Sound Practical

One of the most successful methods of creating suspense and instilling emotion in the audience is by the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Diegetic sounds mimic real life sounds, such as a gun shot or a loud scream; these sounds are often harsh and sudden, making the audience jump. Non-diegetic, however, is sound that would not appear in a real life sequence but rather is played over a scene to build suspense and create fear for the audience.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 2013

The 2013 remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre features the iconic sound of a chainsaw as the use of the killer's weapon. The sound can be heard before the weapon is visible onscreen; this unsettles the audience as they often fear the unknown, creating apprehension as to where the killer is.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Clip (2013)

Saw V - 2008

As suggested by the franchise name, the Saw films regularly feature sounds of chainsaws as the choice of weapon. In the example below, two people are forced to put their hand in a box containing 5 chainsaws in order to give 5 points of blood each to allow the doors to open before a bomb explodes, killing them. The sound of the chainsaws are constant in the background, however, once the characters begin to cut themselves, the sound is enhanced. This is to focus the audience's attention on the weapon, to create tension as the characters in effect bleed themselves out, thus instilling fear and unsettlement for the audience.

Saw 5 (2008) - enhanced sound begins at 3:23



Practical Example

To create the chainsaw sound effect, I used the following Power Drill:

 I then recorded the sound of myself pulling the drill's trigger using the software 'Audacity'. Simply, I used the record button and held the drill near the microphone of the laptop.

Next I deleted the beginning and end few seconds of the clip as in these segments, the sound of the mouse click could be heard from where I had pushed the record and stop buttons. To do this, I highlighted the unwanted segment of the clip and pressed the 'Delete' button on the keyboard.

Next, I exported the sound clip, by selected 'Export Audio' and once selecting the desired folder, ensured that the saving file format was '.WAV'.

Finally, once creating an account with Sound Cloud, I uploaded the saved sound clip. To do this, on my account, I selected 'Upload', where the screenshot below appeared. I then chose a suitable name, Tags searches and a description.

Below is the link to the finished Sound Effect:

Evaluation

·       By clicking the power trigger of the drill at different intervals to start rather than holding it down straight away, the result imitated that of starting the chainsaw, were it is necessary to carry out a few attempts to power the tool.

·       The sound of the power drill itself is extremely similar to that of a chainsaw, potentially due to the fact that both tools consist of similar materials and mechanisms.

·       Audacity and Sound Cloud were both easy to work out and use, which did not disrupt practical time.

·       In the final recording, however, the sound of the laptop fan could be faintly heard. To improve on this, I would use a separate professional microphone to record the sound of the power drill away from the laptop and other sounds to avoid unprofessional background sounds.

·       The overall sound clip is professional and was easy to produce.