Editing: Adding Sound

In my opinion, the most important aspect of any media text is the sound used to represent the narrative; this is because sound is used to set the scene and create the atmosphere for the audience, particularly in the Horror genre, such as Slashers. Non-Diegetic music is often used to build the tension, such as a slow and eerie sound track which puts the audience on edge, whereas the diegetic sound often include loud bangs, such as a gunshot, to make the audience jump. 

Non-Diegetic Sound:

In order to create the desired effect, we decided to layer two separate soundtracks together to further build tension for the audience yet still be quiet enough to allow for an appropriate jump-scare. To find the soundtracks that best suited the narrative of our film opening, we spent a lot of time researching clips on YouTube; once we found the tracks which coincided with the scene the best, we downloaded the clips and imported them into Final Cut. 

Once we had researched the track that we wanted, I downloaded the sample from YouTube and imported the track into the Final Cut Pro Menu. I then dragged the soundtrack from the top left hand panel to the position in the opening desired and shortened the clip to the ideal length using the Blade tool. Using the Precision editor, I was then able to enhance the sound to make it a little louder without turning the volume up. This view also allowed me to alter the fade in and fade out settings to allow for a smoother transition between shots. 

I then researched another soundtrack which would go well when played alongside the previous soundtrack to import into the opening. The sound that we agreed on was called "Pier to Nowhere" as the slow and dark rifts created the tense atmosphere desired when layered over the eerie soundtrack added before. 

This screenshot shows the two soundtracks layered over each other alongside the footage previously imported. 

Diegetic Sound:

The diegetic sound that as a group we decided to include was mostly the sounds of a fire crackling in order to coincide with our narrative. Since we included a number of mini flashbacks of fire which were milliseconds long, layering the loud and harsh sounds of fire over the eerie non-diegetic sound track posed as a way of startling the audience without taking emphasis away from the main jump-scare.

The highlighted clip above was a diegetic existing recording of a match being lit. We imported this clip into Final Cut and layered it over the scene in which the victim lights a match she finds on the floor. We decided to use a pre-recorded clip as there was too much interference back ground noise in the diegetic sound from the footage. 

By using the precision editor to manipulate the volume, we were able to blend the transition to ensure that the clip sounded authentic despite being pre-recorded. The screenshot above shows the sound clip once layered over the footage and previous non-diegetic sound. 

We also decided to add, as mentioned, diegetic sound of a fire crackling over the mini fire flashbacks. This task was completed in the same way as previous sound clips, importing the sound and blading it to the correct length. Additionally, we had incorporated a glitch effect, which appears as interference, to which I imported a static sound to further emphasise this effect.

Evaluation:

Overall, I feel that we managed to manipulate our chosen sound, both diegetic and non-diegetic, exceptionally well in order to capture our narrative and set the scene. The idea of layering two non-diegetic soundtracks, in my opinion, was very successful and showed technical skill despite the sound having not been produced by ourselves. By incorporated flashes of fire crackling also compliments the opening nicely I think as it, when layered over the soundtrack, startles the audience without making it an obvious jump scare since the corresponding footage was not suitable for a this.