Sound Techniques- Film Analysis

The sequence that we filmed was based on a hacker uploading/downloading virus onto a computer, but he does not know that he was apart of an experiment only known to few. This experiment caused him to lose his memory of the events and black out often. So the sequence practically begins properly when the Hacker is being interrogated. The Hacker had blacked out and he does not recall any of the events that took place 13 hours ago. Agent turner and agent Sullivan are a part of M.I.6. They found the hacker on the floor in one of the rooms and ask him questions once he came around. Due to the black out the Hacker couldn’t remember. So Agent Sullivan is the good cop, who tries to comfort the captive, but Agent Turner has a different approach and seemed to lose his temper quickly, his approaches were rather aggressive to try and put fear into the captive.

All of the listed sound techniques were involved in this sequence.

At the beginning of the sequence there was a parallel backing track, which allowed the audience to realise that the Hacker (Malcolm Reid) was doing something not ‘normal’ as the backing track introduced a certain mysterious vibe to the setting. The second scene carried on the backing track. This introduced the sound bridge technique; this showed a continuation of the two scenes. Diegetic sound was used when Agent Turner slammed the desk as you could see the source of the sound. Non-diegetic sound was used when there was a man screaming outside of the interrogation room in the corridor. We chose to use these sounds at these points as the slapping on the desk showed that the Agent was getting frustrated, also the screaming showed that maybe the service doesn’t just interrogate people. These sound techniques were also our on and off screen sounds. Our contrapuntal sound was used at the end of the sequence with the hacker laughing. This showed that even though the Agents were taking it serious the hacker wasn’t and it just doesn’t fit in with the scene. All of these choices and the way they were executed I believe were successful as the way each other technique was used shows how/ why it is used and they were used in a effective manner.

Assessing own technical capabilities:

I believe that most of the sound was captured effectively but during the sequence where Hassan walks into the room he seemed abit quite. This was because the door was too far away from the camera so the microphone was not able to reach him.

The sound equipment provided was used effectively when needed; maybe after a little more experience of using it we may be able to use the equipment better.

The differentiation between diegetic and non-diegetic sound was shown clearly in the sequence as there was 2 very distinct was in showing it as the man screaming down the corridor was non-diegetic as the source of the sound was not shown, and Agent turner slamming the table with his hand was diegetic as the source of the sound was shown. Furthermore the difference between on and off screen sound was clearly as well by these two examples as the slamming of the table was on screen and the man screaming was off screen.

In addition, the difference between parallel and contrapuntal sound was shown as the opening track had co-ordinated with the opening sequence and the laugh at the end did not match the scene that was being filmed. This showed a real contrast between the two as they are completely opposite techniques and if used 

effectively can great a huge impact in a film.

The use of the sound bridge could have been a little better, but I think that they way we used it was good as it showed a continuation between two scenes and linked them together in some way.

Overall:

In conclusion the positive aspects of our film was the use of all the sound effects, as they were used effectively, also the dialogue was good to a certain standard and the story that we was trying to put across was good for the time that was allotted to us. We all played our part well and all of the characters different personalities were shown.

If I were to make improvements then I would ensure that the sound equipment is used effectively throughout the whole film so that no-one sounds quite. I would also add a few more camera movements like a long shot to show the environment outside.