I chose this image over the others because
there was an eerie feel about it that really appealed to me. Upon a first look at the image, I noticed a
lot of tension between the couple and decided that would be the starting point
for my concept. The setting played out well for my idea - The ‘perfect couple’
living in a nice suburban house but having an entirely dysfunctional
relationship. Due to the distance between the two subjects I instantly felt,
deceit and lack of trust would be two good areas to hit on. Originally, my
intention was to build up the tension in the picture but having re-read the
brief, I decided it would be best to not just intensify the tension on screen
but to create something morbidly terrifying and in doing this I feel I achieved
my prospect of giving the image an entirely new story. My concept plays a lot
on commitment. So the fairly old man sat on the bed has had an ongoing affair
that unfortunately resulted to the murder of his lover that his wife returns
home to witness after a long day at a job she can’t stand.
Before deciding on this option, I did a
little research on Gregory Crewdson and came across an Interview he had with
‘THE AMERICAN READER’ in which he discusses how he comes up with the ideas and
components of each photograph. From his responses, I gathered what was meant by
limitation in photography and lack of human connection. In each of the
photographs, the subject(s) seem to be alienated/secluded and often with a
solemn look on their face. The beauty of this is how open the photograph is
left to interpretation. For me I took that lack of human connection all the way with my designated photograph. As an outsider looking in I could feel the disconnect between the subjects and thought it would be a good Idea to use that to my advantage. Having thought of my idea, it was time to go out and find sounds that could potentially bring out the emotion you couldn't see/feel on screen. I felt the concept of drowning would be a good metaphor for this picture. Water seems pretty harmless and effortless, but a lot of it can do fatal damage and I wanted to use this to mirror the relationship of the two characters.
That said, I did a lot of searching online for sounds that could potentially build up that emotion but was finding it rather hard. So instead I had my friend gargle underwater and used FX sounds online to seal the effect of something drowning and sinking downwards. Also, I tried to emphasise the severity of the situation through the environment. Wind howling, rain dripping outside, the couple next door having an argument that literally seeps through their walls and of course, rapid breathing and grunting to emphasise violence. In terms of my imagery, I didn't feel entirely good about moving the image and ended up leaving it still and editing it to suit my sound film. The Red tint to the photo serves as contrast to the water metaphor and shows this sadistic act stirred from love. So I guess that opens one to the idea that sick and twisted things can be done out of love or fear of disappointment.
All in all, this project was extremely helpful. I feel a lot more experienced in Sound design now and carry on the knowledge from this project to future ones.
