Planning Sound

Introduction

Sound is important in films as it helps the audience relate to the characters. It also keeps the audience engaged in the film as it builds up suspense. Planning is required in order to produce an excellent sequence as it means we can decide where we want sounds to go and also means we know which sounds will create shock, surprise and suspense.

The first sound we will be using is on-screen sound. This will be shown when the radio voice over is on at the start whilst the clown is getting ready. The sound will be a radio presenter talking about females going missing in the area. This shows that he is the antagonist as the camera will be on him whilst the sound is playing. It also shows that he is up to something as he puts his mask on and his hood up. The audience know that the radio presenter is talking about the clown so they fear for all the females becoming his victims. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it forebodes that something bad is going to happen and that he is about to go out and take his next victim.

The next sound we are going to use is diegetic sound. This will be used when the antagonist is scarping the knife along the wall whilst walking towards the victim lying on the ground. This shows that he is more powerful and that he can do what he wants because they are on their own and she is tied up. This makes the audience fear for the victims life as they don't know what the antagonist is going to do to her. They also question what is going to happen next because they don't know who the antagonist is so he could do anything. This keeps the audience engaged in the film as they want to find out what will happen to the victim. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it shows that the antagonist is more dominant than the victim which then shows that the victim is weak and vulnerable.

Another sound we will be using is contrapuntal sound. This will be used when the antagonist is scraping the knife along the wall before killing his victim. In the background, there will be circus music playing which contrasts with the murder that's about to take place making it contrapuntal sound. By the music being happier than the murder, it shows that he enjoys kidnapping and killing females and it also shows that he gets a thrill from doing it as he doesn't hesitate. This helps the audience build up a negative relationship towards the antagonist which is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates tension. The audience also build a relationship with the victim as they feel scared for her knowing that he is going to kill her and she won't be able to do anything about it.

The final sound we will be using is silence. This will be used when the victim is going through the alley way looking at the photos hung up of her. This shows that she is frightened as all the audience are seeing is her facial expressions with no sound in the background. It also shows she is weak, vulnerable and unable to fight back. This helps the audience build up a relationship with the victim as they feel sympathetic towards her knowing that she is in danger and her life will probably be taken from her. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it builds up suspense which keeps the audience engaged. It also keeps the audience questioning what is going to happen next so they want to finish watching the film to find out what happens to the female victim.

Conclusion

I think that by using these sound techniques, our sequence will be more effective as they will help build up suspense so that the audience are engaged in our thriller. Also, it makes the sequence more exciting as it makes the audience question what is going to happen next. These sounds are conventional to the thriller genre as they create, shock, surprise and suspense which all keep the audience engaged. I found this planning useful as we now know which sounds we need to get so we can put them in and we also know where each sound is going to come in our thriller sequence.