Soundtrack Research

I knew that the soundtrack used in thrillers is one of the most important aspects of the film. So to begin my research I decided to refer back to the Internet movies database (imdb) in order to retrieve a list of the top 10 rated thriller movies. Which were as follows:

1. The Godfather
2. The Godfather: Part II
3. Pulp Fiction
4. Avatar
5. The Dark Knight
6. Rear Window
7. Fight Club
8. Psycho
9. The Usual Suspects
10. The Silence Of The Lambs

From there I began to look up on Youtube the soundtracks to each of the films, I decided to only embed the theme tunes that stuck in my head that I recognized and remember, despite whether I had seen the film or not. I decided to do this because I think that one thing that makes a good soundtrack is something that builds up the right atmosphere and also something memorable. After watching the soundtracks from the top ten I remembered three of them in particular, the first being from Pulp Fiction.

• Pulp Fiction– Miserlou by Dick Dale and the del-tones.

This soundtrack is very upbeat and repetitive and it has no lyrics in it. When I first listened to this soundtrack, the first thing I recognized was that it has recently being used in the popular ‘Black Eyed Peas’ Song, Pump It. After listening to it, I imagine the film to be very intense and packed full of action and I think that the soundtrack was almost relied on more to build up excitement than the actual images on screen.

• Fight Club– Where is my mind by Pixies.

This soundtrack starts with a voice and then the music gradually builds up as the song proceeds. I thought that it sounded like the person is telling the story of one of the characters and what the character is feeling. There is a constant drum and guitar beat that is kept constant nearly all of the way through which I think is very effective. The mood portrayed I think sounds like the person is slowly giving up and is confused about what they should do.

There are fewer lyrics then I expected but it made realize that they were in fact being sung very slowly which I think is one of the thing’s that makes this soundtrack so successful in my opinion. Below are the lyrics:

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground

Try this trick and spin it, yeah

Your head will collapse

But there’s nothing in it

And you’ll ask yourself

Where is my mind [3x]

Way out in the water

See it swimmin’

I was swimmin’ in the Carribean

Animals were hiding behind the rocks

Except the little fish

But they told me, he swears

Tryin’ to talk to me to me to me

Where is my mind [3x]

Way out in the water

See it swimmin’ ?

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground

Try this trick and spin it, yeah

Your head will collapse

If there’s nothing in it

And you’ll ask yourself

Where is my mind [3x]

Ooooh

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground

Ooooh

Try this trick and spin it, yeah

Ooooh,Ooooh

• Psycho

This iconic sound track was by far the most memorable out of the three, and one of my personal favorites as it builds up tension and creates an era of excitement in my opinion. There are no lyrics to it and it almost all made out of the sound of violins. You can tell that as it gets more serious, the pitch increases getting higher and higher. This is a great effect in my opinion as it gets your heart racing as you try and work out what is going to happen next.

After looking at the most popular theme tunes, we then started to research the soundtracks of the films that we have based some parts of our thriller to. These include:

• Final Destination
• Witchboard
• Saw

Final Destination

The final destination soundtrack is a song by a group called ‘The Vogues’ and the song is called ‘turn around look at me’ the song is used at various points in the film. It is used throughout the film as diegetic music and it is shown as been played over the radio or by someone else singing it, in the film you soon learn that when this song is played, that some form of disaster is going to occur. The song has a very slow tempo and it my opinion it has an eerie feel. Not only is it the musical accompliment, the lyrics also add a lot of meaning to the piece. After researching the lyrics:

There is someone walking behind you,

turn around, look at me.

There is someone watching your footsteps,

turn around, look at me

There is someone who really needs you,

here’s my heart in my hand.

Turn around, (turn around,) look at me,

(look at me,) understand,understand,

That there’s someone who’ll stand beside you.

Turn around, look at me.

And there’s someone who’ll love and guide you.

Turn around, look at me.

I’ve waited, but I’ll wait forever for you to come to me.

Look at someone (look at someone) who really loves you,

yeah, really loves you. Turn around, look at me.

I found that the lyrics are very repetitive which I know is used in advertising to try and ensure that the viewer remembers what is on screen. I certainly found I remember getting the song in my head from the moment I heard it, and every time that I did hear it, it made me feel slightly uneasy, making me feel as if something was behind me, this effect draws the viewer into the film. We looked at this particular song as in our thriller; the antagonist is not human, which mirrors the ideas in Final Destination in which ‘Death’ is the antagonist. Personally I thought that the best aspect of this music is the slow tempo as it is a complete opposite to the upbeat happenings on screen.

Witchboard

After listening to the soundtrack I, personally did not feel that it was a good match to this film, I think this was mainly because it did not build up any tension. Also the lyrics were not very clear as the background music was louder, and I think that the lyrics carry a lot of the meaning. Unfortunately I could not find any of the lyrics for this version of the song on the Internet, but I think that if there was more emphasis based on the words ‘bump in the night’ then it would have being more effective and would have mirrored the happenings on screen in a better way.

Saw

I think that the saw soundtrack is excellent as it contains a variation of effects, and although there are no lyrics, it still creates an atmosphere that works well with the film. There seems to be a base track that is very constant and repetitive, but then is overlapped with intermittent bursts of more jumpy music. When I listened to the music I thought in parts it sounded like metal banging together which could symbolize the idea that in Saw it is a man-made evil that the protagonists are fighting against. There is also a variation in both tempo and volume, which makes the listener feel very jumpy.

After looking at these various different soundtracks I thought that the Final Destination soundtrack was most effective as not only does the film mirror our target audience and our protagonist, but the soundtrack is very memorable and although it is the opposite tempo to the images it is superimposed with, they still seem to partner perfectly. For our thriller project we think that we are going to start with quiet an upbeat music which starts off very loud, which gradually fades out as the danger of there actions increase. We think that starting with loud music also appeals to our target audience, which is youth’s around a similar age to us. We would then use a very slow music towards the end as it is meant to make the viewer feel very eerie and on edge and also shows how in such a short space of time, the mood has changed considerably and a lot has happened to change the atmosphere.

Researching Titles

After having created and edited our own video using the Scarface theme tune, it was evident that an area of weakness was the making of the opening titles. In class we decided to look at various different opening credits to thriller movies such as ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Watchman’ and ‘Se7en’. We were concentrating on various different aspects of the titles and thinking not only about the effects used, but various different aspects that you need to be aware of and think about before you start to make them. The key things we came up with that we needed to consider were:

• Colours
• Genre of the film
• The music (both diegetic and non-diegetic)
• The background
• Font style
• Layout/discourse structure
• How the text moves or doesn’t move

‘Blade Runners’ credits are quite plain in the sense that they are simply stationary, capitalized text on a black background. However this is very effective as it means that the viewer truly concentrates on the text and what is written. The font is easy to read and is all capitalised making it seem more bold and permanent. The size of the text varies depends on whether it is a name or a seemingly insignificant word such as ‘and’ or ‘present’, the colour also varies. The majority of the text is in white, but key words such as the title (‘Blade Runner’) and ‘Replicant’ are in red, not only does this highlight them but the colour red has negative connotations and is commonly associated with blood, which could be considered as a forewarning that the film contains violence. I think the reason that the start of the opening titles is simply a black background is so the viewer is not distracted by any images and it portrays a certain significance, the colour black also contrasts greatly with red and white, ergo making the text stand out even more. The credits also include a blurb, giving you some background knowledge on the film, allowing you to understand what is going on, and if their had being anything other than black in the background then it would have being likely that peoples attention would have being drawn away from the text. There are also a few variations in the blurb as the text has being varied, not only having certain words in red, but also some are capitalized and some are not and also some are in italics, which also draws people’s attention to them. Additionally the text is all placed in the centre of the screen, so you do not have to move your eyes around the scene, which could cause you to either lose interest or just miss a certain detail accidently. The music played in the background is slow and sinister and it fades in and out, in conjunction with the words on screen adjusting the volume slightly to add effect and build up the tension. The music in my opinion almost sounds like two tracks that have being overlapped, one being a very deep and dark track and one being quite a highly pitched track (like violins), both of which that have come together and harmonised to create this eerie, futuristic sound, which mirrors the period in which the film was set.

Although still a thriller movie, the opening titles to watchman are completely different to those of ‘Blade Runner.’ The first major difference is the fact that the background is not blank, but instead is a series of slow motion clips from the film, most of which look like pictures, but on closer inspection you can see movement. The scenes that are shown are like a real life version of a comic, which is related to the fact that ‘Watchman’ was originally a comic. There is no particular storyline shown via this array of scenes at the start as they are all very diverse and without knowing the storyline, they would be almost impossible to relate back to each other. However each scene has something significant happening, a lot of which revolving around various crimes, e.g. robbery or murder, and a lot of which are ended by the flash of a camera, then finally ending in an explosion followed by the same shot of a smiley face which is also the first shot of the credits. All of these scenes are faded into one another, mostly through black. Towards the end the scenes seem to speed up almost back to their original speed, which signifies that it is building up to the start of the movie, building up the pace and the atmosphere and preparing the viewer. The music is quite repetitious and is neither up beat nor slow, and unlike the previous video the music is a full song, which could also mean the lyrics of the song have a certain meaning, the song then ends in an explosion signifying the end of the credits and the beginning of the movie. The text used is in a cartoon like font, mirroring the fact that the story was actually a cartoon; the text is also a yellow, which is quite bright and has positive connotations. There is no pattern to layout and the words are not always in the same place meaning the viewer has to concentrate to follow the credits. It also creates variation so that the viewer does not get bored of a repetitive motion. However like in ‘Blade Runner’ once the text appears it does not move at all, and also it fades in and out. The size of the font also mirrors ‘Blade Runner’ with less significant words such as ‘presents’ being in a smaller font than the name.

In the opening credits to Se7en, the opening titles are accompanied by very jumpy music, this music is non-diegetic and it has a single beat of some form of percussion instrument, accompanied with other sounds. The tempo of the music picks up towards to the end, ending with the lyrics ‘you got me closer to God’ followed by a deep banging sound, signifying the end of the titles. This builds up the pace of the film, which is also mirrored in the movement of the credits. The font used is quite small in comparison to screen, meaning that you concentrate more on the images behind than the actual text. The font is like messy, compressed handwriting, and is a white colour, which contrasts with the background in order to make it stand out. At first the text fades in and then flashes once of twice and then disappears, however has the credits go on, then no longer fade in, they just appear and flash once or twice then disappear again, the speed of which it happens is also very fast which I also think illustrates the idea that the images in the background are considered to be more important than the actual text. Like ‘Watchman’ the text does not appear in the same place every time. The video in the background is very dark and sinister with a lot of sepia tones with barely any colour. The different clips are very jumpy (just as the text is) and they do not really make sense. The content of the clips often include objects such as scissors or blades, which are weapons, it also includes images of hands writing or crossing out names. Additionally, all of the shots are extreme close ups, meaning that there are many enigmas created, such as:

• Whose hands are they?
• What are they doing?
• Why are they doing it?
• What are they planning

Our Idea

We were then put into pairs and were given the task of coming up with ideas to develop our own credits to the movie ‘Silence Of The Lambs’. As none of us had seen the movie before we were given the synopsis of the thriller:

‘Clarice Starling, a young intelligent FBI trainee, has been sent to the Batlimore state hospital for the Criminally insane to interview an inmate Dr. Hannibal-the cannibal- Lecter. A Brilliant renowned psychiatrist turned infamous Psychopathic Serial killer. She must match wits with Lecter -who has the darkest of all minds- and trust him to give her clues in the search for “Buffalo Bill”, a nick name for a loose, unknown, unstoppable Pyschopathic Serial killer… Written by Sam Krainak ‘

I was partnered with George, and together we came up with an idea for the credits. We decided that the font would have a worn away looking affect and it would fade in and then it would flash around the sides of the screen, so not to detract from the action on screen. Like Se7en, we thought that the music needed to be jumpy, yet still sinister, as this movie obviously is very intense. We thought that we should concentrate more on the background to create effect so we came up with the idea of showing snap shots of each of Hannibal Lecter’s murders, but they would flash up quickly and they would be cut so that they the viewer would not be able to see him until the very end with his face just appears and the music cuts. We wanted to created the idea of mystery and confusion, creating the same enigmas of those created in Se7en.

Analysis Of Beautiful People Clip

The clip that I am analysing is from BBC2’s hit comedy drama, Beautiful People. This clip centres around two areas of representation, the first being disability. This is seen at the beginning of the clip when the aunt, who is blind, is finding out whether she is in fact pregnant. The first scene that we are introduced to her as a character, she is sitting in bed with a doll, this is quite an unusual scene that you would not expect one to encounter in everyday life, therefore giving in my opinion the sense that just because she is blind, she is not normal. However, the image created in the second scene almost rectifies the first scene as she is presented explaining how her life revolves around apologising, this creates more of a sense of realism and you come to see that just because you are blind, it doesn’t mean that you are any different to everyone else. The dialogue is also explaining a relationship that she has recently had which has presumably come to and end, and how she felt about the man; this yet again brings a sense of realism to character, and additionally in this scene, if you were not previously aware that she was blind, you would be none the wiser after seeing her.

The second and more prominent area of representation in this clip is regarding stereotyping of sexuality. Stereotypically, one would believe that, Simon, who is openly gay, would have no interest or talent in sports, especially ones that are considered as ‘men’s’ sports such as football. However as seen in this clip, Simon defies the stereotype proving that he is in fact better than most of the other boys at the school. Despite defying the stereotype, the actions of Simon are justified by him relating football to choreography and his love of football to David Beckham, which reinforces the old stereotype. Kyle, or Kylie as he prefers to be known, also reinforces the stereotype of gay men being more feminine, as shown by the phrase ‘go girlfriend’. The way that Simon was treated changes throughout this clip. Initially, the school bully was taunting him, which then leads to the football being thrown at him, provoking the discovery of his skill for football. At this point, suddenly everyone’s attitudes seem to change towards him, with the rest of the boys treating him as an equal and even the school bully admitting defeat, giving him not only the cup at the end of the match but also a spice girls doll, at this point it seems as if everyone has come to terms with Simon, but then at the end of the clip the bully then punches him, exclaiming that it is ‘force of habit’. This gives out the idea the homosexuality is wrong, even if the person is seemingly normal, this could also reflect the period in which it was set (the 1990’s).

The first scene in this clip is made up of two camera shots, one being a mid-shot of the woman looking at the doll, this shot enables us, as the audience, to see both the reaction on her face and also the doll which she is holding. The next shot is a long shot with the camera tilting down on her; you are presented with a fairly messy and shabby looking bedroom, suggesting that the woman was not very rich and not from a high class. The way the camera tilts down makes her seem inferior to the viewer, which could be because of her disability. The transition between the shots was the images sliding across accompanied by a ‘swoosh’ noise that illustrates to the audience that this scene is a while after the previous scene but still in relation to it. During this scene, there are many mid-shots and reaction shots, first capturing the person speaking and then the other person’s reaction to them. All the shots are two shots, which allows you to still be able to see both characters at all times, even if one is not fully visible. The camera also zooms in slightly during the blind woman’s speech, gradually cutting out the other woman, building up tension, and allowing us to have sympathy for her. However, the blond woman is only cut out of frame for a second before the camera reverts back onto her. During the school scene, it starts with a wide shot, which not only introduces us to the two main characters in the sequence, Simon and Kyle, but also to background. As the boys walks around the camera, the camera pans across following them until it cuts to the three bullies, who are presented in a long shot, revealing their whole body, especially concentrating on their stance, and how they portray dominance via their stance. The shots then rapidly change from long shot to mid shot, and also a cut shot close up of Simon’s feet, giving the viewer a clear idea of how good at football he actually is. There is also a cut shot of Kyle saying ‘go girlfriend’, which supports the gay stereotype. There is also a mid shot of the reactions of the bullies, which centres on the idea of portraying the surprise and shock. It then cuts to the mother and the aunt screaming and cheering for him at a football match, and also in between the match play, mid-shots of Kyle, dancing on the sideline. The majority of the football match is made up of long shots and close up cut shots, capturing only the moments when Simon is in possession of the ball, yet again promoting his football skills. Then after a harsh tackle, the whole speed of the game, which has been mirrored in the speed of the shot and transitions, suddenly slows down, allowing us to concentrate on the intensity of the situation, then after scoring it reverts back to the previous pace. The final scene also includes many mid shots, showing both the difference in posture between Simon and Jason and also each other’s reactions. There was also a close up of the Spice Girl doll, showing that the doll is very significant and important, this is then reinforced with the reaction shot of Simon, looking shocked but happy. At the moment where Simon is punched the shots revert between two shots (mid shot) and mid shots concentrating solely on the bully. The clip then ends with a close up the Spice Girl’s doll, which has being placed on what appears to be an old television, also presenting the importance of the doll.

In regards to sound, it is mostly diegetic sound at the beginning, such as the general dialogue and the noise of the covers rustling. There is however some non-diegetic sound which accompanies the first transition between scenes, this sound creates the effect that although the conversation is linked, it is happening quite a while later. At around twenty seconds into the clip, non-diegetic sound is introduced (the winner takes it all), it is brought in just as it gets to crucial part of the scene, creating more tension, putting the viewer on edge. The music is very slow and quiet, alluding to sadness, and suggesting that the character is in a very fragile state. The next scene has both diegetic and non-diegetic sound; firstly we have the narration by Simon (reflecting back on his younger years), also the music carried on from the previous scene, and finally the diegetic sound of children, as of course it is set in a school. This pattern continues throughout the football scenes, with the pace of the action mirrored by the tempo of the music (non diegetic). The voice over is not continuous throughout the actual match, but it does come back in during the penalty, explaining the characters emotions. The non-diegetic music gradually fades out as Jason and Simon talk at the end, but then as he hand over the doll it is reintroduced, at the point in which the words ‘the winner takes it all’ is repeated, signifying that this was quite an achievement for Simon, but then proceeds to cut sharply at the moment when Jason punches Simon, therefore taking away the sense of victory.

The mise-en-scene of this clip depicts that this is in fact a period drama set in the nineties. This is shown by the way in which the characters wear their costumes, for example, in the school the pupils are, in general, dressed smartly. Which is a trait that seems to have faded away recently. The hairstyle of the characters also mirrors the fashion at the time, as illustrated by the fact that most of the boys in the clip had a middle parting in their hair. There were no modern props involved, e.g. mobile phones, which are now a common appearance in schools, but were at the time a lot larger and a lot less common. The Spice Girls doll also mirrored the nineties, as that was when the Spice Girls were at their most popular and merchandise such as dolls were being sold. Finally at the end, the television that the doll was placed on was evidently quite old, judging by its size and model which backs up the idea that this wasn’t a modern-day drama. The setting portrays, in my opinion, a rather middle/lower class way of living. Firstly in the house, it is quite poorly decorated and seems to be quite cramped, then also the school was shown to be in an inner city area, overshadowed by a gas cylinder frame and surrounded by rows of houses, and in addition, even during the football match you could see glimpses of peoples houses in the back ground, showing that although there is some greenery, it is mostly over shadowed buildings and is a very cramped style of living.

In conclusion this clip has a strong representation of disability, sexuality and stereotyping in a way in which can be, in my opinion, construed as both positive and negative.

Below is the clip that I analysed:

Sound Project Reflection

We were given the task of, as a group, creating a short clip incorporating ‘Tony’s Theme’ from the movie ‘Scarface’. We had three rules that we had to follow which were:

1. Must use ‘theme’

2. Convey atmosphere through editing and use of ‘theme’.

3. Must have area with no sound for effect.

Firstly we discussed as a class, the emotions and the atmosphere that the theme tune created in the original film, and also the places in which the music is placed. We then went into our groups and discussed in more detail, what we associated the song with, and how we could realistically include our ideas in our own version. We then drew up a rough storyline and storyboarded it so we had a hard copy of our ideas.

On the whole I think that our group worked very well together, ensuring that everyone got their own say, and I believe that our final piece reflects aspects from every bodies ideas and suggestions. Everyone in our group has their own different talents that they could bring to the table to help create the final product.

However, there are naturally many things that we need to do to enhance the quality of our final piece of coursework. Firstly I think that we need to plan our time and tasks more accurately so overall we have more time in which to edit our footage. Also, as we learnt from this task, it is vital that to ensure that we do not lose any footage we should double check before recording that we are not going to tape over anything, also that when we have finished filming we should immediately upload the file onto a computer and then ideally onto a memory stick in order to ensure that we do not loose any of the footage (well hopefully not anyway!).

To prepare for success, we are striving to improve our technical skills, regarding both camera work and editing. Having used a variety of programmes to create this clip, we have a good basic knowledge of the programmes (Final Cut, iMovie and Serif), but obviously there are always new things and new effects that we do not know about that we could incorporate, especially when it comes to the making of both the opening and closing credits. Another vital thing that we found while editing this clip was the necessity for a tri-pod, as a lot of our shots came out as slightly shaky and uneven, and apart from the pond scene, that was not what we had intended to happen. Also I think that when it comes to the coursework we need to create a more detailed storyboard in order to have a more organized structure while filming, and also set out a filming schedule so we know where and when we are filming, instead of wasting time debating it. Obviously everything else is far from perfect, but I believe that those aspects are the main things that need improving in the near distant future in order to succeed in our coursework.

Below is the video of our group delivering our presentation regarding the pre/post production of the video:

Scarface Powerpoint and Final Video

Our finished video

How the primary research will impact my Thriller coursework

After analysing the results produced from our primary research we were able to narrow down our ideas and concentrate on a much smaller area in preparation for our secondary research.

I thought that it would be best to concentrate on an audience from around 18 upwards. The main reason for this being that I already have a fair idea of what people our age look for in a movie, and also there are more people who are easily accessible for me to base my secondary research on. I also found out during our primary research that people aged eighteen and over prefer it when the actors/actresses are at a similar age to them, because they find them easier to relate to.

In regards to the sub-genre of thriller movie I combined the results of all the surveys and also what sixteen to twenty year olds want and came to the conclusion that crime is the main genre to concentrate on (although as a crime at the centre of the narrative is one thriller conventions I looked at some of the other top rated sub-genres to include). I looked at the idea of action and spy thrillers, but unfortunately I do not have the budget, facilities or equipment to create believable action sequences with millions of incorporated special effects. However, also highly rated was a psychological thriller, which I will definitely be looking into, as it also came up in peoples reasoning behind liking certain films, because of the psychological aspects included. I have also learnt from our primary research that I should steer well clear from including either ecological or legal aspects into the film, as they were the least popular sub-genres.

One of my main aims that I am setting out to achieve is making the film original, not following the usual pattern of a thriller movie. For example, a typical setting seems to be in the woods. Taking ideas from the primary research I am going to concentrate our secondary research on ideas such as leaving the clip on a cliffhanger and also creating a lot of enigmas. I have also learnt that the characters and the actors play a large role in whether people like the movie or not and after taking this into consideration I will strive to create both realistic and likeable protagonists that you can sympathize with, and of course an antagonist.

After taking these points into consideration I can now do further, more detailed research on various aspects needed to create the thriller.

Thriller Primary Research Powerpoint

It is vital in any form of media to carry out both secondary and primary research in the fields surrounding your topic, in order for you to get the best results possible. As a group we were given the task of completing both some primary and secondary research regarding the opening sequence to a thriller that we will be completing. To summarise our methods we created a powerpoint explaining our different methods of primary research in preparation to present it to the class.