Did you hear that? I surely did!

 Good evening readers, in this week’s blog I introduce you to sounds we want to include in our upcoming film, Offsides. I want to state to you that we will be utilizing iMovie and Filmore to edit the entirety of our film, as well as a disclaimer before we dive in. We have not finalized the sounds and music we want to use in our scenes, but the ones listed below are examples that may be put into effect. Keep reading down below!

I want you to picture the film transitioning from a black screen slowly to a shot of Ricky Schmidt in front of the mirror, appearing nervous about playing his practice flag football game. The lighting is toned down with sunlight colored ceiling lights shining down on him. The sound of his heartbeat accompanies this shot’s transition from black and as you listen closer you will notice the sound of ringing to compliment the intensity of the scene. These are the only two sounds you will hear, non-diegetic sounds. 

These sound effects work to create that anxiety that Ricky is feeling all the way to the ears of the viewers. The visuals alone tells the story, but sounds also impact the overall mood that your scene intends to create. Ricky’s heartbeat playing over the scene tells the audience of his feelings about playing the practice game, tense at the thought of it and what negative memories it may have brought about.

 

The following scene features Ricky leaving the restroom with the diegetic sound of the door opening, as well as the blue team’s coach yelling at him for not being present on the field. We do not want the audience to lose focus of the flow of the story, thus, we will only allow diegetic sounds to play for these next few shots involving the blue team. We want the viewers to hear their voices and become accustomed to their sounds to introduce their characters properly.

For background sounds, we want to include the sounds of people playing in the background to make the scene feel more lively, but as they get into position for the game we will tone down those sounds to primarily focus on the heat of the moment, where Ricky is finally being tested against tough opponents. The challenge in doing these diegetic sfx is to make the sounds flow from one shot to the next without them sounding disorganized. Thus, if you can hear a boy screaming something in the distance it must carry on to the following shot.

During a minor montage featuring the red team’s players we want to include non-diegetic rock or hip-hop style of beats to make the players look hardcore. These following shots need to sell their characters to the audience instantly, clueing them into who and what they are. 

Sounds are an essential aspect in making movies feel magical, with soundtracks and OST’s that would be memorable to the audience. We want to drive home the point that sounds will allow anyone watching the movie to understand the feelings and emotions of the characters on screen and to understand their stance of their situation, simultaneously characterizing them for the rest of the film.