Planning Sound - Miss Miller

Sound is vital in thriller films because it helps the audience to feel different arrays of emotions, which is effective because it keeps the audience engaged and hooked. Planning is required to ensure an excellent sequence because it helps visualise what the scene will look like in your mind, this is useful because it will make it easier to decide if the sequences are conventional enough for the audience to enjoy it. It is important that the sound which is being played matches the images being shown on the screen because  if it doesn't then the audience will become confused thus also making the scene unconventional. However when using contrapuntal sound, this rule is being broken because the sound doesn't match the images being shown because of dramatic use.

The group and I have chosen to use "On Screen Sound" when the audience can hear and see the radio voice over which occurs at the star of our opening sequence. This shows the audience that he is the main antagonist and that he is up to cause trouble. The audience know this because the on screen sound is a news report, reporting about a murder scene which the audience can infer that he did it. This allows the audience to build a negative relationship with the antagonist because they feel threatened and are petrified of him. This is conventional because the audience are able to forebode something sinister to happen in the future. This then creates suspense as the audience are waiting to see what the antagonist might do next.

Contrapuntal sound is evident in our opening sequence when the audience hear clown/carnival music whilst being played over the antagonist scraping his knife on the wall right before he murders her, the contrapuntal music will contrast with what the antagonist is about to do to the victim. This shows the audience that he enjoys             inflicting pain and fear among young females and gets joy from doing so. This builds a negative relationship between the audience and the antagonist because they fear the antagonist which makes them also feel angered towards him, this is conventional as it creates tension because the audience are unsure of what might happen to the female victim.

The group and I used Diegetic sound when the antagonist is scraping his knife along the wall, while slowly walking towards the female victim. This shows the audience that ht antagonist is more powerful than the female victim and is the one in charge as the diegetic sound of the knife exaggerates the anger and violence of the antagonist. This helps the audience to build a negative relationship with the antagonist because they are frightened of him because he has shown his evil twisted side. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it shows the audience that the antagonist is more dominant thus creating suspense as the audience are unsure what he might do with all that power. This engages the audience because the build up of suspense allows the audience to become hooked onto the film.

Lastly, the group and I have decided to use silence in our opening sequence, this is evident when the audience hear complete silence as the female victim is walking through the alley way glancing over the pictures which are hung on the wall. The silence represents her life because as there is no sound it mirrors her vulnerability and weakness, allowing the audience to forebode death upon her. The audience then able to build a relationship with the female victim as they are left feeling sympathetic towards her because death may be upon her. This is conventional to the thriller genre because the silence builds up suspense as the audience are pondering whether the female victim will live or die, thus keeping them engaged.

To conclude, this task has helped the group and I to make our opening sequence more effective in terms of making the audience feel an array of different mixed emotions, which allow them to become attached and hooked onto the film. The task has also helped us to understand what sounds incorporated will make our opening sequence as conventional as possible while also making the audience feel the main emotions of shock, surprise and suspense through sound.