Research into Sound - Miss Miller

Research into Sound

In this post I will be analysing the different types of sound techniques used in a short thriller clip on how they make the audience experience, shock , surprise and suspense. Sound is used to create understanding and meaning for the audience, without sound the audience would find it difficult to understand what may be going on in the scene but also it is conventional to thrillers because they use sound in ways that can change the mood and interpretation of the scene. The importance of sound in thrillers is imperative as this is usually the aspect with scared us the most as combined with certain camera shots a very jumpy and scary moment can be portrayed. Sound used in thriller films tend to make us feel uneasy, uncomfortable and make us jump at times which is what we expect when we watch a thriller film. In this post I will be analysing a clip from Scream (1996).
I chose to analyse this clip because when analysing it I found many different techniques used to try and create emotion for the audience. I thought the sounds techniques were conventional to the thriller genre and I understood why that had been used and to create what effect.

The first technique I found in the clip was the use of diegetic and on screen sound. This is sound that is included in the scene. This was evident when the man was looking in the mirror when he heard a knock on the door behind him. This is a use of diegetic sound because it is sound that is part of the scene and hasn't been added in. This creates a sense of normality because knocking on someone's door is a usual polite day to day activity. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it creates a sense of normality which makes it easy for the audience to imagine themselves in that scenario which also makes it more believable of the effects to come. Another example of diegetic sound used in the clip is when the man puts on the scary mask and jumps out at himself in the mirror. This also creates a sense of normality as we would expect someone to act in this way when wearing a scary mask. However this can also begin to make the audience feel that something bad might happen because of the sudden reference to the scream mask and negativity. This gives the audience a sense of foreboding that something bad might be coming up which is also the thoughts a thriller genre want to give to an audience early on in the scene.

Another technique I analysed in the clip was the use of non-diegetic sound. This is sound which is not part of the film so gets added in to create a certain effect. This was the soundtrack and sound effects that was used. During the clip when the man is searching for someone who he thinks is messing about with him there is a tense background piece of music. This is used when the man thinks someone is hiding in the wardrobe, during his slow movement of opening the door the music starts to get faster and a quicker pace because it wants to make the audience feel that there is going to be something in the wardrobe. By using this type of soundtrack in the background builds up tension and suspense because the audience are anticipating what is behind the door. This makes the audience start to get scared because they feel sympathetic towards the character as they don't want anything bad to happen to them. Another example of non-diegetic sound is sound effects. A sound effect is used when the killer pulls out his weapon which is a knife, a harsh sharp sound is played as he pulls the knife up to stab the man. This creates a sense of shock as the audience aren't expecting it and it is a quick movement with the sound to match. This puts the audience off as they are shocked at this action and a sharp sound to go with it. Although this is mainly a technique to shock the audience this also helps the audience to understand what is happening if the audience were confused for example the audience missed the quick movement of the knife, however they would understand what had just happened due to the conventional sound effect of the knife.



A third technique that I analysed from the clip was the use of parallel sound. This is sound that you hear in a film that is what we would expect. An example of this would be when the man gets stabs he is screaming. This creates a sense of realism for the audience as this is what we would expect to happen in real life situations. This perhaps helps the audience to build a relationship with the character as they can physically see and hear what the character is going through and this may make the audience feel a certain way. This would also shock the audience because a loud instant scream is usually something that would surprise and audience and make them jump. This also makes the audience feel worried, sorry and scared for the character because they realise something bad is happening to them by the use of parallel sound of screaming.

My final technique that I analysed from the clip is non diegetic sound. This is sound which has been added into the scene to create effect. Once the victim has shut the door to reveal the murderer behind it, a loud and sharp sound effect is played to reveal the first sighting of the murderer before he goes an kills his next victim. This is to create a suspense moment and reveal to the audience that the murderer is a bad presence and also gives a sense of foreboding. This makes the audience feel scared and worried for the character. The sharp loud sound is conventional to the thriller film as usually a non diegetic eerie piece of tension is played on the lead up to this moment which makes the harsh sharp sound effect of the murderers entrance the more scarier and also makes the audience jump which is what we would expect to happen in the thriller genre.

In conclusion my research has taught me how specific sound techniques help create a scary scene. I believe that without sound in the thriller genre the audience wouldn't experience the different emotions such as shock, suspense and surprise. I think that the use of the non diegetic sound created tension and made the audience feel uncomfortable and anticipate what was going to happen. I think that the diegetic and on screen sound created suspense and surprise as they made the audience experience things like being scared and making them jump during different parts of the scene. Learning about the different sound techniques has helped me with my research as I can now recognise the different techniques in all different types of thriller clips and understand why they are used and how they create a certain effect on an audience. This has helped me realise that in order to fit the conventions of a thriller I will have to include different techniques such as diegetic and on screen sound, non diegetic sound and parallel sound in my own thriller sequence in order for my audience to feel scared and to build tension up to the scarier parts of my sequence. I will be applying non diegetic sound to my own thriller piece because I believe that this technique made me feel the most emotion as an audience and made me feel the most uncomfortable and scared during the clip. I feel this is because this technique builds up tension and makes the audience anticipate the bad things that we expect in the thriller genre.