Task A1 - Sound techniques

Sound techniques

At the beginning of the trailer for 'Taken 3', a calming soundtrack is used to set the scene and make the audience feel as if the film is going to be tranquil and happy. Therefore giving the film a relaxing ambience. This makes the characters seem like a normal American family living their normal lives. It makes the audience feel happy for the family because in the other two films, they have had a rough life trying to keep their family together. However, during the film there’s a dramatic change in the soundtrack which changes the sound to being very dark and scary. The ambience changes from being tranquil to being very energetic and dangerous. The audience may feel as if no matter where Liam Neeson and his family go there will always be drama no matter what. It is as if drama follows them which is shown throughout the trailer, the soundtrack also doesn’t drift into another calming soundtrack at the end which portrays that the drama may not be finished and will just follow his family for the rest of his life.










https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPJVJBm9TPA When analysing the movie as a whole, the thriller/ action movie uses score in the film. This is original music created specifically for the film, in 'Taken 3' score was used a lot and an example of this is when Bryan was saving Kim. The score used was very deep and harmonic which represents his passion to make sure he doesn't lose his daughter, like he lost his ex wife who he cared about him a lot. This makes the audience understand the story more, because the music will help to tell the story behind it. Moreover, in the fantasy/science fiction 'Black Panther' the score used Ludwig Goransson ft Baaba Maal - Wakanda was very cultural through the use of the drums. This was to perhaps represent the strength and power of the black panther. 

'Taken 3' also uses a lot of sound effects in their fighting scenes. Sound effects are artificial sound made for a movie, play etc. The effect the sound effects have on this scene is that they place the audience in the scene as there's more emotions created by the director making the movie feel much more realistic. The sound effect also creates a tense atmosphere due to the intense drama in the scene. In the liquor store scene, each movement was emphasised by sound. When the killer heard something suspicious in the store, the audience emphasised sound of him cocking his gun back to prepare himself. This makes the audience feel the intense atmosphere because it represents that something crazy is going to happen soon. In addition, in the movie 'Deadpool' there's a lot of sound as Deadpool wants to hunt down the man who tortured him and caused him take to look abnormal. Therefore, the sound effects helps to emphasise his anger towards Ajax.

Moreover, in the drama/crime movie 'Kidulthood' the mode of address (dialogue) used is strong slang. Dialogue is the overall tone, pitch and volume of what is said by a character. In 'Kidulthood' the mode of address is very strong and the effect is that it explains the plot a lot, and develops the characters. It also allows the audience to form a bond with the characters as they are able to understand the characters better. Using slang perhaps helps to represent the characters socio-economic as the lower class. Another movie that uses slang as their mode of address is the fantasy/science fiction 'Attack The Block'. The use of slang represents the South London dialect through the characters. This makes the audience get a good representation of the lower class in South London which isn't presented a lot in society.

Directors also choose to use the sound technique voice overs. This is when someone (a narrator) speaks over shots, instead of using music or dialogue. In the movie ' Flight Club' this technique was used to give the illusion to the audience that they're the narrator themselves. It makes the audience feel as if the narrator is talking to the audience personally which helps to keep the audience intrigued. In the 'Fight Club', the voice overs was very informal and helped to give the audience a bit of a back story of the character. Moreover, in the the drama/crime movie 'Adaptation', voice overs are used to help the audience understand the protagonist Donald's emotions at that moment in the film. It helps the audience to get an understanding of the character from a much deeper perspective.

In the trailer for the movie ‘Matilda’, the director uses foley sound when Agatha (Pam Ferris) stamps her feet on the floor which makes the movie come to life. The audience knows that her feet are not that loud, so it could emphasising how superior she is compared to the children. The use of this sound effects creates some realism to the movie because if there was no sound, the movie would feel empty and hollow. Therefore, it creates a much more realistic ambience which makes the audience feel like they have been placed in the scene. This makes Agatha Trunchball (Pam Ferris) seem very dominant and superior. It emphasises her power, this makes the audience dislike Agatha because she is acting in a disgusting behaviour towards children. ‘I’m big and you’re small’ encapsulates that Agatha is proud that she has more power than the children. The fact that the director choose to use foley sound makes the movie seem very amatur, however some people may feel as if because it is a movie more for children sounds like those should be emphasised to help them whilst they are growing. In the film, dialogue is also used but if you compare how Agatha and Miss Honey, Agatha sounds angry whenever she speaks. Then Miss Honey sounds nice and sweet, especially when she is talking to the children. It is as if the characters personalities are represented through their tone of voice.