Story： The boy has a crush on the most beautiful and affluent girl in his class at a distance. She is so proud that even when she sees him, she only smiles coldly, but the boy is still fascinated by her.
The boy overhears the discussion of his classmates and knows that the girl's birthday is coming soon. He is ecstatic, but only two coins jingle when he opens his wallet. He looks depressed but picks himself up quickly. He spends the whole night preparing a beautiful hand-made card on this day.
Finally, on her birthday, the boy looks at the girl's house from a distance and becomes nervous and hesitant. The sound of his heartbeat is far over the noise in the girl's home. In the evening, when everyone has gone, he finally makes up his mind. He knocks at the door and sees her. He quickly lowers his head and hands the card. "I know it is a little late, but...happy birthday!" "Oh, thanks." The girl takes the card coldly, "Anything else?" The boy stammers and says: "Nothing, I... have to go!" Before he finishes talking, the girl closes the door heavily.
The boy is relieved, but he is full of excitement. He stands in the doorway for a long time, but he hears the sound of cardboard shredding when he leaves. His expression becomes incredulous. He walks to the window to look closer, but he backs away timidly.
The next day, the girl is still the famous queen of the school. But when the boy sees her, he looks no longer happy. He passes her quickly and does not look back.
This week, I am focusing on the functionality of sound. Last week we did a similar topic, but we focused more on dialogue. This week is looking for sound effects and music. Sound can express things not conveyed by the character's actions or dialogue. For example, in my story, when the boy sees a girl he likes, he is nervous and shows it through the sound of his heartbeat. The boy is in distress, and instead of telling someone directly that he has no money, the sound of the coins is more dramatic. The sound of shredding the card contrasts with the carefully prepared writing sound. Although they are not present visually, the invisible elements are more deeply presented to the audience, forming a great sense of difference.
In the film Totoro (https://www.imdb.com/video/vi879797785) of this section of the fragment, the effect of sound developed to get incisively and vividly. At first, the giant Totoro looks oppressive and dangerous in the night rain. But in the next moment, whether the cute sound effects of raindrops on the nose or the witty background music, the atmosphere becomes instantly enjoyable. The audience's resistance to this giant animal turns into acceptance and affection. The subtlety is hard to convey if the sound turns off. And the audience's perception of the giant Totoro might become varies widely.
This week I further thought about how to render the story through the exploration of sound, which plays a significant role in connecting the characters' emotions and expressing a more detailed atmosphere of the story. Even if there is no dialogue, sound effects can help the audience understand information. In this way, we can express the inside world of characters in more detail.
