Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Planning Sound

Sound is conventional in films as the music sets the mood for the audience and engages them more into wanting to watch the rest of the film without getting bored. Music and sound affects help to tell a story to the audience by telling them a story through adding a better visual to the images to help the audience understand the story more and intrigue them. There are many different sound techniques that directors use within a scene, examples of these are; diegetic, non-diegetic , parallel sound, on screen sound and off screen sound. .Planning is required to produce excellent sequences because then everybody can discuss the best sound to be used in certain shot or event taking place at a certain time. Sound links with the images seen on screen by portraying and elaborating on something that is going to happen with a certain sound to entice the audience more and make them understand what is happening more clearer by improving there experience in watching the film making it more thrilling. 

In my opening sequence i would want to use parallel sound which would occur when the victim is making her way to the curtains. Low beat music would be played to show that the victim is getting closer to the antagonist. Using parallel sound over the duration of this certain part of the sequence would create suspense for the audience and keep them on the edge of their seats to thinking that the victim is close to her death. This also shows that the victim is helpless as she doesn't know what is going to happen next and her death is being foreshadowed to the audience already. Parallel sound creates enigma to the audience which keeps them engaged into wanting to watch the rest and find out what else is going to happen to the victim. This gets the audience feeling the same emotions as the victim is and gets them on edge by creating a sinister atmosphere which gets them jumping when they least expect it. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the audience are made to believe that the film is very real, making it easier for them to put themselves in the situation of the characters. This builds a strong relationship between the characters and audience as they feel more sympathetic as they know the victim is getting close to a dangerous and life threatening moment in the film.   

Another type of sound I want to use in my opening thriller sequence is silence and this would occur when the victim sees the killer. This will create a sudden affect on the audience and would excite them more when a sudden thing occurs as they would already be on the edge of their seats. The silence used will build up tension getting the audience on edge and ready for something scary to happen after a dark atmosphere is created and set. It shows that the victim is vulnerable and suggests that she is no longer alone and the antagonist may be on the scene planning to strike and harm her.This is conventional to the thriller genre as the silence builds up suspense and tension which entices the audience more and thrills them more when something suddenly takes place. This builds a relationship between the character and audience as the audience feel more scared for them when something scary or dangerous happens to the innocent victim as they suspense built has kept them on edge and surprised which would lead them to feeling shocked when something suddenly happens to the character.

Diegetic sound is another type of sound I want to use in my own opening thriller sequence and this would occur when the victim steps on broken glass which is the picture frame on the floor. This will create a sinister scene to the audience and keep them excited and looking forward to what is going to happen later on in the film. The broken glass is realistic and engages the audience as they know what that sound actually sounds like. This also shows danger and creates enigma to the audience making them wonder what has happened previously for that glass to be broken on the floor like that. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it engages the audience more as they are kept in suspense and the sound builds a relationship with the audience and the character as it makes the audience feel as they are there because they have heard the sound before in real life so it is realistic to them and they feel as they are in the characters perspective. Diegetic sound also elongates a scene which is useful in a thriller as it creates more suspense for the audience and engages them more. 

Lastly, in my own thriller opening sequence I want to use non-diegetic sound and this would occur when the music plays over the flashbacks. This sound would be  spooky and low pitched music and would also create suspense for the audience. The high pitched sound will portray the victim and her instability while she tries to get away from the danger while the spooky sound portrays the antagonist looking for the victim to harm her and put her life in danger. The suspenseful music used will also set the genre of the film as it creates tension and foreshadows that something is about to happen to harm the victim. When i play the suspenseful music over the flashbacks creates enigma making the audience wonder what the antagonist is planning and what he is going to do to harm the innocent victim. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the sound would engage the audience more and make them feel more anxious to what they are seeing in the images. This would create a relationship with the audience and the character as the audience would feel more scared for the innocent victim as the music would go with the moving image and entice them into watching what will happen next as they would already be on the edge of their seats waiting. 

My own opening thriller sequence will be effective in creating certain emotions and reactions to entice the audience throughout to wanting to want to find out more and what is happening next through the different types of sound I have said I am going to include above. The sounds I have chose to use are all conventional to the thriller genre as they all make the audience feel engaged enough to see the film in the characters point of view as if they close their eyes and just hear the sounds they could imagine their selves in the actual film itself. I found planning the sounds in preparation for my filming very helpful as I sat down and thought about the types of sounds I can use in certain parts of the film that would make the audience enjoy their experience in watching the sequence more and I feel as I was successful in planning it.