Editing: Adding Sound

Once we had researched the different sounds that we wanted to use, we then had the difficult task of positioning the sound clips in the desired place. We had chosen to use mostly non-diegetic sounds, including heart beats and a tense, fast-paced backing track to emphasise the torture scenes implemented. In addition to this, the end checkout scene also features diegetic dialogue whereby the victim (as the employee) announces the price of the items purchased. Attached below shows the process carried out in order to efficiently place the sound files. 

The Heartbeats:

As mentioned, we had researched the sound that we wanted to include prior to editing and thus, we were able to import the sound clips straight onto Final Cut.

This screenshot shows the 'Heartbeats' sound file once imported into Final Cut. As the image shows, there were numerous beats included as around 3 minutes worth of sound was downloaded; this then meant that we had to cut the clip down to the number desired using the Blade tool.

We had managed to shorten the clips to 4 beats in order to line up with the footage already shot. It was extremely tricky to line the starting beat of each heartbeat with the cut of the flashbacks as Final Cut would only allow default movement for the clip, meaning we could not get the sound and footage to play simultaneously. To fix this, we had to zoom the editing pane is substantially in order to allow for more movement of the sound clip.

In addition to the heartbeats, we also decided to add a heart beat monitor flat line sound to be layered over a black screen. The sound was extended quite dramatically in order to build the suspense and create enigma for the audience. This clip was easier to line up as the sound itself was continuous and not broken up. 

Glitch Sound Effect:

In order to coincide with the modern concept of our narrative, we decided to add in a glitching effect throughout the trailer, including during the checkout scene, which was achieved using cuts and blading. To emphasise this, we imported an 'interference' sound which resembled a 'buzz' and layered this over the Security transitions we had added previously. We then copied the footage once cut to the correct length and placed them over the other two glitching intervals added. 

This image above shows the footage zoomed in to allow a clearer view of the interference sound; they are the 3 smaller chunks of sound.

Tense and Fast-Paced Backing Track:

The non-diegetic backing track used in any film or trailer is key in creating the atmosphere for the audience watching it; for this reason, one of the most challenging aspects of creating this trailer was finding the best sound for the montage of torture clips.

In order to achieve the sound that we wanted, we decided to layer various different sound tracks together. Firstly, we added a sound clip called 'Epic Music' which was very upbeat with obvious loud 'Booms' throughout and coincide with the genre. Additionally, the positioning of the said 'Booms' played simultaneously to the black intervals between each torture clip; this creates tension for the audience as they are on edge whilst watching the torture yet also made to jump by the continuous loud bangs.

For the majority of the trailer, we chose an eerie slow and quiet backing track to be played in the background of all the additional sound clips. This meant that during the more calmer points of the trailer, a soundtrack which conformed to common conventions of Slasher horrors maintained the atmosphere for the audience.

There is also a torture clip which features the killer breaking the victim's finger; for this clip, we layered the diegetic sound of bones breaking to increase the tension for the audience and adhere to the slasher aspect. The Screenshot above shows the final view in Final Cut of all the sound layered in the trailer. 

Diegetic Dialogue:

Under the 'Window' drop down menu in Final Cut Pro, there is an option to 'Record Voiceover', which we selected to record the diegetic dialogue of the victim announcing the price in the hardware store. By selecting this, it brought up a 'Record' option.

Using headphones which we plugged into the Mac, we were able to use the attached microphone to record the sound. The attached image shows the pop-up with the recording settings and options we used to control the sound recording.

This shows the final sound recording once recorded and imported in time with the footage in Final Cut.

Evaluation:

 

As mentioned, sound is one of the most important aspects of any film, both diegetic and non-diegetic, for creating the atmosphere, particularly in a horror film. I feel that as a group we managed to execute the task of adding sound rather effectively despite the challenges that we faced. I also believe that individually, we showed a variety of different skills due to the various different software used to produce or import the desired sound. Overall, I feel that this was a very successful task which we executed well to produce a professional and creative teaser trailer for our chosen genre.