By: Javan Blake
Background music and sound plays an important role in a film trailer. Sound will make our audience jumpy and uneasy. Using various sound techniques will be able to escalate different types of atmospheres throughout our trailer. We want to be able to make you feel stressed and on edge while previewing our trailer. To do this we are going to include deep, subtle and sharp sounds.
INSPIRATIONS
THE PURGE (2013)
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FRIDAY 13TH (2009)
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sinister (2012)
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MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D (2009)
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The trailer starts off with a piano playing, no sharp sounds and nothing really that has a lot of depth to it. As the trailer progresses quarter-way, the music changes from being subtle after the film company logo. The sound enters a more dramatic mood as the story of the film is briefly explained. There are a few pauses, normally when there is iconic dialogue. When the trailer hits 3 quarters in length, we see more action scenes unfold accompanied by dramatic music (choir singing and a few stomps). You also hear the rise in volume as the trailer progresses but all of that changes when the sound is paused for the end conclusion for the trailer.
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The
trailer starts off with the film company then progresses into a range
of established shots. Sound editors used a low volume sounds which hums
while the narrator explains the topic. To introduce the cast members, a
sudden volume of sound is used from a vehicle. We then hear a lot of
dialogue accompanied by background music but both sound techniques come
to a pause in a mists of a situation. Thuds and mysterious sounds are
then used when the antagonist is reviled. The sounds in the trailer
transforms into a cloud of mysterious sounds from background music as
the story progresses. We also get a few pauses to which as loud thud and
screams follows. The volume climbs higher and higher as the trailer
near to an end with a range of sounds such as drums, screams thuds and
drones but the sounds fade down as the trailer comes to its conclusion.
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alliance's FILM TRAILER STARTS OFF WITH QUIET BACKGROUND SOUNDS WITH FOUR STROBE FLASHES AS THE STORY IS INTRODUCED. Once the screen goes black the sound cuts out. Cleverly added, this technique was used to build up suspense in the short time period. The sound restarts after the '9 months later' caption and slowly escalates as more of the story is revealed. More strobes and sudden sounds are used as the trailer progresses. psychologically, the audience becomes more uneasy as the sound climates around mid way of the trailer. Beyond half way point of the trailer the sounds become more intense and personally I gained a few goosebumps. We hear more thuds and sudden sounds as the antagonist of the trailer is revealed, meanwhile the background sound from the beginning of the trailer remains at the same level of volume. There are parts in the trailer where pauses visually and in sound are introduced. This is a common convention is horror films which makes the audience jumpy.
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My Bloody valentine's trailer starts of with dialogue accompanied by a low volume of wind. Unlike trailers such as sinister, my blood valentine gets to the use of more sounds quickly. Listening to this trailer I hear some sharp sounds which indicates the sense of something coming. up TO AROUND HALF WAY IN THE BRIEF TRAILER, WE HEAR THE VOICE OF THE NARRATOR DESCRIBING THE SCENE AND STORY OF THE TRAILER BRIEFLY. aS THE ACTION OF HORROR CLIMATES WE HEAR REPETITIVE SOUNDS BEING USED TO GIVE THE SENSE OF DANGER INCLUDING SOUNDS SUCH AS THUDS, SCREAMS, DRONES AND LOW VOLUME WIND sfx. aS THE TRAILER PROGRESSES TOWARDS THE END WE HEAR THE SOUNDS THAT WERE HIDDEN IN THE EARLY STAGES GETTING LOUDER TO SEAMLESSLY MATCH THE VISUAL. tHE BRIEF FILM ENDS WITH 'COMING SOON' ACCOMPANIED BY ONLY TWO SOUNDS USED PREVIOUSLY IN THE TRAILER.
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EXPERIMENT WITH FINAL CUT PRO
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EXPERIMENT WITH SOUNDTRACK PRO
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I had a lack of confidence when first introduced to Final Cut Pro but as I practised more things started to seem a bit more simpler and basic. We had a range of horror sounds to start with so I started to rein-act what sounds would go into a horror trailer. After this I was then introduced into adjusting the volume for each sound also learning how to fade and layering the sounds to create that typical sound convention used in horror trailers.
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Instead of just sticking with Final Cut Pro, I decided to experiment with Soundtrack Pro. After having a little play around with Soundtrack Pro, I found that using Final Cut Pro would be more appropriate to use for our horror trailer as I felt Final Cut was a bit more easier to use.
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TUTORIALS
Final Cut pro can be a complicated software to use without any basic understanding. Using this youtube tutorial to gain a basic knowledge of how to operate Final Cut. Over time i began to use the interface more confidently than i did previously.
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to create a successful film trailer i needed to explore how to edit in apples programme. After watching this brief tutorial i learnt how to break down clips in the timeline more confidently. Practicing with these tools allowed me to develop my skills further.
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Sound adds to the foundation of a trailer which often latches on the audience. Using sound is a major factor to how the audience feels throughout the trailer. After watching this tutorial i discovered how to use the tools needed for the sound in our animatic and real media text along side the upcoming trailer.
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Final Cut Pro is a programme made by Apple Inc. Thanks to apple I am able to use a programme which enables me construct a professional level trailer due to the fact that I can drag video and sound clips in. I am also provided with a timeline which lets me structure various loops and sounds also tweaking each sound for things such as volume, fade ins and outs etc. Playing around with all of these features I've managed to build up my skill with the tools Final Cut has to offer. After developing additional skills final cut pro allowed me to proceed with constructing a solid outcome with sound and video for our animatic and real media text.
This tab can be found on the top left corner in Final Cut Pro. The purpose of this tab is so that I can import MP3 sounds into my trailer. It also displays the duration of the clip. All the sounds that you would place in your project are listed here, you can just simply drag them into the timeline.
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Here are all the files that could be potentially used in our animatic, FInal trailer or Real Media Text Trailer. There are hundreds of sounds I can import in Final Cut Pro to make the perfect final cut for all three projects.
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*These are four examples of sounds used in the real media text and animatic*
ANIMATIC & REAL MEDIA TEXT IN THE WORKS
We drew up a storyboard as a representation for our Invite trailer. We imported the images into Final Cut Pro over an official trailer to guide us through the conventions of a film trailer. We implemented different effects into this animatic including fade in and out and other various transitions. For a cinematic animatic trailer, I gathered together a range of sounds that builds the conventions of a horror trailer.
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With the real media text, I imported sounds which correlates to the trailer. As well as this, I used other sounds such as thuds and background music to build up the level of sound. For make a successful project, I layered sounds on top of each other as well as removing the original sound from the trailer. Working on the real media text helped build my skill to what a horror should consist.
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ANIMATIC OUTCOME
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REAL MEDIA TEXT OUTCOME
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We gave our animatic the same timeline as the horror zombie film, dead snow. It was appropriate to do this because it allows us to see how our slasher clip idea behaves in a trailer format. removing the sound from the dead snow trailer, it allowed space for me to import a range of sounds. Working with a sophisticated software, we manage to give a drafted idea to give us a basic idea of how we would like the foundation of our trailer to look like. I mainly focused on how we would layer and compose the sound, also the timing for each scene. We succesfully achieved the core foundation for our horror trailer!
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While producing the real media text i needed to use a range of different sounds, but i also aimed to create a relationship between each sound used. One way i was successful at doing this was layering sounds on one another to give a sense of depth. I used thuds. winds, drones and more to rap around the video. i split the trailer into to sections regarding sound. Like universal studios, i changed the mood of the music once the film company was introduced. I used more sounds beyond this point to indicate the start of the story in the trailer. it was important that i used the right timing as the visual to create make the trailer more convincing. i used skills i developed from the tutorials to allow me to volume control, fade ins and outs successfully.
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I've previously worked on sound using FL studio before our project. Making musical beats on FL Studio introduced me to layering sounds which turned out to be beneficial for this project. I took what i gained and imported what i knew about sound into Final Cut pro. I wasn't completely confident using final cut pro when I was first introduced but using tutorials on youtube helped me to build my skills and knowledge. It was imperative that I went through the process of adding sound to the animatic and real media text as it will help construct a more firm sense of confidence when operating the highly recommended software. I see success in the animatic and real media text as both of the projects show a range of features which denotes correlation to the conventions in a official horror trailer.