Sound/Music Research

Sound/Music Research 

My thriller is a mix of a psychological and typical action thriller genre movie, and for that, it needs appropriate music during the right times. My narrative focuses predominantly on tension building sequences, with not much fast paced action going on in the movie at all. However, I do believe that by having some fairly fast and high intensity music playing in the background during sequences may help improve and generate some type of suspense for the viewer. The intensity could gradually become more and more intense over time, in time with the shots and actions of the movie becoming more tense. 

Below is one example of a piece of music that is used in order to up the suspense levels and to generate more tension in a scene. This score is from the film 'SAW' a psychological/horror thriller. The score at times is quick and loud which can suit certain moments of the movie for when action may pick up, but it also has moments where the volume comes down a significant amour, and it's just violins playing and distortion sounds in the background of the violins which adds to the odd sound. Furthermore the start of the score is quiet but yet also fairly quick, and this could be good for picking up the suspense and tension for when something is about to happen in a shot. 

Another example of a thriller score that i like is that from the film 'Requiem for a Dream'. The sound in general of the score is extremely peculiar and strange, with what seems to be intimidating opera moans on the vague background in which a high pitched violin plays at a fairly slow pace which gradually gets quicker over time. Also, a distorted like 'swish' or 'squelch' sound can be heard, further adding to the extremely scary and odd sound that this score projects. It does a fantastic job in building up tension in the areas of the score where it gets loud and the choir can be heard, violins are playing quickly, everything is happening at once, and it does well in making the audience feel captivated and immersed with the massive sound that it creates.

This final example is a copyright free piece of music which is more along the lines of what I may be going with for the opening score for my sequence. The score sounds ominous in sound, with it being very low in sound, not much going on at all. But by doing this and having very limited amounts of sounds happening, it creates an eerie tone amongst listeners. It's basic in concept, but it does a fantastic job in creating a very open, unclear and uncertain sound for listeners, meaning that they are completely unaware for if anything scary or ambiguous comes onto the screen, which is what I want for my music, as my thriller is based around the audience not knowing completely what's happening, and  begin fairly surprised in certain aspects .