Evaluation Task 1: Use of Sound

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For my trailer, I used sound differently to in my AS production. In my AS production, the sound was very much flat and minimally layered, however, this year I decided to research different sound motifs and sequences to enhance my trailer through the use of layered sound. 

I predominantly used quite conventional sounds to layer and increase the tension in my trailer. I started off with a few long low sequences that I could play the whole way through the trailer. This is conventional is it creates an atmosphere that continues throughout the trailer and indicate the horror genre. I decided to use a few of these as I thought it would create a more ominous feeling if the music changed with the narrative phase. 

To increase tension, I added in 'boom' sound motifs and ominous low notes. This enhanced the moments I wanted to be memorable. The 'boom' motifs are especially useful in alluding to the dark nature of the villain and his actions, as well as alluding to the danger that the girl is in. This is conventional as it entices the audience and makes them want to watch more to find out what is going to happen. As well as low sound motifs, I used particular sounds to enhance the shots in my trailer. For example, I used sound files of someone walking, twigs snapping, a phone ringing and of a dial tone to enhance the sound for the audience. By making these sounds louder and more prominent in the trailer, I was able to create significant moments using conventional motifs from other films. The use of twigs snapping and the phone ringing is very conventional of the horror genre and is something I wanted to use to improve my trailer and make it more effective. 

At the end of my trailer, I decided to play around with the idea of sound and video. I wanted to remove the video from one clip but keep the sound against a black background in order to increase suspense. I chose to use a clip of the second girl saying, "Hello? Who are you? Why are you doing this to me?". Having this isolated from the video creates an ominous and disorientating feeling for the audience, which is effective in drawing their attention. On this sound motif, I used an effect called Highpass to make the clip sound more conventional and frightening. This was effective in representing the genre to the audience as well as increasing tension before introducing the titles.