In terms of a trailer for any film, but in particular horror films, the sound used within it is extremely important. It can be regarded as the most important part of a horror trailer and film because this is what makes the scenes scary and tense. Without any sound in it, the trailer wouldn’t seem that scary as there are no loud, jumpy noises. Also, the sound is what builds the suspense up in a horror trailer, and it starts at a normal pace and gradually gets faster, until it suddenly stops, after which there is usually a jump scare. Without any sound, this would not be scary because it would just appear normal to the audience.
INSPIRATIONS
CARRIE (1976)
This trailer starts off with diegetic background music, where many people are dancing to the music. There is then a voice over for the trailer. When we as the audience are introduced to Carrie, there is a high tempo and pitch sound to go with it, therefore associating that noise with the character, Carrie. There is dialogue within the trailer at various points, such as those bullying Carrie as a girl. We hear the same sound when Carrie makes something move or when she makes someone fall over as we hear when we are introduced to her. This further makes us associate that particular sound with Carrie. There is the sound of a screaming girl when Carrie is being roughly handled by her mother. Also, when a mirror smashes in this trailer, the same sound is played, showing that it smashed because of Carrie.
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THE EXORCIST (1973)
This trailer starts off with non-diegetic background music, which is slow, quiet and creepy. We then hear the voice over. There is an overemphasis on the sound of the flame that the first character we see is holding. This is also used to make that character jump, which also makes the audience do the same. We hear the sound of bed legs smashing against the floor. There is also a girl screaming in the trailer. The same slow, quiet, creepy, non-diegetic background music is played throughout the whole trailer. However, it gets louder at certain parts, such as when there is no dialogue getting spoken, and it gets quieter at other points, such as when there is dialogue getting spoken, which needs to be heard by the audience.
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I downloaded the sounds that I was going to use for my soundtrack from the website soundbible.com. I searched for the horror tag, and found multiple sounds which I downloaded as mp3 files. I then put them onto the program, Final Cut Pro X.
Final Cut Pro X is a professional non-linear video editing application published by Apple Inc. as part of their Pro Apps family of software programs. It was released on June 21, 2011 for sale in the Mac App Store and is the successor to Final Cut Pro. It is a video editing software, meaning it is mainly used to edit videos, but it is also used to edit sounds together to create a new soundtrack.
Once I had gathered all of the different sounds to use, I put them in to Final Cut Pro X and arranged them in order. Some sounds are directly after one another, whereas others are played at the same time, making layers of sounds. Once I had my sounds in place on this software, I recorded the audio and uploaded that to SoundCloud. I then added the storyboard to it, in order to create an animatic video, consisting of both the storyboard video and the soundtrack.
This is how I made the animatics video. This shows the video of the storyboard, with each shot in, and the soundtrack that goes with it.
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This is the video from YouTube that I used to get the 'boom' sounds that I have used in the animatics video every time a title comes on the screen. I converted it into an mp3 file so that I was able to use the sound in my soundtrack. I used it to make the very quick jump cuts sound more effective and to make it fit better with the storyboard, as well as using it for when a title comes on to the screen to make it jump out at the audience more.
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SoundCloud is a global online audio distribution platform based in Berlin, Germany, that enables its users to upload, record, promote, and share their originally-created sounds. According to the company’s data, in December 2014, the service attracts more than 175 million unique monthly listeners, while content creators upload approximately twelve hours worth of audio every minute.
I recorded the audio that I made using Final Cut Pro X on the program, QuickTime Player. I then uploaded this to SoundCloud.
horror_soundtrack.m4a | |
File Size: | 1401 kb |
File Type: | m4a |
I used these different sounds to create mystery and build suspense. The soundtrack starts off with a mysterious sound, then a repetitive spooky noise whilst water drops are played in the background. Then there is a sound which builds suspense, and footsteps. A door squeaks near the end of the footsteps, and we hear a scream, whilst the rest of the squeaking door sound is played. The background noise also continues for a few seconds afterwards.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it is very important for the sound to flow during the trailer as it can control the mood of it and the atmosphere within it. Also, the sound that is played over a horror trailer is a crucial part of it as that is what gives it the atmosphere and feeling, and without any sound, the scenes shown in the trailer would not be scary. This is because the sounds are what makes the audience jump and get scared because of how loud or sudden they are. Loud, sudden noises are typically played when a character jumps out on another or when an antagonist gets spotted by a protagonist, and they are in danger.
The program that was used to create the soundtrack, Final Cut Pro X, is a great program because it allowed me to edit lots of different sounds together to make a new one, which can then be used as part of our trailer. The trailers that I looked at and took inspiration from, which were Carrie and The Exorcist, played a valuable part as I was able to listen to the sounds that are used in these and see how they were constructed. I could get motivation from these trailers for my own soundtrack. Also, I compared my soundtrack to those used in these two trailers, to see if the tone of my own suited a horror trailer.
The program that was used to create the soundtrack, Final Cut Pro X, is a great program because it allowed me to edit lots of different sounds together to make a new one, which can then be used as part of our trailer. The trailers that I looked at and took inspiration from, which were Carrie and The Exorcist, played a valuable part as I was able to listen to the sounds that are used in these and see how they were constructed. I could get motivation from these trailers for my own soundtrack. Also, I compared my soundtrack to those used in these two trailers, to see if the tone of my own suited a horror trailer.