SOUND DESIGN
Sound is a very important technical element when it comes to horror movies during the production stage. Sound helps to establish the genre, create suspense and a thrilling atmosphere. It also creates a motif for the movie, for example a high pitched piano medley is associated with Michael Myers from Halloween. Without it horror movies wouldn't be very effective and quite empty - heavily relying on speech. BAT Studios will be creating a soundtrack for our trailer, therefore will need to research into sounds and use Final Cut Pro in order to edit and finalise an effective soundtrack.
Inspiration #1
This is our first inspiration as, it begins quite mellow and slowly although the overall atmosphere of the movie is set as being dark and dangerous. Accompanied with a narrative voice the soundtrack slowly builds up over time, eventually turning into a screeching and unnerving melody towards the end where the jump scares, gore and action is displayed.
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Inspiration #2
Our second inspiration pairs the tempo of the music with the pace of the action and title slates. It also relies heavily in the first half of the trailer on the sound of a metronome which matches with the editing of the shots. This helps to establish the genre of the movie as something psychological. In the second half as the shots get quicker, a high screeching sound is used in which the viewer is anticipating a jump scare however they don't get one. The soundtrack to this trailer is effective however the build up fell flat due to there not being a jump scare at the end.
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Inspiration #3
Texas Chainsaw massacre was inspiring as it starts with an equilibrium, with jolly unsuspecting youth and happy music. This relates to the summer trailer The List created by Tara and Ashley as they began their trailer by using jolly Christmas music to set up an unaware atmosphere for the characters, even though the audience would be able to suspect what their outcome would be. Throughout the trailer, loud screech like sounds are used and then contrasted in the next shot with silence in order to create a unsettling ambience throughout the trailer. This trailer has a very effective soundtrack and serves as a main inspiration.
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Inspiration #4
Although the plot of the movie is spoilt in the duration of the trailer, the soundtrack for it is successful in implementing the idea of the life span of the character and day length of the plot as a narrative voice constantly whispers, "7 days" throughout the trailer. The use of whirring sounds is used at the climax of the trailer to build up suspense and drive the plot forward. Along with sound effects such as a neck cracking, a TV fuzzing out and demonic screams there is a lot of different sound used however its not overcomplicated and is a functional trailer.
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Resources to Create BAT Studios' Soundscape
Final Cut Pro X is an Apple software in which we used to edit our sound and videos to create our animatic and soundscape. This is a very effective software for adding extra special effects and title slates.
Final Cut Pro X is an Apple software in which we used to edit our sound and videos to create our animatic and soundscape. This is a very effective software for adding extra special effects and title slates.
We used Youtube in order to export and upload our videos to including our animatic and soundscape which provided as an effective medium to then place it on our blog.
Freesound is a website in which you are able to search and download sound effects and soundtracks in order to use. This was a very helpful website as you only need a log in and you have access to thousands of tracks that aren't copyrighted.
Freesound is a free website used to gather sound effects for our trailer, for example a drone sound, a scream and eerie melody. Drawing elements from our inspiration I created an account and downloaded sounds to be considered for our teaser trailer. Here is a selection of some of those:
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Conclusion
Overall sound is a very important aspect in horror films as it helps the audience determine what they are supposed to feel about the trailer and also helps to build suspense and excitement. BAT Studios was able to understand how different sounds are used in horror movies to foreshadow future events and build curiosity. Using final cut pro x has taught us how to edit sound and video as well as using sound that fits well with the narrative