Pre-Production: Audio Research
Audio is one of the keys to a great film. The timing, tone, volume and use of audio is something that can sparsely differ over different films. Directors such as Michael Bay will use this in the style of a continuous loud mash up of high volume sound effects fighting over who could be the loudest, while Directors such as Martin Scorsese use total silence as an audio tool in itself.
Audio in itself is not just limited to music, dialogue and effects. The greatest scenes ever made have none of these things in them yet the audio is sublime. The key is getting it right and this is what I tend to achieve in our film.
Silence
Silence is an interesting tool in visual storytelling and one I want to use within our film. Silence can be used to express a number of different emotions and moods within a story.
It can be used to represent trauma such as in the Omaha Beach landing scene in Saving Private Ryan.
Silence reflects more than just trauma however. It represents tension, reconing, and many more emotions but it is important to recongise its ability to set a scene. Sometimes the best sound effect, is the sound of silence. Sometimes.
No Dialogue Scenes
Another effective tool is the use of dialogue. Rather it's lack of use. Many fantastic scenes in cinema are conducted by beautifully worded exchanges, with engaging and interesting dialogue. Writers such as Quentin Tarentino do this fantatically in scenes such as the Royale with Cheese scene in Pulp Fiction.
This classic conversation between the two characters allows the audience to immediately understand what type of characters they are, that they are friends, and immediatley sets the tone for the both of them.
While this is a great example of great dialogue it is important to recognize that as a learning student writing his second script. I can't expect to create incredible dialogue like this if it is not my forte. But what I can accomplish and will be looking to is the opposite. The use of no dialogue, the story being told in scenes with just a look or an act in which the audience isn't told, they are shown.
An amazing example of this is the famous scene in the end of The Graduate.
The scene is an excellent example of visual storytelling. The way in which it reflects exactly what each of the characters are thinking is incredible. Through the music, the performance, the framing almost everything. All without a single word being spoken to one another we understand their regret immediately.
Once of the Key Elements to take away from this is that Audio is a huge part of a film. In many cases it can make or break a project. In which case I must ensure that it is treated and used correctly to make sure that the scene works and ultimately what we will be trying to present, is itself effective in what it is trying to achieve.
Audio in itself is not just limited to music, dialogue and effects. The greatest scenes ever made have none of these things in them yet the audio is sublime. The key is getting it right and this is what I tend to achieve in our film.
Silence
Silence is an interesting tool in visual storytelling and one I want to use within our film. Silence can be used to express a number of different emotions and moods within a story.
It can be used to represent trauma such as in the Omaha Beach landing scene in Saving Private Ryan.
A harrowing scene depicting the true burtality of war. All done with a stark contrast between dazed trauma and harrowing scenes to cut into the rude awakening of loud sound effects. This scene is effective plainly because the 'burst eardrum' effect the sound has forces you to watch. Much like the characters in the film and the soliders that fought that day, they are forced to witness the pure horror of war. As the audience we are in that situation with the characters, so like them we are forced to watch. The film is a graphically representative take on actual warfare and for this reason it excells as putting the audience on the beach at that time.
The scene is made that more brutal and hard to watch, yet at the same time spectacular due to the trauma effect the audio gives us.
Silence reflects more than just trauma however. It represents tension, reconing, and many more emotions but it is important to recongise its ability to set a scene. Sometimes the best sound effect, is the sound of silence. Sometimes.
No Dialogue Scenes
Another effective tool is the use of dialogue. Rather it's lack of use. Many fantastic scenes in cinema are conducted by beautifully worded exchanges, with engaging and interesting dialogue. Writers such as Quentin Tarentino do this fantatically in scenes such as the Royale with Cheese scene in Pulp Fiction.
This classic conversation between the two characters allows the audience to immediately understand what type of characters they are, that they are friends, and immediatley sets the tone for the both of them.
While this is a great example of great dialogue it is important to recognize that as a learning student writing his second script. I can't expect to create incredible dialogue like this if it is not my forte. But what I can accomplish and will be looking to is the opposite. The use of no dialogue, the story being told in scenes with just a look or an act in which the audience isn't told, they are shown.
An amazing example of this is the famous scene in the end of The Graduate.
The scene is an excellent example of visual storytelling. The way in which it reflects exactly what each of the characters are thinking is incredible. Through the music, the performance, the framing almost everything. All without a single word being spoken to one another we understand their regret immediately.
Once of the Key Elements to take away from this is that Audio is a huge part of a film. In many cases it can make or break a project. In which case I must ensure that it is treated and used correctly to make sure that the scene works and ultimately what we will be trying to present, is itself effective in what it is trying to achieve.
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