Research into sound - Miss Miller

Sound is important in thriller film as it helps to build up tension and suspense within the audience. Generally, when the sound increases pace there is danger for the films victim, and when the sound goes silent it resembles a victim being killed and their life ending. Additionally, it is used to create a response from the audience and engage them in what they are watching. The sounds create an understanding for the audience and creates more meaning about the characters and their emotions. There are different types of sound in films, diegetic sound is sound which is part of the film for example diologue or music and this can be on or off the screen. Non-diegetic sound is sound which is not part of the scene for example a soundtrack or sound effects. There is also on-screen sound which is where you can hear sound and see where it is coming from. Opposite to this there is off-screen sound which is sound that you can hear but you cannot see where it is coming from. However this sound, makes sense to the film. Furthermore, there is parallel sound which is sound that you hear in a film that is expected. And there is contrapuntal sound, which is sound that doesn't match what is in
the scene. All of these help thriller films to achieve its over all goal of creating tension and suspense for the audience.

Off screen sound

There is banging and rattling coming from out side at the start when the girl is sitting in the floor (0:07). We can't see the sound being created however it makes sense within the content of the film. This creates a sense of mystery as we know someone is out side but we can't see who it is and whether they are going to harm the girl. It also makes the audience feel remorse for the girl as the sound is coming from all around the house which makes her appear vulnerable. It would also appear to the audience that the girl is trapped, which would make them tense as the want her to survive. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the killer normally has a hidden identity and plays games with the victim. They use these conventions in thrillers as it makes the audience feel more part of the scene therefore they can relate to the emotions of the victim. 

Diegetic and on screen 

This is when we can hear the girls heavy breathing as she is sitting against the wall (0:13). Which creates intensity as we can hear the girl is scared and it makes the audience feel more involved with the character. It also shows the girl is apprehensive, which helps the audience to relate to her. Although breathing is a normal thing, the focus on it suggests that it is going to change and alter somehow thought out the film. This is conventional to thrillers as breathing is shown to show the victim is still alive and builds up to the death of them by stopping the breathing. Diegetic and on screen sounds have to be in thriller movies as it allows the audience to know what is going on, without it they would not be able to follow the story. Otherwise there would be no way of building suspense.

On screen and parallel

This happens when the girl uses the knife ( a weapon that is conventional to a thriller) to look through the curtains, sees the masked killer and screams (1:10). The scream indicates to the audience that the girl is fearful and also shows that she is vulnerable. It helps to create suspense as we don't no whether the killer is going to get in or not. Screaming is a common convention in thriller films as it creates intensity by showing the fear of the victim. The victims come across as weak and this makes us as the audience fear the safety of them as we don't no what is going to happen to them.

Contrapuntal, on-screen and diegetic 

The music starts to play as she knocks it from running backwards (1:16). This creates intensity as it doesn't match the scene. It contradicts the thriller genre and builds up suspense as we don't no when something bad happens. It also helps to engage the audience as they don't expect anything bad to happen with the positive music playing.  This is used in thriller films as it makes the audience watch as the music is quite upbeat and the makes them jump. The music helps the audience to relate as this is something they could listen to themselves. The repetitiveness of the music playing could also represent the killer keep coming for the girl until they get her.

Off screen and parallel 

We can hear these sounds when the girl is sitting by the end of the bed and we hear foot steps coming towards her (2:49). This creates intensity as we can hear the footsteps are getting louder, therefore we no they are getting closer to her. This could also represent her heart beat getting faster as she gets more scared. The footsteps getting louder creates intensity as we don't no who they belong to and builds up suspense as to who is going to come round the corner. This is conventional to a thriller as they like to play on the fact the audience don't no who the killer is and like to put them into the scene as if they was the victim. We know this because we only see the scene from the victims point of view.

Overall, sound is used to help the audience feel more part of  the scene and build up suspense to shock the audience. This research has helped me to find out what all the different sound devices are used for. In my thriller, I would like to use music at different paces to create intensity in a scene and make the audience feel suspense. I would also use diegetic sound to add normality to my scene and make sure the audience is following the story, such as speech, foot steps and radio. Additionally, I would use silence to emphasise death of characters and to build up tension.