Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Sound is one of the most important elements in a thriller film, in order to have a successful thriller film, sound elements need to be planned out specifically because it needs to fit in well with the thriller sequence. Sound in thriller films is used to create different types of mood in a thriller, in most thriller films sound is used when something is going to happen, or would need to create suspense or tension. Soundtracks (music) is used to help tell a story to the audience, if there is tense music it would show the audience that something bad is going to happen, when tension is building up it would make it clearer to the audience that the narrative is going to be conventional. Specific music (dialogue) helps tell the story to the audience. Sound in thriller films is used to evoke the characters feelings and emotions, which could symbolise the characters movements.

One of my first sounds I will be using is silence this sound will be used when the victim sees the killer it will have the audience wondering why everything has suddenly gone quiet and will make the audience feel more engaged as to what is going to happen next.This will create a sudden effect on the audience as it would go from loud effective soundtracks to nothing at all. This specific sound will show the audience that the victim is scared as she has nothing to say and the atmosphere has died down to concentrate on the two characters (victim&killer) this sound will create an effect as it's revealing to the audience who the killer is and is allowing the audience to take in who the killer is without anything else going on in the background. All attention will be focused on the killer and the victim which is the most important part in a thriller as it's making the audience feel uneasy as to what is going to happen now the victim has seen the killer. This is conventional to the genre as it creates an enigma as to why silence is being used; when you hear silence in  a thriller you automatically think that something bad is eventually going to happen which will create a sense of shock and suspension to the thriller genre.

I will be using a diegetic sound within my opening sequence when the young girl steps on the broken glass (picture frame) this picture frame contains a picture of a group of girls, this creates a sinister theme. The sound of broken glass doesn't just frighten the audience but also the character in the sequence, the diegetic sound will create a sudden effect on the audience as you weren't expecting the young girl to step on broken glass, when this happens there is already tension being built up so when the girl steps on the broken glass it causes a fright for the character and the audience. This is conventional as it creates a sense of fear to both the audience and the character as I mentioned before; by doing this it engages the audience and also builds a relationship with them as they begin to feel the fear that the character is feeling, just by using this specific sound.

Non-diegetic sound will be used during the flashbacks, music will be played over them as it will create suspense. The music which will be played will be spooky low pitch music; this will make the audience feel more engaged to the event that is happening as it makes them feel more intrigued as to why the music is playing only to the audience, this is to create an effect on just the audience. When the flashbacks are happening it tells a story of the victims past and how she got where she is now. With the non-diegetic sound it will help elaborate on the story. The audience will begin to build a relationship with the victim as you begin to see that she's been bullied and the non-diegetic sound is showing us that something bad and horrible has happened during these flashbacks. The non-diegtic music is conventional as it's building a relationship with the audience by creating fear to them, and showing them that the flashback isn't going to be a positive flashback.

Lastly sound bridge will be used, the sound will be low music this will create an eerie atmosphere, which is conventional to thriller genre;this will be used when it first shows the isolation of the house and the girl with her hands tied up straight after this shot is shown; this will create a foreboding atmosphere as it's making the audience see the setting in clear detail but it's making it suspenseful and tense with the sound bridge sound. The audience will begin to understand that something bad will happen in the isolated house, this is conventional to the thriller genre as it makes the audience feel more involved with the eerie atmosphere that the characters are experiencing which also builds a relationship with them.

Overall this planning has helped me develop ideas for my thriller opening as it's showing the audience different moods that can be created. This blog has made it easier for my group and myself to  elaborate on the sounds we have chosen and where to use them, by having a clear plan on what sounds we want in our thriller it makes our sequence more organised and successful as it would be clearly planned out.