character, Brittany is feeling vulnerable and emotionally and physically scared. Dialogue is going to be used throughout the whole sequence, to get more of an insight towards certain characters personalities, for example: when Carol persuades Brittany not to commit suicide by talking to her. A use of heavy breathing from the victim will be used throughout most scenes to show how frightened she is feeling, an example of a scene of this is when she feels like the stalker is running after her in the alley way, representing her paranoia this antagonist has left her with when she finds out it is just a friendly neighbourhood runner.

Non diegetic/Off screen 
Non diegetic sound is when the sound or music is added in after, such as in the editing scene, to create more tension, shock or surprise. Off screen sound is when you can hear the sound but cannot see the source, yet it still makes sense the film dynamic. As a group, we are using this to create more tension with the characters to the audience, used throughout all scenes to represent a happy or scared mood. For example: when a hero, Carol stops the victim, Brittany not to kill herself, a peaceful sound will be played in the background to show a sense of relief. Off screen sound will also be used during one of the flashbacks, the steps of the runner will be exaggerated and louder, this technique will be used before you see the face to make the audience question whether it is the stalker or not, this will then turn to tension building non diegetic sound to create more fright within the scene

Planning sound is important as it helps us as a group to be more effective and organised with our group. We can plan what type of sound we are looking for and what genre, for example; tension rising. We can become more familar with what type of sound we are looking for in order to make our opening sequence the most effective it can be. By also using other sounds to over lap the actual sound to make it seem more dramatic, for example; finding a louder crunch of a twig for one of the scenes where she is walking home from school can make it seem to the audience that it was on purpose that he crunched the twig and to allow the audience that the girl was not hallucinating and was an actual experience.

1 comment:

  1. You have provided a basic analysis of the techniques you intend to use within your sequence, briefly mentioning when they will use and what you hope it will create.

    You need to:
    1) Explain exactly what these techniques will create for the audience and why/how
    2) Explain how they are conventional to the genre
    3) Explain how and why the audience are able to build a relationship with characters as a result
    4) CONCLUSION - explaining how this has helped you prepare for filming and how you think these techniques will make your sequence more conventional
    5) Include a picture of your groups A3 sheet
    6) Read through and check spelling and clarity of work

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