Planning sound (Miss Miller)

1. Why is sound important within a thriller film?
Sound is important within all films and has the ability to determine the success of the film. This is particularly important within thriller films as they rely on the sound more than other genres to create suspense crucial to the impact experience by the audience. This is necessary as for a thriller to be sucessful they rely in the involvement of the audience in the film to react to each section as the victim would as they aim to make the audience feel involved yet alone and vulnerable. Sound can help with this as it includes the audiences senses as through being able to hear sounds have the ability to effect what we feel and can make us even more on edge.

2. What sounds are you planning to use within your sequence and why? What effect will they have? 
Through creating a questionnaire and getting it completed by my future target audience dramatically influenced the final sounds I have chosen to use within my thriller clip. 
The first sound I have chosen to use is a contrapuntal sound as the boy is walking home. He has his earphones in, typical of a young teenage boy, and is listening to a song. Through using a song which goes against the typical thriller music will enhance and contrast well with the other sounds used later in my thriller. As well as this the use of an upbeat song will show how the boy goes from being safe and happy to in danger and vulnerable when he removes his earphones and enters the house. A contropuntal sound is also used when inside the house after the doors slam upstairs. The boy runs down the stairs to get away from the poltergeist which he believes upstairs to again run into him. The song played is 'we've only just begun' by the carpenters and adds a eery sound with a message whilst still featuring quite upbeat pleasent music.

Another sound I am planning to use is a telephone ringing. This is as a telephone, although an everyday object, can be quite mysterious as it holds the element of the unknown as to who's on the other side. This said when the phone rings in the clip and the boy answers it, it allows the ghost to have a voice and more active role in the clip as he uses the phone as a mutual device. Hopefully, this will then be able to connect the audience to the character as they would be able to relate to the experience of being on the phone allowing them to imagine how the victim feels as the ghost speaks to him.

3. How are your sounds used conventional to the thriller genre? 
My sounds are conventional to the thriller genre as they are all sounds often featured in popular films. The sounds I have chosen to use often replicate the action on screen and just intensify that action. For instance heavy breathing and bangs will be added for when the actor is out of breath or as the door breaks to enhance the action. As well as this sounds such as heart beats will be used to convey how the main actor is feeling throughout certain clips. This is important as I want the audience to understand the emotions of the actor but as digetic sound such as dialogue is not conventional to a thriller I want to use as little as possible so will have to rely on sounds and facial expresions.

4. How will your sounds appeal to your audience? 
My sounds will appeal to my audience as I have chosen to use sounds that enhance the scenes within the sequence. For instance when using a slow panning shot I used long continuous sounds to prolong the wait before the panning shot ends helping create suspense and neutralising the actions of the panning shot as due to the audience not knowing when the sequence will end, as the sound is a constant, it will increase the reaction and shock factor of when the shot finally stops. Just as when quick movements or actions happen I decided to use intense short sounds to enhaunce and compliment the exisiting shot so that the jumpy, shock factor is experience by the audience both visually and through sound.

5. How will planning your sounds help in the preparation of filming your thiriller film? 
Through planning my sounds before creating my thriller will help when it comes to filming the opening sequence as I will be able to narrow down my searches so instead of aimlessly searching for different sounds I will be able to focus on finding the best sound for each emotion or scene I want to create. Overall, this should give me more direction and focus when creating and developing my final scene.