AS Media - Sound Deconstruction - Wrong Turn

The Brief:

We were given the task of deconstructing the sound of a film opening.

Wrong Turn

Overview Of Opening Scene:

College students Rich Stoker and Halley Smith were rock climbing deep in a remote forest of West Virginia. When Rich reaches the top, he prepares to help Halley up, but is suddenly murdered. Someone then begins to yank Halley up the cliff so she cuts the rope and falls to the ground before attempting to escape but before she rushes to the car, she trips over a piece of barbed wire and then gets pulled back into the woods, screaming.

Sound;

00:15 - 00:48
The music used in the opening scene of Wrong Turn, is very orchestral to start off with, whilst being highly conventional of horror movies in general, this conforms to the common conventions of slasher films as having what seems to be serene like music and changing the effect of the music from serene to suspenseful  to make and emphasise the dramatics of the scene. This music is for the majority played on strings which add an eerie effect to the opening establishing and aerial shot of the woodland setting. The music starts off at a low pitch followed by drums which conventionally are associated with tribes who were predominantly primal and predatorial making this link to the sub genre of slasher as the killers are usually hunting people making the link between the two clear and instant, this gives the initial connotations of a slasher film as it links heavily to the idea of primitive and primal hunters as the drums are seen as a ritual instrument that would have often been used as an instrument at a sacrificial gathering nor other tribal custom of the sort. This is seen as a heavy influencer in this subgenre as the majority of the killers are behaving in a similar fashion to those of a primeval era.

00:48 - 02:46
Next in the opening scene there is some sound effects of birds tweeting whilst the two character are positioned on a rock, this signifies the isolation that the two have from civilisation as the bird sounds help emphasise the small population of humans in that area and help to remind us of the environment they are in as everything is silent except for the noises of nature. This is conventional of slasher films to have such an isolated environment in regards to sound as they are in unfamiliar territory with not much open landscape or other people to witness the murders of the two. this is common as the killer is conventionally not seen for the majority of the film and usually has some form of lair or a place of refuge where he or she kills their victims so that no one finds out unless they survive an encounter with them. This helps to add a sense of vulnerability to the scene as firstly the two characters are placed on a rock in a jungle like environment and the addition of just natural sounds makes the idea of vulnerability more apparent as they are physically vulnerable because they are positioned on a rock and anyone could come and cut their rope at anytime and the atmosphere created from the tweeting of the birds is very vulnerable as everything seems to be fine however the tone of vulnerability is underlying through the use of this off screen non diegetic sound effect. After this the music is still apparent yet it is at a lower volume then before however it is almost like it is brewing up and gradually finding its volume. After the use of birds tweeting there are a series of sound effects used to help signify the death of Rich Stoker, firstly there is the grunting noise of him assumingly being stabbed or hit as the shock like reaction that he has whilst off screen leads to him subsequently bleeding and dying. This noise is a conventional off screen diegetic sound effect to subtly hint at the idea of someone being killed. This is to conform to the notion of not showing the killer or the murder to create a more suspenseful narrative and to keep it more of a mystery so that the film doesn't become too predictable so that the film becomes monotonous and un appealing. Secondly the sound of blood dripping onto Halley's face as a result of him being killed and hanging over the edge of the cliff shows the imminent danger that Halley is now in and adds to the vulnerability of the scene as she was dependent on Rich to pull her up and no that she has nothing to depend on she becomes more vulnerable and more threatened by the presence of the killer. The music plays very softly and as the events of the first killing arise it becomes significantly louder and faster in pace, as the girl climbing on the rocks falls down after her partner has been killed the music reaches an anti climactic crescendo and a silence proceeds afterwards to hear the breath and shock of the girl after she has fallen right next to the corpse of her partner off of the rocks. This is equally met by a shocked noise created by the strings in an intake of breath-like fashion to signify the recognition in the death of her partner and the further problem of the killer being a threat to her existence arises through this as the sound dictates that the killer knows that they are in the are and will primitively hunt her down and kill her so that there are no witnesses to the death of her partner as in the context of the situation it is used as a tool to show the shock of Halley and to indicate the future actions that are about to unfold.

02:47 - 02:51
Following the shocked noise that is implemented the hysterical laughter of the killer is heard off screen which is accompanied with the noise of branches and leaves being rustled and moved out of the way as the killer proceeds to seek Halley to essentially kill her. This is conventional as it links heavily with the previous primitive nature of killers in slasher movies. This shows the extent that the killer is going to keep the murder a secret which is seen as a common thing within the genre of horror and signifies the stalking nature that killers have as the killer still to this point remains unseen we only hear of him. The apparent hysterical laughter of the killer also sounds like a tribal cry which adds to the primitive nature of the killer as the murder of Halley becomes more of a hunt and less of a killing which portrays the killer in a more animalistic which helps in establishing the level of empathy that the audience feel towards the killer as he does this through a sense of duty that he has to fulfil to remain the way that he is.

00:15 - 03:11
The constant use of small sound effects such as;

Metal clinking that is holding their ropes in place
The noise of rope being pulled and moved
The movement of feet on the rocks
The sudden drop of the rope
Screams and exertions of distress

help to portray the moment of torment and affliction that is caused by the killer through the small details that cause more and more panic. The sounds listed above contribute to the element of panic as they are small and minute but they are placed very compactly together throughout the opening scene to extenuate the idea of trepidation. The element of confusion and dismay are very conventional n portraying characters as vulnerable in horror films as they show that in the moment there is the need for sanction which is unavailable due to their vulnerability in their environment such as the jungle/ forest type setting that both Rich and Halley are situated.

03:04 - 03:11
At the closing stages of the opening scene Halley is retreating to her car to seek salvation as she does so the sound of barbed wire being caught and tightening is heard as an on screen sound effect. This helps to signify the fact that death at this point is seemingly imminent and inescapable. The music reaches a crescendo which is typical of most deaths in film in general although even more so in horror films and especially in slasher films. The crescendo is anti climactic in the sense that after it stops nothing really happens however it is climactic as there is  purposeful silence that has been incorporated so that the audience can hear the death of Halley. After being dragged off screen there is a repeat of the same 'death off screen' notion to keep the identity of the killer a mystery and the way of killing a mystery. As Halley is now assumingly killed as we hear a wet bludgeon noise as if someone was to hit someone over the head with a mace or something that would completely disfigure anything it collides with.

Link to the clip:

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