To go with our movie, the right soundtrack needed to be picked. The music within our thriller, has to go perfectly with the movement and acting otherwise it could give the effect of being tacky and unprofessional Because of this, we created a list of criteria that the different sounds needed to meet, this consisted of: Heartbeat, ambient, metal across the floor, tension building and constant beat sounds. The idea for the music was to overlap the constant heartbeat sound to music that would in the end create an ambient mood for the entire thriller. The music is one of the essential parts of the thriller, and one of the first things we are introduced to as we had planned.
In the storyboard we had decided to overlap the music with the opening titles so that we get the sound of cars passing by with the title of the thriller. This was to set the mood for the thriller, and to open up the scene before we actually see the actors so that the background noise could give us some background knowledge of the surroundings the actors are in.
The websites I used to find the different sounds were:
www.freesound.org
www.youtube.com
From these, I have split the sounds into different groups and collaborated them together to create a comparison to choose which would be the most suitable for our thriller, and whether the original sounds that we were hoping to use fit the concept of our movie at all.
Heartbeat sounds
The heartbeat sound will be used in context for Edwards heart. Through this sound it will help to represent the rise in tension within the actions that are taking place and also to act as a warning that something bad is going to happen. With a increasing heart rate it gives the whole setting and scene more drama and thrill to it. It could also be used for the character of Steve. For we could show the change in the calm beat that he has in seeing Edward, to the sudden increase he gets as a thrill goes through his body and he wants to get him and teach him a lesson.
This first sound that we have is a typical heartbeat sound. Not the first one that I came across, but quite effective. What I like about this sound is that it's quite a subtle heartbeat, its very quiet and therefore within our thriller would be easy to overlap with music but still be heard. It's a constant beat, however this sort of heartbeat may be too quiet for music to overlap and therefore may fade out without our original intention. Not only this but the heartbeat sounds too real, and we want maybe a more fake sounding heartbeat which sounds more like a beat so we get a metaphorical idea that Edward is anxious.
This is another classic heartbeat sound. A little faster than the one before and at a more constant speed than the other too. This could be a strength in accordance to the music we may overlap the heartbeat as we could have a speedier song to help the flow of the thriller. However, this beat could be a little too quick and with a constant flow throughout it doesn't portray the heart as well as we had hoped for as the heart isn't always constant, sometimes it is irregular and not perfect all the time. Taking the effect of the raising heart rate out of the character Edward.
This piece of music sort of combines music with the heart beat sound. This is the sound that overall we want to be heading for, if not a bit different. The beat is good, as it is constant, however only slightly varies which portrays a heart beat very well and could be used in context with Edward and even Steve as well as his heart would also be racing at the prospect of giving Edward what he deserves. However, the backing track to the beat is a bit more science fiction than what we had hoped for. This doesn't really mesh well with the story line of our thriller or any thriller in general. This, if used, would hinder the image we have for the opening as it doesn't compliment the actions well enough.
Tension Building Music
This will be used to overlap the heartbeat sounds. It gives the movie a basis to which it could evolve on for the rest of the movie. It allows the action to be complimented and emphasised with the increasing beat of the track. Rather contrastingly, the constant beat could be a metaphor for the constant pressure that Edward seems to be under throughout the whole sequence. Music is a vital part and therefore this track will set the mood, tone, and atmosphere to the rest of the movie so we want low sounds, quite a constant loud beat that can increase and decrease and vary as we please. One that can be easily manipulated, so that we can cut and change it as we please to suit the cuts of our thriller.
This song is quite famously used in the movie of Drive. A thriller all about a guy that is the drive guy for different criminal missions. This song is very useful for our thriller. As you can hear, it starts off with a very constant and quiet beat, this increasingly gets louder until it stops at a loud constant beat. This would work well with the start of our thriller when Edward is standing all alone, with the quiet constant beat and then as it increases he starts to see Steve and starts to run which is where the loud pace music comes into place. The actions that happen within these scenes would work in sync with the music as the running is very continuous and so is the beat. However, on top of a heart beat sound it wouldn't work too well as it already has a significant beat. In accordance to this, although the volume varies the beat doesn't get any faster or slower and therefore maybe won't be used for our thriller. However, something along the lines of this song would work well with the conventions of our story line.
This song is very famously used in a variety of thriller movies, drama movies, TV shows, very common in the use of a tense moment. This works fantastic with our thriller in the sense that we have a constant tension within the sequence as we don't know what's going to happen, will Edward survive etc. There is a constant beat within the music, which gets quicker as the song progresses. In relation to our thriller, the increase in beat just like the song before would work well with the running scene. As it's been used for so many other programmes it may make our thriller too common. The whole aspect of our thriller is for it to be unique and something other people haven't done and therefore maybe won't use this song.
Comparison to other Thrillers
Other thrillers that use the same sort of beat/music that we are looking to use for our thriller are: 'Bourne Ultimatum' and 'Collateral'. Already from the Bourne Ultimatum we have been influenced by the camera shots, the style of the movie and now the sound. The Bourne trilogy is a classic thriller showing lots of the conventions. Collateral on the other hand also has a similair plot, for in the opening we see a briefcase being pulled focus on and in our own thriller the focus is on a bag, and what may be in the bag.
The first clip I have is from The Bourne Ultimatum.
In this clip in the opening we see the use of a steady beat, increasing as the action does. We also have the rural music from the background, of trains, people talking etc. This is something we are looking to use in the start, so that the viewers can get a sense of the background and the setting. At the time of 1:05 we get the use of his breathing. This is an effective technique as you can get a sense of the situation. For example: if the breathing is very fast and paced, then we can tell that the situation is very tense. However if the breathing is slow and heavy then we can tell that it may be a more calm situation. For our thriller we are looking for a more tense and fast situation so the breathing will be more quick and sharp. At 0:57 we hear the sound of him ripping a bag, similair to this in our thriller we would like the sound of grabbing a bag as it makes the action a lot more dramatised. This then draws attention to the bag and helps to make it the main focus to the scene. At the time of 1:22-1:26 we hear the sound of a helicopter/heartbeat which helps give the sense of tension, this is a technique that we want to use in order to build the enigma and tension to our own opening.
The next clip is from the opening of Collateral.
At the start of this clip we hear the sounds of people walking and talking and just background noise of the environment. This is effective as it gives a sense of how busy the area is, what the character is surrounded by etc. This will be used within our thriller just as pointed out in the clip of 'Bourne Ultimatum' (see above). At the time of 0:11-0:17 we get the contrasting sounds of two footsteps. One, quite quick and paced with a sharp intake of breath with it and the other slow and confined with no breathing overlay. This helps us to get a feel of what the characters may be like: one cool and confined and the other quite uncomfortable about the situation he may be in. This could work well with the opening of our thriller as we also have two characters, Edward the uncomfortable scared individual who the quick steps and sharp breathing would work well with and the other, Steve is quite cool and confined at the prospect of catching Edward. This contrast of movement eccentuates the situation. At the time of 0:31, we here a quick sound of a heartbeat as the two characters meet eyes. This is quite a realistic heartbeat and definitely something that we will be using within our thriller.
From the time of 0:47 we then get constant beat overlayed with background music. The beat is something we will be using to help keep the tempo of the opening and by increasing the beat we can create an enigma around the situation and help to keep the interest up.
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