Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Sound is also one of the most important elements of the thriller genre as well. It is widely used across the genre to create tension and surprise the audience through a range of different techniques and sound types. It gives the audience a sense of the future events that are going to take place in the scene. Planning is required because we need to have a clear idea of how and when the sounds are going to take place in our sequence. Each sound that we will be using will relate to the images/footage that is in the opening sequence.

Soundtrack, Off Screen, Non-Diagetic - This sound will be used at the start of the sequence and will be low pitched, it will be used to build up tension until the first character will be seen in the film. It will be used at different noise level and will be apparent at the start but will then fade in and out during the course of the film. This is conventional to a film under the thriller genre as it builds up tension for the audience, also it set the pace of the film at a particular moment in time, it is particularly used to give the audience hints to what is going to happen in the future of the scene, so they will be able to relate to the characters further as they will begin to sympathize as they start to wonder what they would do if they were placed in the same situation as the character themselves. It will do this by engaging them more in the scene This sound will bring to the audience a sense of mystery as already they can determine the genre of the film. The soundtrack will create certain emotions/reactions within the audience as they will be constantly changing there bonds with the characters due to the fact of the pace of the soundtrack which will reflect the scene in the film, the audience will be in a constant though change as they will start to question whether or not something is going to happen to that character.

Wind/Rain, Off Screen, Dietetic - This sound will be used throughout most of the scene as it is background noise it will purely be for effect on the viewer. It will act as making the scene feel more realistic for the audience so it makes it easy to relate to the scene. It will similarly to the soundtrack fade in and out depending on different noises in the scene. These sounds are conventional to the thriller genre as most thrillers tend to take place at night time in these particularly harsh conditions, these sounds act as background noise that the audience would expect to hear in this setting which would make the audience easily able to relate to the scene even further. There is no real emotional impact from this sound as it is simply there for the audience to be able to associate themselves with the setting. They however may be able to sympathize with the characters as they are most likely familiar with being extremely cold in wind and rain, they will probably start to sympathize particularly with the small child as she is only wear a thin piece of clothing, so it would seem to them that she would be very cold.  

High Pitched, Off Screen, Non-Dietetic - This sound will be used when the teenagers turn around for the audience to find out that the antagonist has disappeared and has become the killer in the audiences view. It will have a sudden impact on the audience in the way that the sound will not be expected and will make the audience jump and be on the edge of their seats. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it makes the audience emotionally fragile as the events of the film have dramatically been placed apon them, it is used to create a sense of uneasiness in the audience making them feel a sudden state of shock, which increases there bond with the characters as they know what the likely future of that character now is likely to be. From this sound there will be great emotional impact as the audience will experience empathy for the character the sound relates to. There connection will be made stronger because the audience will see clearly that the character in unknowing of the position he will be in at this given time.

Scream in the distance, Off Screen, Diagetic - This will be used when the teenagers hears a scream in the background and gets distracted from the killer. It will be a direct scream that the character and the audience will both hear without a warning making the audience able to further bond with the characters as they are experiencing the same situation. This sound is conventional to the thriller genre as is symbolizes that a character etc, has been placed in trouble. This will only have the effect of shock on the audience as the sound is only there to get the audience to make sense of the narrative. There will some emotional impact from this sound as it source is not known so the sound will not be expected by the audience to happen, making them feel a chilling feel for the characters as they are as aware as the characters themselves to the that they have so suddenly been placed within, this element will place a massive role when it is apparent that the child has disappeared from the now seen victims sight.  

I think that my sequence with the added element of sound and the various different ones will be more effective in creating the main elements of the thriller genre, surprise, suspense. They are conventional sounds that the audience will recognize throughout the genre. These sounds will allow the audience to be manipulated to feel different emotions/feelings depending on each sound.

By planning my sounds it is easy to see how sound plays a massive role in creating a successful thriller opening scene it allows the audience to become more engaged and bond with the characters. And now it is easy to see how without the element of sound it would be easy for the audience to loose interest in the scene. In addition it will be easier now to implement by sounds onto my opening scene as now I know what the purpose each of my sounds that I am using is designed to do, so therefore I know what the effect of that is going to be on the audience at a given times during my opening scene. Without this planning I would just be adding by sounds to my scene with only a basic understand of what each of sounds effects would be on the audience as a whole.