Research of Sound In Horror

Sounds in horror makes the audience to feel frightened,nervous and anxious as they get the feeling of anticipation. Sound in horror includes high and low pitch and tones of sound. These sounds create a sense of nerve as the audience are aware of what comes after these sounds.

low pitch music:
Low pitch music is used in films to create a sense of danger. In the film Jaws, low pitch music slowing building a higher tempo, was played to create a dramatic tone and to create a sense of danger. Every time this music occurred in the film the audience understood Jaws was coming and the characters where in trouble. This low pitch sound made the film thrilling and shows how sound can easily create tone. This sound is still one of the most famous sounds of movie history.

High pitch music:
High pitched sound are used in films to build fear and to create suspense and anticipation in the film. In the the film Psycho, the shower scene uses high-pitched string instrument notes with very fast attack to build the tempo, tension and to create fear.

Lullaby music:
Lullaby music has become more popular with horror as the sense of innocents and children singing is scary for the audience listening. Lullaby music can be twisted and altered to make the lullaby sound frighting. You can do this by changing the words in the song to horror related words such as death and die. This makes the audience feel scared and worried about the following scenes. 

No music:
Silence can also be used in films to create tension as the audience anticipate the next sound which is usually the next scare or a everyday sound which leads to a sudden scare which catches the audience off guard. 

Evaluation of Group Members Work:
After reading this research I can now compare these different common types of sound in the horror genre and compare them to those of the thriller genre which we have previously done. Furthermore I now also know more on what sound is actually used and what they mean as well as to why they do actually use specific sounds for certain scenes etc. We can therefore use this research to help with our planning as to what sound we can use for ourselves.

Our Ideas and Final Idea

For one of our ideas we decided that we wanted to situate it within a house in the night. What would happen is a teenage girl would be either babysitting for someone or either their own little sister. Then when she is downstairs sleeping on the couch or watching tv or maybe both the baby monitor starts to go static and make weird noise. She is then woken up by a loud bang or something along those lines. She then slowly gets up and starts to wander round the house getting something to eat. She then again begins to slowly explore the house where lots of stereotypical noises happen with lots of mirror reflections and shadows casted of a mysterious figure in the background. She then hears a massive bang and runs to the baby's room and as she runs to the door she hears noises from inside. When she gets closer she slows down and slowly goes to open the door. zooming in to the handle or the door knob and then when she finally opens it, it then fades to darkness where the title comes up and it ends with that as a cliffhanger.

However after thinking back on this and evaluating it we decided this gave too much away and was almost like a short film in itself rather than an opening as leaving it with a cliffhanger would be a feature of a movie when the opening doesn't necessarily have to have closure or make sense but just connote the correct ideas or themes of the actual theme.

Therefore we then discussed this as our final idea:

The teenage girl is sleeping on the sofa downstairs with the tv on while the baby she is baby-sitting is upstairs. While she is sleeping there is a baby monitor and it starts making static and weird/paranormal sounds. She doesn't hear this. There is then channel switch in the tv that causes her to wake as the tv gets louder. She wakes up suddenly and looks around the room and then at the tv. She then gets up and heads to the kitchen and gets something to eat/drink. After this she decides to check on the baby so she slowly heads towards the babes bedroom. When she is on her journey stereotypical noises and features are present such as reflections, shadows, doors etc. Then when she is tarted to get closer to the door of the baby's bedroom the music or beat begins to get louder. This is either static or a big beat or bang that gets louder to represent the tension. This then reaches its height when she opens the door and everything is silent. She then walks in to the room with the door creaking swinging slowly open. She then walks in and stops. The the door swings shut suddenly behind her and the big beat or static suddenly comes up again as a sound match. It then fades to black and the title comes up with the name of our title (which is currently not decided) and the big beat or static is presented as sound bridge after the door shutting and carries on throughout the fade and then slowly fades out as the clip comes to an end. Along with the title.

What Our Group Need To Do

This is a list of the things we need to do within our group. These are things to do with Research and Planning.

Idea Issue & Realisations

In the lesson the other day we started to talk about the idea in my previous post further and discussed in ways of which we could actually film and make this story as well as starting to come up with shot lists. However the further we looked into this idea the more issues we noticed with it.

First of all we began to notice how we would need a bunch of children to help us film this as we were planning on having some possessed children. This we then thought would be too hard to accomplish as only I had a younger brother. Furthermore we also realised that a lot of the shots and technical aspects of our story that we would want to do, would be very hard for us as we do not have the professional equipment for it. For example we cannot do a steady pan shot or tracking shot in the woods as there is no hard flat floor to balance the tripod on. As well as this we decided that having more than 2 or 3 people in the entire piece would be too hard as well as be too complicated just for the first 2 minute opening. We then started to discuss how having only 1or 2 characters makes the opening broader and more of a thriller with mystery so therefore we came to the conclusion that we had to come up with a new story idea.

We now know and have come to the conclusion that we only want 1 or 2 characters and for it to situate within a household to make it easier. As well as this we also realise that as it is a horror thriller it is good to be inside a home as it brings the danger to your home and makes it scarier and anticipating for the audience. Furthermore we want a very mysterious start with not a lot happening or a lot giving away as this will add to the tension and give the thriller the horror tone we want with the mysterious vibe. We also want to add to this with the loss of sound and when there is sound it is quiet so when something does happen it comes as a big shock which adds to tension. Furthermore we were thinking of using sound to sync with the editing. So when the beat heats or it gets faster the cutting syncs with this to add to the dramatic of the opening and create tension. I was inspired with this after watching and analysing the shutter island opening. We thought the sound could be incorporated with the editing to gain tension like a typical thriller and then maybe this beat or editing can get faster to heighten the tension or vise versa. Therefore we have learnt that before jumping to conclusions with ideas we must thoroughly see them through of how we can do it and if it is possible. I feel this was a very good learning curb and we now know exactly what we need to do.

Plot & Storyboard Ideas

In lesson we started talking in a group about what is actually going to happen in our opening scene and what plot we should have. Lauren then started talking about some hide and seek film which then gave me an epiphany. So I then started to write down notes of my ideas and story line that I randomly thought about. The following image below are my notes:

I was originally thinking of a little girl standing by a tree and then counting and watching her friends run away. Throughout this I thought the sound of little children laughing and a little girl counting down throughout would give it this thriller/horror theme. I thought the establishing shot could be quiet pan shot of the scenery with the wind blowing and then the screen goes all static with loud static sound and it then fades through the cinematic titles. This is when the opening will really start.

Audio Blog of Our Ideas & Brainstorming

The following link is a link to a mp3 audio file of our conversation of ideas and what we are going to do, as well as what we think is a good, bad and why we think this. However to listen you have to download the mp3 file by pressing the text saying "download" in blue.
Audio Blog Link

Storyboarding

Graphic visualizing process (storyboarding) is when directors begin to think about bringing their ideas to life. Thinking about the story, character development and meaning.

Why are storyboards important?

• pitching an idea
• links planning to film process
• visualizing images and ideas
• visualize links between shots, action/graphic matches
• timings,continuity and pace
• technical awareness and understanding
• revise narrative sequences
• chance to make decisions and revise

Graphic Mask is a part of an editing process. Matching a graphic of a similar shape and size, and matching it to another one in another shot.

Cutting is linked with t.v soaps etc. This can be over used and lose detail, meaning and the tone of the scene. Therefore some directors don't cut too much and in fact use the camera to tell the story instead of editing more cuts in post production. This is to hold the verisimilitude and the audiences attention. Therefore creating a completely different feel and making it more of a movie or real life rather than just some edited t.v programme.

How to storyboard:

• photocopying a set of storyboards sheets
• use small frames
• draw in pencil
• number the shots
• make short notes
• note down the camera position
• little annotations on the storyboard with arrows

The storyboard is generally about already knowing what the scene is going to look like so it therefore is easier for the process.