Special Interest Paper
The film industry has played an essential role in the society today with the industry providing opportunities in areas such as; employment, entertainment, cultural preservation, among other essential societal roles. However, unknown to most people, there is a lot that goes on behind the scene in the film making process. While the viewers are exposed to the finished product, film directors, actors, editors among other members of the team bring in together a variety of resources to make the film making the process a success. The film making process has always been an area of special interest to me as I have always wanted to better my skills in the field. There are various genres of film that are produced to cater for a largely variant audience base. Through the skills and knowledge gained in the film class, it will be possible to bring new changes and ideas in the film industry thereby facilitating for the betterment of the film making process and the way in which the final product gets presented to the intended audience.
The making of the movie “The quiet Place.”
With a budget of between $17-$21 million dollars and grossing at $340 million in the Box Office the movie “The quiet Place” is a film that managed to meet its purpose (Krasinski, 2018). The film was directed by John Krasinski and produced by Andrew Form, Michael Bay and Brad Fuller. The film is a science fiction- horror genre movie. The plot development revolves around a father (Krasinski) and a mother (Emily Blunt) who struggle to survive and raise their children in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind extraterrestrial creatures with an acute sense of hearing. Drawing inspiration from other films such as; Alien, In the Bedroom and No Country for Old Men, the film was able to meet the audience expectations. However, to deliver this level of quality to the viewers, there was a lot of work that was done behind the scenes.
Interest 1- Choosing Characters
John Karasinski is a director who has stood out in the world of film making. This has made him one of the directors whom I highly admire and look up to in the movie industry. His daring, as well as unique presentations in his works, have been attributed to as the key characteristics that enable him to stand out from other directors. For instance, in the making of the movie A Quiet Place, Millicent Simmonds, who plays Regan Abbot, who is a deaf character, is actually deaf in real life. Amazing right? The director was able to prove that disability is not inability and ensured that the desired character was able to play the required role. To ensure that the Millicent was able to play the required role, the members of the cast learnt sign language and were able to accommodate her in the film. This brought out a special aspect of the film industry and the pushing of limits and boundaries to attain the desired outcomes.
Interest 2- Sound
Sound is a critical aspect of the film that is used to achieve various requirements. For instance, the sound is the main communication tool in any work of film besides the motion pictures. Sound has also been used to help in achieving the desired dramatic effect in a movie. In horror films especially, sound helps to create the required tension and scare required. For instance, whispers in the dark can be scary, given that the viewer doesn’t know where the sound may be coming from. Similarly, a devilish laugh or a loud bang are sounds that can be used to deliver the desired effects to the intended audience.
The movie A Quiet Place has a title that is synonymous with the plot development of the film. The movie revolved around a family trying to survive in the world after an apocalyptic alien invasion. After the decimation of humanity, the remaining survivors are required to go to extreme measures to get along. The invading extraterrestrial creatures are blind but have a keen auditory sense. As a result, silence is a key necessity for survival in this apocalyptic world. Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl were the sound designers in the film and played an essential role in ensuring that the desired sound outcomes were achieved. Sound designers Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl at E² Sound not only created the varying level of quiet sounds for this film, but they also created all the creatures’ sounds (“How A Quiet Place’s essential sound was created: | A Sound Effect”, 2020). They’re “creature sound” experts at this point (“How A Quiet Place’s essential sound was created: | A Sound Effect”, 2020).
While the audience may think that most of the sounds in the film are all-natural and recorded, however, the sound engineers played an important role in the making of the film and having the desired sound effects. Having done the sound effects for other recent award-winning films such as Pacific Rim Transformers, Godzilla among other movies, Erik and Van der Ryn are experts in the film sound engineering sector. In an interview, Ethan says that the making of the soundtracks and sound effects in the film was an exciting experience where they were able to experiment with new ideas and concepts. Erik, on the other hand, says that their intention was to make sure that the audience would pay attention to every sound aspect of the film. The sound engineers say that it is necessary to understand that every soundtrack in the film is key to the logic of the film.
Such expertise and mastery of skill in the film sound engineering is a key motivation that sparks a huge interest in my film studies. Using advanced computing software, it will be possible to ease the task and also enhance the quality of the sound in the film. With innovations already being worked on in 3-D sound and other special effects that will have an almost natural effect on the film audio, movies are only expected to get better with time.
Conclusion
As identified before, the film industry is an essential sector in society today. They are serving various roles such as economic roles in the society, entertainment, educative roles, among other roles, the importance of the industry can be clearly seen. Filmmakers, on the other hand, have continued to improve the quality of movies produced. This has been evidenced through film directors such as John Karasinski and other workers behind the scenes such as sound experts like Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl. With such impressive works taking place, I fell challenged to be a part of the revolution. My interests in the film making process have been heavily impacted by the works of such renowned contributors in the field. With a revolution taking part in the film industry, every interested party should make it a personal responsibility to ensure that their impact or contribution is felt in one way or another.
References
How A Quiet Place’s essential sound was created: | A Sound Effect. (2020). Retrieved 17 May 2020, from https://www.asoundeffect.com/a-quiet-place-sound/
Krasinski, J. (2018). A quiet place. Paramount Pictures