Planning sound - Miss Miller

Sound within films is very important as it highlights emotions that the characters are feeling and elaborates on actions taking place. It is generally used to create the key conventions of shock, suspense and surprise. Planning is required to make our thriller as best as possible as the whole group can input their ideas and thoughts giving us a more rounded view on the sound used in our clip; therefore allowing us to create a more effective use of sound.

The first form of sound we will include is parallel sound. This means that we hear a sound which is expected of the action taking place, however the sound can be emphasised to highlight the important event. One example of when this will be used is when our innocent protagonist is stabbed. The noise of the stabbing will be exaggerated and emphasise so that it becomes more realistic for the audience. It highlights the death of the protagonist as a vital moment of the sequence, therefore engaging the audience and bringing their focus to the events that may take place. The emphasised knife sound highlights the painful sharpness of the stabbing. By doing this we are increasing the shock effect inflicted upon the reader. The kind, sweet, likeable character juxtaposed with the violent, painful emphasised stabbing elaborates the shock and sadness that the reader feels as she is killed. By doing this we feel more sympathy towards the victim as we see her in danger and more hatred towards the killer; this creates a more engaging thriller for the audience as relationships are built between the viewers and the characters. The parallel sounds makes this clip even more conventional as it portrays the sense of shock, key to a successful thriller.

Secondly we will use diegetic music to great effect. This we hear noises shown on the screen, it can be done to simply show the events taking place in the film, or to highlight what could happen such as dangerous or happy moments. One scene in which this will be used crucially is the second flashback as the victim is walking home from school in a forest walk way. The antagonist will be following her and the viewers will clearly hear the noise of a twig crunch as he walks over it. The reason this is done is to show the eerie presence of the frightening antagonist. It shows that he really is stalking her, and we become even more fearful of the man. It puts us in the victims position as she ears someone following her. This conveys the various senses and emotions conventional to a thriller. It builds a sense of surprise as we see that the antagonist could be anywhere at any time, this engages the audience. It creates a sense of suspense as we now want to see what the man is going to do next, we become fearful of hm. It also builds a sense of mystery and an enigma as we think about what he is doing there and what he is capable of, this furthermore engages the viewers. In addition to this we build relationships between the two characters and the viewers through this sound technique. The audience becomes scared of the lurking antagonist, we see him as a great threat to the girl and we begin to think about how dangerous he might be. This results in the audience becoming very fearful for the girl, we sympathise for the innocent child as we see se is under a great threat.

Opposite to the use on diegetic and off-screen sound we will also include examples on non-diegetic and on-screen sound. This is sound not seen in the image on the clip however heard clearly by the audience, highlighting what may be happening soon and foreshadowing events about to happen. A prime example of this is shown in the last flashback of the clip as a runner, presumed to be the antagonist, runs past our victim. The footsteps of the runner is clearly emphasised building up as he springs upon the victim. The main effect of this is that it builds suspense for the viewers. With the frightened facial expressions of the victim, juxtaposed with the footsteps growing louder, we feel that she is in danger and we build up suspense as we sympathise for the likeable character. Suspense is highly conventional to the thriller genre as it engages the audience, increasing the shock effect and producing an overall more entertaining watch. This sound technique also helps in developing an enigma for the viewers. The emphasised steps really makes us feel that she is under threat, as we see that it is only a simple runner we begin to think about why she is becoming so paranoid. This is key to our clip as it engages the audience and builds up a relationship between them and the victim.

Lastly, one of the very effective sound techniques seen in the clip is the use of contrapuntal sounds. This is sounds that are opposite to the action on the screen, it often juxtaposes with the events taking place having a lasting effect on the viewer. A key example of this is shown in the first flash back. The girl is sat calmly watching TV in her own home comforts seen to be under no danger whatsoever. The noise of the TV elaborates this calm setting as it is the noise of an innocent child cartoon. This is done to calm the audience as they see the child's film as a soothing, comforting sound. By juxtaposing this with the dangerous, chaotic scene, we increase the shock effect of the clip. By creating a calm, innocent scene through the use of the cartoon film we can develop more of a shock as we suddenly see the antagonist and as the action and panic takes place. This is very conventional to a thriller as the shock effect is  key emotion develop throughout the genre. In addition to this the sound used here furthermore builds upon the relationship created between the audience and the victim. The fun, youthful cartoon film emphasises to our viewers how young, vulnerable and innocent she is. By doing this they develop sympathy towards the character, seeing her in trouble and wanting her to come out alright. The effect of this is that the viewers support the girl and feel more involved in the storyline building, therefore engaging the audience creating a more captivating sequence.