Month: January 2018

Exploring Sound (2) – ‘The Woman in Black’ Film Trailer

(Watkins, 2012)

I have always been interested in the difference between how a story is portrayed through a book vs. how the same story is portrayed through a film, specifically, the way this is shown in ‘The Woman in Black’.

The aim of my sound piece was to create a film trailer for ‘The Woman in Black’, yet for a ‘prequel’ – portraying the story that sets up the 2012 film, based on the text from Susan Hill’s book; and focusing on how the Woman in Black came to be.

As you can see above, the original trailer for the 2012 film uses sound to build the atmosphere and intensity of the piece. It begins with the howling of the wind and continues to layer the music over the length of the trailer, through percussion instruments and the voice of a child reading a poem based on the film’s story. The use of this technique adds to this psychological feeling of horror; whilst taking us out of our comfort zone, as if we were to expect a fright.

Similarly to this trailer, I aim to continue with the theme of layering sound in order to create an intense and haunting piece. I will also use the output of my headphones to control the sound I create and magnify its impact on the listener; again, taking them out of their comfort zone and encouraging them to question the sounds that they hear.

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Watkins, J. (2012) The Woman in Black Trailer. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYMUnJGURI [Accessed 20 December 2017].

Exploring Sound (1) – ‘Lights Out’ Short Film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNbJE0y29_c

(Sandberg, 2013)

The initial idea for my DPT project was to create a sound piece based on the distortion of an idea; aiming to challenge the perception of a song, story or poem and manipulate its message. After much research into my concept, a constant subject arose and a key theme became apparent – the psychology of horror. From this, I began to investigate the ways in which horror films use sound to create an uncomfortable experience that psychologically effects the viewer; that effect that forces them to sleep with the lights on.

During my research, I discovered the short film ‘Lights Out’ by David F. Sandberg. The sound played in the film is a great contrast between the everyday vs. the extraordinary, the natural vs. the supernatural, and the comfortable vs. the uncomfortable; bringing those haunting encounters straight into your own home.

Within the film, Sandberg uses the sound the inform the imagery and vice versa, creating one atmosphere with the lights on and another with the lights out. The contrast between these sounds, for example, the familiar sound of a light switch vs. the deep sound of a fog horn, builds the suspense and anxiety that runs throughout the film.

When initially creating my sound, I used this concept to inform my experiments. I aimed to manipulate the understanding of the piece by using contrast to challenge the interpretation of its meaning, whilst simultaneously enforcing an uncomfortable, yet known experience upon the viewer. Overall, my aim was to create an invasive sound that, as stated above, resulted in haunting encounter in your own home, emphasizing that psychological feeling of horror and creating a sound that took you out of your comfort zone, whilst at the same time, keeping you in it.

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Sandberg, D. (2013) Light’s Out 2013. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNbJE0y29_c [Accessed 20 December 2017].

Coming Home

Staying at home in the Alpes over the holidays, I got inspired to move my project in a completely different direction. I decided to focus on home and how, today, in a world where we are always traveling, we are seeking for products that remind us of home. Because home is where family is.

I will therefore move my project away from my previously darker idea, involving how our daily lives are influencing our dreams, and towards a commercial for products that remind us of home. In my special case, I will focus on my roots: Bavaria. Bavaria is pretty much just a forest, which is why I’ll promote a “deer” collection – something I immediately identify with home.

Moreover, my choice to change project is directly linked with my course: fashion management. I thought that it would maybe make more sense for me to change to a commercial rather than to explore subconscious changes in a human mind.

But no worries, my project will only showcase the products and mainly use the sounds of the woods to tell the story of the product.

References:

Video 1: 321Relaxing (2014) Rainy Sound and Rainforest Animals Sound – Relaxing Sleep Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8myYyMg1fFE [Accessed 31 December 2017]

Video 2: EDEKA (2015) Weihnachtsclip #heimkommen Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6-0kYhqoRo [Accessed 31 December 2017]