Soundtrack Research
January 21, 2010
We need to do some research into what different soundtracks are used in thrillers. This is because when we make our thriller opening sequence, we will be using a soundtrack at the beginning as this will make it much more professional and it will also create an effective mise en scene for the viewer. The soundtrack will create a mise en scene that denotes fear into the audience’s minds which will create suspense and tension as the action begins.
In order to see how professional thrillers use soundtracks in their openings, we had to research and analyse different horrors to see what effect they had and how this aided their production. The first thriller that we looked at was ‘The Butterfly Effect’, here it is below;
The sound for a soundtrack is non-diegetic as the characters in the shots cannot hear this type of music, it is purely for the benefit of the audience, this is because the soundtrack is there to add to the mise en scene. In the opening of ‘The Butterfly Effect’ the soundtrack begins with an ambient sound that changes in dynamics to create a crescendo that develops through the opening sequence. This type of music creates a sense of suspense for the audience. The soundtrack then gradually turns into a fast paced drum beat that mimics that of a heart beat denoting that central character/possible protagonist is tense about something, it also connotes to the audience that the character is experiencing fear. The sound matches the action on screen as the character is seen to be rushing around, the character then hastily scribbles a note which leaves the audience wondering what has happened.
The soundtrack used in ‘The Butterfly Effect’ relates to our media project as we will probably be using some form of ambient sound during our editing process. This type of music creates the effective ‘horror’ mise en scene that we are trying to create with our opening sequence. The heartbeat is also extremely effective in the soundtrack, we could try to use this style of drumbeat in our editing to create tension for the audience.
Another thriller that we looked at while doing our research into thriller soundtracks was ‘Creep’. Here is the first 6 minutes of the opening sequence:
The first 2 minutes and 40 seconds play a non-diegetic soundtrack to accompany names of the people who made the film, including the directors and producers. As the titles play, the soundtrack is that of again an ambient sound. This sound however is combined with other sound motifs for example the sound of a train pulling into a station and the sound of a train’s breaks screeching as it comes to a standstill. These sounds have been added to the ‘Creep’ opening sequence as the setting of the film is an underground train station – I think that adding in these extra sounds creates an excellent mise en scene for the opening, it sets the scene while denoting the setting to the viewer in a subtle manor.
The soundtrack for ‘Creep’ is very successful in creating the right atmosphere for the viewer and I think that when we come to edit our opening sequence, we will use some of the techniques that ‘Creep’ uses. An example of where we could use this would be to add things like running water into our soundtrack as parts of the opening for our thriller are set in a bathroom.
Soundtracks are used in openings to films for many reasons, they help ease the audience until a film by adding non-diegetic sound into the mise en scene. For example, in a comedy the music would be light and cheerful with high pitched tones to add to the lighter side of the film whereas in a horror the music is likely to be more subdued and of a lower pitch – this represents a different tone of feeling for the viewer. A soundtrack could also be used to make the opening more enjoyable for the viewer as an opening needs to grab the audience’s attention right from the start – a soundtrack helps to achieve this.
When we edit our thriller we will need a good soundtrack to accompany the footage on screen. We will be using different types of sound to create a soundtrack that is effective with our thriller opening, in order to do this we will be using sound effects and music in our soundtrack. I think that a sound that will definitely be used in our soundtrack that has been decided through analysing different thriller openings will be an ambient sound as this is used in lots of thrillers as it sets the correct mise en scene that he editors desire. Other sounds that we will probably add to our soundtrack will be the sound of a tap dripping, a heartbeat (in order to create tension), a light switch turning off, heavy breathing and screaming. These sound will either be made by my group, or taken from a database and added into our soundtrack.
A further thing that we will have to consider when we make our soundtrack will be our target audience. From their views, we will make a soundtrack to see what they prefer in a horror soundtrack. This will assure that the soundtrack that we create will be popular with our target audience and therefore, they will enjoy the opening to our film.
