Sound planning

Sound is important as it is used to create surprise, suspense, shock and enigma, these are four key conventions in the thriller genre and without these it would not be classed as a thriller, it can be used to create a tense atmosphere in the audience, allowing shock, surprise or suspense to be used to its full potential. It must be planned beforehand to be used to full effectiveness, the sound, diegetic or non diegetic, must be used in the right moments to create an effect on the audience, it links with the images used as the sound builds up the tension and the picture creates shock, but must be linked to sound, one on its own will not create shock in a modern day audience and will merely make them watch on in a complete calm/bored state or stop watching the film due to not being engaged in the film.

We will use soundtrack which is non diegetic, this soundtrack will be eerie/dark, it will be used to create shock, surprise and suspense in the audience. This technique will be used in the build up to a scary/shocking moment, it will build up suspense and then add to the shock on the audience, we can also use it to create a sense of enigma as to who the antagonist is and why he has targeted that certain person (protagonist). It will be used to portray the superiority of the antagonist an the danger the protagonist is in throughout the opening sequence, this is conventional as it creates suspense within the audience and indicates that something is going to happen, it can also be used to create shock or surprise. The audience become fearful of the antagonist as soundtrack will portray the danger that surrounds him, also they will feel sympathetic for the protagonist as they realise what a dangerous situation she is in.

We will use off screen sound such as the voice if the antagonist or leaves cracking, it will be used while the protagonist is in the forest trying to escape the antagonist, the voice allows the audience to judge the antagonists emotion and intention, also it shows the true power and superiority of the antagonist, striking fear into the audience and protagonist purely by just being there, having not done anything notable yet. The audience will build a relationship with the protagonist due to them feeling sympathetic of the situation she is in, the use of off screen sound is conventional as it creates tension/suspense, creating a feeling of uneasiness within the audience.

We will also use non diegetic sound effects, we will use it for the heart beat of the victim when she is panicking due to the antagonist chasing her, this will portray the inferiority of the protagonist and show the true fear she is feeling, helping the audience build a relationship with her due to them feeling extremely sympathetic and due to our target audience being around the same age, they can really put themselves in that position, helping create more suspense, surprise and shock. The use of the non diegetic soundtrack is conventional as it is constantly used to aid the audience create relationships with the characters and maximise the effect of some scenes on the audience.

Finally we will use diegetic sound, this will be used during dialogue and when the protagonist is running (panting/heavy breathing) we will use these sounds to portray the inferiority of the protagonist in comparison to the antagonist, the sheer panic the protagonist shows helps the audience realise how fearful she is of the antagonist and that they should be too, the audience then build a relationship with the protagonist, they both fear of the antagonist and the audience are extremely sympathetic/fearful for the protagonist as they realise that she is in a extremely dangerous situation, the use of diegetic sound is conventional as thrillers rely on the use of this sound technique, without it the audience would struggle to follow the narrative and the story would become extremely confusing.

The use of sound helps build up suspense more as without it the audience would not know something is going to happen, this helps us maximise the effect of shock/surprise as well, although the audience would still be shocked or surprised the use of sound helps build up that fear making the audience prepare, as time goes on they slowly lower their guards and then the shocking moment happens, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats throughout, this is extremely conventional and is used in many thriller films, it allows the audience to get that adrenaline they want while watching a thriller by using shock, surprise and suspense. The planning of this was extremely useful as it allowed us to think about when the sound would be best used, we also could make sure we didn't over do it as this would bore the audience due to the repetitiveness of it.

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