Research Into Sounds, Miss Miller

Along Came The Spider(2005):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPbDFxXU_74

Diegetic Sound:

Sound which is part of the film for example, dialogue and music from a radio. The sound can be on or off screen.

Non-Diegetic Sound:

Sound that is not part of the film for example soundtracks.

The distinction between diegetic or non-diegetic sound depends on our understanding of the conventions of film viewing and listening.  We know of that certain sounds are represented as coming from the story world, while others are  represented as coming from outside the space of the story events. 

On Screen Sound:

You can see where the sound is coming from.

Off Screen Sound:

You can hear the sound but cannot see where it is coming from.

Parallel Sound:

When the sound you hear in a film is what is expected for example children laughing whilst playing.

Contrapuntal Sound:

Is when the sound does not match the expectations of you are viewing.

The clip from the film Along came the spider begins with both diegetic and non-diegetic sound; diegetic sound because of the speech from the main character  when he says through the FBI piece of equipment "This is our man" this is supposed to make the audience feel as though they are on the same page as the FBI agents as they feel anxious to see what will happen and wether the criminal will be arrested or caught. Non-diegetic sound from the soundtrack makes the audience feel a sense of danger approaching,which is conventional to the thriller genre because thriller films are supposed to make the audience feel like something unexpected can always occur at any given moment. The sounds coming from the flying helicopter and moving car are also examples of diegetic sound as  these sounds are expected from the film because there is visual evidence of where these sounds are coming from.

The villan in the scene begins to shout when he realises that the woman he is with is an undercover agent which is is an example of parallel sound because the shouting is expected from what is occurring in the scene.

An example of On-screen sound is when the car starts to skid on the road because the audience is able to see where the sound is coming from which enhances the fact that the car is falling off the bridge.

The sound becomes contrapuntal when the other FBI agents are running after the car that is falling off the bridge because the sound is quite upbeat which could be in order for the audience to feel slight confusion as they are not completely sure of what is going on in the movie.

Through research into sounds, I have been able to gain an understanding on how sounds are a vital part in the development of thriller films as they are able to convey emotions that should be felt by the audience and also bring effectiveness to each of the scenes in the films.