Wednesday, 30 January 2013

SOUND

Sounds are used in thrillers to aid the audience in understanding what is either going to happen in the next scene or what is happening in the current scene. It adds more meaning to what the characters are doing in certain scenes or help the audience to get emotionally attached to the characters. Other times as well sound is effective at creating a reaction out of the audience, such as the a long bang sound will alert the audience or shock the audience to jump out of their seat. However there are different types of sounds used to achieve these different types of effects. It's essential in thriller movies as they build up mood and atmosphere in thriller movies, they build up tension and leads the scene to a point of intense suspense.

TYPES OF SOUND

Diegetic sound:  A diegetic sound is sound which is part of the film such as a dialogue in a conversation,  music from a radio, or any other music device that plays sound. This sound can either part of the action happeing in the foreground or it can be playing in the background. Diegetic sound is usually tends to be be the conversations the chracters are having.

Non-diegetic sound: This usually sound that has been added a s part of post-production, it's sound that is not part of the film such as voiceovers by actors or narrators, soundtracks and sound effects.

on-screen sound: With this sound the audience knows the direction in which the sound is coming from and what is producing it such as a radio, music player, or in-car speakers.

off screen sound: This is sound that the audience can hear but aren't aware of where it's coming from,but it makes sense to the audience this types of sounds include people shouting in a crowd or children crying.

Pararell sound: This is sound that the audience expect to hear in a certain scene or sequence of scene, such as a scene when people are talking at an exhibition hall.

contrapuntal sound: This is sound that the audience doesn't expect it to happen in any scene in the film, such as in a horror story, there will be a kid's birthday party, with kids playing happily and then a horror theme tune starts playing in the background.

Conclusion:
 The research for sound has given me an idea on what sound i need to include in my thriller production. The different types of sound i use should reflect whats actually going on in the scene, unless i want to use off-screen sound to shock the audience. Sound will be a critical aspect in my productor if i want it to impact on the audience. Therefore the type of sound and how i use it will be the key in building suspense in my thriller.








Storyboard

WHATS A STORYBOARD?
A story board is typically a sequence of drawing that shows and represents the shots in a film. Story boards are drawn in the order which the film will be shot in, it's like a series of still image from the film. Shot by shot it shows how the video will unfold. it contains little squares filled with graphic illustrations or pictures showing how the shot will show in the film.

EXAMPLE OF A STORYBOARD
















WHY IS IT IMPORTANT IN THE PLANNING OF THE FILM?
Generally the storyboard organises the different elements and micro elements of the film or production.

It makes filming much easier or smoother as the storyboard shows exactly what will happen in the film at any given point in time, shot by shot it's the break down of the whole film.

It's the best way to plan for the film as it serves as a map of how the overall outcome of the production or film will be like, because gives very quick precise information on how the any scene of the film will be like.

It's a quick summary of the whole film in square sequences, therefore it contains every element of the film, it gives the director, his casts and his crew an idea of the overall outcome of the film or production.

ELEMENTS OF A STORYBOARD
 Every storyboard has to be detailed in order for it to effective and informative, however it has to be relatively easy for every member of the film crew and cast to understand. Apart from illustrations,images or photographs it also has to have information for it to make any type of sense. These little bits of information are known as the elements of storyboarding.
These include:
 
THE SHOT NUMBER:
The shot number is the number which is given to each square of illustration and information. This allows the viewer to be aware of the order in which that shot comes in the film or production.

DURATION:
The duration simply means how long the particular shot will last for. This is really important for the camera man as it informs them how long they should record that particular shot for.

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
This information on the storyboard shows which type of shot such as close-up, medium shot or long shot will be used for that shot. This piece of information is very important for the camera operator as they are they people shooting or recording the film.

LOCATION:
The location simply shows the setting, or area in which any given shoot will be filmed in or filmed at,
the location is usually a one word piece of information, it simply states the name of the location.

ICONOGRAPHY:
It's a list of all the key items that will be used in a shot. this can also include the props the actors will be using as part of portraying their character.

LIGHTING:
This shows the lighting that will be utilised in each shot to convey a certain mood, atmosphere or feeling in a the shot. this includes coloured lighting such as sepia. This information simply states the type of light involved in the shot.

ACTORS:
This little section of information shows the name and character name of the actors that will be in the shot.

SOUND/DIALOGUE:
This element of the storyboard states  the sound whether diegetic or non-diegetic that will be used in a certain shot to heighten or build up the atmosphere in that scene.

NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION:
It's a little, detailed, quick summary of what will occur in any given shot in the storyboard. This piece of information is straight to the point about what will happen exactly within the shot duration of any shot. This is probably one of the most important information on the storyboard as it makes everything else make sense, it brings together all the other sections of information.

WHAT MAKES A THRILLER SPECIFIC STORYBOARD?

In a thriller specific storyboard the props are much terrifying such as knives with blood, a tap with running water to represent the loss of life, and also a flickering light to represent hope of surviving of a victim being much shorter. The shot durations are also a mixture of longer ones and shorter ones. longer one's to show the antagonist approaching the victim slowly and intimidatingly. 
 
 
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT STORYBOARDING AND HOW IT HAS HELPED MY PLANNING

The post for storyboarding has helped me to understand the importance of storyboard in planning the thriller. It's made me aware of how storyboarding sums of up most of the planning of the planning for the thriller to make it easy for filming. Before we film we will make sure our storyboard we be higly detailed and informative in order to make filming easier and smoother.