Sound
The suspense and thrill of a film opening relies upon not only the visual aspect of the film but also the use of sound. This does not mean that sound always must be present as the absence of sound can create a tense atmosphere that the director would of been looking for.
One aspect of this is ambient sound. the background noises that create a sub-conscious emotional attachment to the viewer. this is not a strong attachmenrt but if there was no ambient sound the viewer will immediately realise and become uncomfortable and tense. This is a good technique to create suspense and is most often used in a horror film but does appear in thrillers and action movieds as well.
Soundtracks better known as music fill the spaces of the ambient sound to create emotions that potray the way the characters on screen feel. You would not expect a dance song such as a waltz in a gun fight scene. Except in certain films such that the song creates a juxtoposition of what is on the screen. If this was to happen then the other sounds would be removed and a slow motion filter would of been applied. A main character or a close attachment to one of the main characters would also be injured or killed.
Our Sound
In our opening we begin the film with only the noise of X walking. when X is in the tunnel the sound reverberates representing the idea of he is alone. The choice to not have any soundtrack coming in until X leaves the station was to create an enigma. The lack of emotion in the face of X whilst simultaneously the lack of subsequent sound (only the footsteps and resulting of X's clothes) represent the loneliness and lack of emotion within his heart/soul/life.
You will notice throughout our opening that there is no trains or noises of a train. This was deliberate as because we were shooting a lot of different shots we would not have the time to try and sync the trains and vehicles passing (More information about that on my Day of Shooting post).
The soundtrack comes into action at 14 seconds. The soundtrack consists of a selection of string instruments, brass instruments and percussion instruments. The main phrase of the Track is an ostinato (is repeated throughout) whilst increasing in volume (crescendo).
To stop any unnatural feeling of the audience the ambient sound has been put at a lvel where you can just hear it above the soundtrack. That allows the footsteps to be heard. as well as the dialogue.
Dialogue was a tricky part to get right. We need the speech to be clear and crisp but also be realistic as if it was said in an open environment. To enhance the audio we used a technique called A.D.R (additional dialogue replacement). we used a microphone to record outside very clear audio on location meaning that all the ambient sound is still there but the voices are clear and easy to hear.
The absence of sound to create suspense was used in the build up to the killing of Agent A. The build up of the soundtrack to a cut as Agent A dies then immediate cut indicates that again there is no emotional attachment to the killing of someone. The soundtrack then returns as X walks away from the scene and onto completing his mission.
How Did We Improve?
We improved through the use of audio editing software specifically Logic. Using the cameras microphone which is high quality we set up the camera on set to record all dialogue. This ADR technique then allowed us to take the audio and load it into Logic Pro. I then set about adjusting the Equalisation of the sound so that it sounded natural as if the person was speaking to the audience directly. Its this level of detail we improved upon which allowed a more fitting piece of work to be produced.
You will notice throughout our opening that there is no trains or noises of a train. This was deliberate as because we were shooting a lot of different shots we would not have the time to try and sync the trains and vehicles passing (More information about that on my Day of Shooting post).
The soundtrack comes into action at 14 seconds. The soundtrack consists of a selection of string instruments, brass instruments and percussion instruments. The main phrase of the Track is an ostinato (is repeated throughout) whilst increasing in volume (crescendo).
To stop any unnatural feeling of the audience the ambient sound has been put at a lvel where you can just hear it above the soundtrack. That allows the footsteps to be heard. as well as the dialogue.
Dialogue was a tricky part to get right. We need the speech to be clear and crisp but also be realistic as if it was said in an open environment. To enhance the audio we used a technique called A.D.R (additional dialogue replacement). we used a microphone to record outside very clear audio on location meaning that all the ambient sound is still there but the voices are clear and easy to hear.
The absence of sound to create suspense was used in the build up to the killing of Agent A. The build up of the soundtrack to a cut as Agent A dies then immediate cut indicates that again there is no emotional attachment to the killing of someone. The soundtrack then returns as X walks away from the scene and onto completing his mission.
How Did We Improve?
We improved through the use of audio editing software specifically Logic. Using the cameras microphone which is high quality we set up the camera on set to record all dialogue. This ADR technique then allowed us to take the audio and load it into Logic Pro. I then set about adjusting the Equalisation of the sound so that it sounded natural as if the person was speaking to the audience directly. Its this level of detail we improved upon which allowed a more fitting piece of work to be produced.
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