SOUND DESIGN
In this section, we were required to search for multiple examples of horror movie trailers with effective sound editing. This task would allow us to search for inspirations on how we would use sound in our movie trailer. After that, we were tasked to construct sound ideas for our trailer, showing evidence of our inspiration.
Soundtrack Inspiration
I tried to focus particularly on slasher horror trailers, since this is the subgenre that our group is working on. Any other trailers, from other subgenres, that have effective sound design, I also used.
“Friday The 13th” (2009 Slasher)
What interests me about this trailer is the use of the signature weapon sounds. we are likely do use a fake knife as one of the antagonists weapons, this sound could be used for ours. I also like the heart beat sound that occurs in the middle of the trailer. The sound of a heart beating is commonly used to increase the suspense of the trailer. It is commonly used in trailers that depict one character hiding from another. This is the type of occurrence that I would expect of our trailer, as the antagonist is hunting the protagonists. |
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (2010 Slasher)
I like the sound design of this trailer as it opens with a simple clock ticking in order to set the scene, followed by silence as a character searches the area. There is a very subtle low pitch, droning sound, which usually occurs when something is about to happen. The droning sound is used to make the audience feel slightly unnerved, they usually expect something to happen, following the sound, as it is a conventional sound choice. We could include a scene like this, where one of the characters is alone, and incorporate the sound to indicate danger. |
“Evil Dead” (2013 Supernatural)
What interests me about this trailer is the use of a single sound clip every time a caption is included in the trailer. The sound rises to a high pitch frequency, this is usually used in horror movies as it indicated awareness, or in the case of a slasher film, a sharp object. As our antagonist may use sharp objects such as knives when hunting his victims, it may be an ideal choice to include this type of sound in our trailer, after every caption. |
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“Texas Chainsaw 3D” (2013 Slasher)
This trailer is really effective at creating the sense of danger and fear through its use of sound. The trailer begins with non-diegetic sound (the soundtrack), and the use of dialogue to include some of the narrative. Later there is a clear transition from calm to violent; this is when there is the use of silence, followed by the inclusion of the foley chainsaw sound. |
“You’re Next” (2011 Slasher)
This effect of this trailer is similar to the previous one (Texas Chainsaw 3D) there is the use of dialogue to convey the narrative, in combination with a non-diegetic song, in order to convey the sense of calm and peace. The song is cut to silence, and a caption is shown. A sound with an increasing pitch is used to indicate that an event is about to happen. Which it does, after the sound briefly cuts to silence. Every time the trailer cuts to silence, there is a subtle noise that demonstrates what is happening (such is creaking, or the sound of locking) the music resumes, along with the inclusion of foley and diegetic sounds |
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Soundscape Creation
Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015 & Adobe Audition CS6
Premiere Pro is software developed by Adobe; its main use is as a video editing software. It has been widely used for companies to edit feature films. Premiere Pro integrates very well with Adobe’s other software.
This was an ideal software choice as unlike Apple’s Final Cut Pro, it is not exclusive to OSX, and so I can work at home, where I use Windows.
The way that I plan to use this piece of software is to use the animatic, along with various sound clips of the horror genre, and combine them into one composition.
I also at times had to use Audition for certain tools.
This was an ideal software choice as unlike Apple’s Final Cut Pro, it is not exclusive to OSX, and so I can work at home, where I use Windows.
The way that I plan to use this piece of software is to use the animatic, along with various sound clips of the horror genre, and combine them into one composition.
I also at times had to use Audition for certain tools.
Tutorial Viewing
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In order to get used to using this software (the only software I’ve used from Adobe is Photoshop and After Effects), I had to begin by viewing multiple tutorials uploaded to YouTube. This process helped me to become familiar with functions such as cutting, fading and increasing volume. The fourth video is a bit more detailed; this one mainly focuses on the mixing of multiple audio tracks, which involves making sure that the volume and smoothness of the tracks conform with each other. This was an essential skill to learn as the audio in our scenes varies a lot in terms of volume. The video also covers how to decrease or remove external noise from an audio track, this was important as there was often situations where members in our group would instruct by speech during filming, this could not be included in the trailer. Part of this process was carried out using Adobe Audition’s noise reduction tool. I viewed a tutorial on noise reduction for Adobe Audition. Although our trailer is likely to not include any spoken dialogue between characters, I still thought that noise reduction would be a useful tool to help emphasize the sound of objects or impacts to make them sound louder. |
Choosing Sound
I formed a folder, where I would store all of my sound files. Staff provided some of these and some I had to search for on the Internet. One of the most useful sites for freely available licensed sounds was freeSFX.co.uk. The sounds that I used consisted of thuds, drones, weapon sounds and heartbeats. As well as sounds that would suit the scene that is being shot. These were all common sounds that I heard in the trailers that I looked at.
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Examples of Sound Used
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In order to combine the sound files that I had with the storyboard animatic created in the Pre-production stage. I had to have the premiere file that formed the animatic, remove the sound and add my own sound clips. I had to consider how appropriate the chosen sound clip was for the scene happening in the animatic. This was a slightly difficult task, but I had enough sounds to accomplish the task. First, I removed the sound from Tomiwa’s storyboard animatic, leaving me with his drawings and no sound, of course, since the animatic was created to match the trailer he had chosen, I was unable to fully match my found sound clips with the animatic, without it seeming a bit off. I placed the various sound clips into the animatic file. A large part of this task involved having to ensure that a sound clip started at the exact moment of the video clip. Luckily Premiere Pro did have automatic snapping, which would detail how many seconds before or after a clip started. |
Original Animatic |
Edited Animatic Clip |
Problems Encountered:
- Some of the trailers that I looked at contained a music track of some kind. All of which were very fitting of the horror genre, or conformed with the trailer itself. I was unable to find any music tracks that fit would fit our idea (the music folder didn't really have many appropriate options)
- The premiere file for the storyboard animatic was a very incomplete version. We did not have a back up for the complete version. I had to align some of the drawings with the shots they were supposed to be in, but there were quite a few missing ones.
- A large number of images were left on screen for over 8 seconds, most, if not all of the usable sound clips were only 3-4 seconds long.
- Premiere Pro always crashed if I attempted to use certain functions, such as balancing the volume of certain clips. Some parts I felt were too loud.
CONCLUSION
Despite all of the issues that I encountered while attempting to create a soundscape. From simply listening to various sound clips, and sounds used in movie trailers. I have been able to understand the importance of having a good choice of sound to include. I have become familiar with what to expect when a sound is played in a movie trailer. An example is how very subtle bass drones in the background are often used as an indication of an incoming event.
If I had had a more complete version of the storyboard animatic, I would have been able to test more effects. However, I did notice that in my opinion, the creation of the soundscape is much easier when there is a lot of action. When there is little to no action, the most appropriate choice is simply to add droning in the background.
The software choice was a crucial part of the Sound Design task, as depending on which software we used, we would have access to different tools. Although I have never used other programs such as Final Cut Pro, I believe that I should at some point test out other programs, to see which one I would be more comfortable with, when editing the sound for the actual trailer.
If I had had a more complete version of the storyboard animatic, I would have been able to test more effects. However, I did notice that in my opinion, the creation of the soundscape is much easier when there is a lot of action. When there is little to no action, the most appropriate choice is simply to add droning in the background.
The software choice was a crucial part of the Sound Design task, as depending on which software we used, we would have access to different tools. Although I have never used other programs such as Final Cut Pro, I believe that I should at some point test out other programs, to see which one I would be more comfortable with, when editing the sound for the actual trailer.