Sound

Today we had a lesson on different types of sound and how they can effect a piece of film and how the audience responds to that piece of film.
For example, we analysed the diegetic and non-diegetic sound in the film 'Jaws' within the scene where a character called Alex is eaten by the shark;

Use Of Diegetic Sound...

• kids laughing and playing implies a happy environment. Their laughter creates dramatic tension because the audience is aware of the fact that the scene won't be happy for much longer. The three different pieces of dialogue taking place in the scene have the effect of making the beach seem very busy.
• dog barking - maybe a hint to danger?
• sound of water splashing could also be a warning of what is to come - the frantic splashing of people trying to get away from the shark?
• music from the radio is giving the audience a false sense of normality in the scene.
• a little boy playing and innocently singing in the sand builds tension - upsets the audience that he would have to be involved in such a horrific event.

Use of Non-Diegetic Sound...

• scary music score.
• no background noise when the victim is shown on the lilo by himself to show his isolation from the rest of the beach.
• when the shark is about to attack the tempo of the music increases and is reminiscent of a heartbeat - this guides the audience's reactions.
• crescendo in the music also builds the tension.
• right at the end the music is being played quietly over the sound of the waves moving back and forth - creates an odd calm ending to a horrifying scene.

The fact that the crescendo in the music builds and builds and builds up to the point where the shark finally attacks makes it less scary for me personally when compared to the scene in the film 'Psycho' where the music does not build up to a climax, it just comes straight in as soon as the murderer attacks so you cannot predict when it's going to happen so it makes you jump more.

When applying this research to our work, I think I would rather use sound in the way it is used in 'Psycho', instead of using the methods from 'Jaws' for our film opening because I thought it was more effective in the way it made people jump.

For example, when we film in the dark room, one of our shots will be of the stalker dropping something on the floor and the camera quickly swivels round to face him which I think could make people jump if we used the right sound.