Analysis Of Sound - Miss Miller

Sound Analysis

In the thriller genre, sound is often referred to as one of the most important aspects, it is used to set the scene, create suspense, tension and also to portray certain emotions across to the audience. There are many different sound techniques that are used in thriller films, in this blog I am going to analyse the sound techniques used in the following clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3lSvJ5RXKA&feature=player_embedded


The use of dialogue in this scene is used to create an affect. The dialogue used by the man on the phone (Scream) is somewhat calm and relaxed compared to the victim. This is called diegetic sound as it is apart of the frame. The effect of this use of diegetic sound is that it makes the antagonist look superior compared to the victim, as he is so calm and not phased by the fact he is about to murder someone, this tells the audience that he may be a stone cold killer. Also the diegetic sound used in this scene is hidden behind a phone (we cant see the source of the voice) this creates a sense of mystery amongst the audience as they are curious as to whom the voice belongs to.

There is also non diegetic sound used in this clip, this is when the antagonist tells the victim to turn on the patio lights, here the audience hears a loud and sudden sound repeated. This piece of non diegetic sound is used to represent the fear that has just struck the victim and also to represent her heartbeat. The effect on the audience is that their attention is drawn to the screen because the sound is so sudden and loud and it also strikes fear into them as well as the character.

Parallel sound is used in this clip when the victim is rushing to lock her doors. The parallel sound used here is very fast, loud and chaotic. This sound is parallel to the scene as it is what the audience would expect to hear; the victim is in a state of panic as she rushes to lock her doors, and this sudden chaotic sound is representing her emotions. This parallel sound also allows a relationship to be made between the audience and the victim as it strikes a sense of panic into the audience and they can now relate to how the victim is feeling.