Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Sound in a film is important as it consists of everything that we hear (auditory), it is key in creating tension and building suspense among the audience. Sound also is what enables different shots to be linked together, and allows characters to be depicted in certain ways, for example when we hear happy jolly music this tells us that the character is happy. Planning the sounds that I will use in my sequence is important as it enables me to choose which types of sound I want in certain places and what effect they will have in my opening sequence.

Non diegetic sound in the form of tense music will be used within my opening sequence. This will build suspense among the audience and also inform them when something may be about to happen. This sound technique also will make the victim seem inferior and as if she is in some sort of danger, this will allow relationships to be built between the audience and the character as they will want to tell her that something is going to happen. Non diegetic tense music is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates suspense, thus being one of the most important conventions in a thriller film.

Contrapuntal sound is also something that I am going to try to incorporate into my opening sequence, this could be in the form of happy music. This will make the audience feel uneasy as they would not expect to hear this music in relation to what may be about to happen, and this therefore builds suspense and tension. This sound technique will also portray the strange and eerie characteristics of the antagonist. This sound technique is less conventional of the thriller genre but it can still be used as a way of building tension.

I am also going to be using diegetic sounds in the form of the antagonist laughing and the victim heavily breathing, this will be used to portray how scared the victim is at this moment in time. The diegetic sound of her breathing heavily will depict a sense of panic towards the audience and this will therefore leave them in an uneasy situation. The diegetic sound of the laughing antagonist will create an eerie atmosphere as you would not expect to hear someone so evil laughing. This also portrays the antagonist to be twisted as he is laughing at what he is about to do. Diegetic sound is conventional of a thriller as it involve the audience with the characters and they can see exactly how they are feeling, this allows relationships to be built.

I will also be using non diegetic sound effects in my opening sequence, these will be in the form of a sudden jumpy noise when the antagonist appears. This will be used to firstly scare the audience and make them feel uneasy, but it will also be used to create a sense of superiority surrounding the antagonist. This sound effect will also grab the audiences attention and make sure that they see the antagonist. The sudden jumpy sound will also convey to the audience that the victim is in danger as it has alerted them. This is conventional of a thriller film as it scares the audience and this therefore creates tension among them.

I think using sound in my opening sequence is very important as it creates tension and portrays certain emotions across to the audience. The use of sound also makes it easier for the audience to follow what is going on and they can judge characters through the sound that has been used in relation to them. I am hoping that the sounds that I have chosen for my opening sequence will create an enigma and enable the audience to build relationships with characters. I believe that the sounds I have picked are conventional of the thriller genre as each of them create an enigma, tension and an eerie atmosphere, all of these being the main conventions of the thriller genre. I found planning sound very helpful as it has allowed me to evaluate which sounds I want to include in my opening sequence and what they are required for.