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Ecstasy successfully uses audio codes, to enhance the sinister tone with the Intention to grasp the audience’s attention and make them feel uncomfortable about the idea of drugs. The track uses non dietetic sound to highlight the themes involved in the extract, influencing the audience to subconsciously see alcohol/drugs as a negative thing. The first and last non-dietetic sound used in the extract is the sound of a heartbeat, even though the sound may be quiet, it is constantly projected throughout at a steady pace.
The sound of the heartbeat can be unnerving as It Is instantly relatable to a person’s health and the body, when the body Is under the Influence of drugs and alcohol the heart becomes erratic. The use of the heartbeat reminds the audience that the heart is a vital part of the body and with the use of drugs the heart is major impacted upon instantly increasing the risk of an early death. Another non-dietetic sound heard at the beginning of the extract is the sound of sirens, even though the sound is faint, it is still audible to the audience. The use of sirens connotes danger, warning and even Illegality.
Whether the sirens represent the police, ambulances or even fire engines, the simple use of the non-delegate sound Is there to make the audience feel cautious. The sound of the sirens has its own sense of authority, making a statement. An additional audio code used throughout the extract was music in the background of the documentary this use of a soundtrack helps to create a tone of seriousness – The tempo of the soundtrack also changes the emotion of the extract; slowing the tempo f the music and deepening the tone creates a disturbing, eerie type of music.
The tone and tempo of the soundtrack varied, depending on what the Information mentioned was – if the mentioned Information was more serious, the tempo would slow down and the tone of the music would deepen. This helps the audience understand the seriousness of what is said in the extract because of the way the music portrays it. More conventional types of audio codes are also used during the extract, box pops are used to show people’s opinions regarding the topic. The use of box pops makes the documentary seem more realistic to the audience, Involving the public within the extract causes the audience, to relate to what they are viewing.
Also the use of box pops/ interviews makes the subject matter seem more realistic as it has real honest opinions of people living in our society. The box pop displays people of different cultures, race, age and ethnicity highlighting that drugs and alcohol affect people all over the world and people of all ages, causing it to be a pressing issue. The SE of different accents in the box pops help give the audience a subconscious idea that alcohol and drug use Is a global issue, and It Impacts of everyone’s lives. Another conventional type of audio code utilized in the extract is a voice over.
The voice over is used in this documentary to Inform and engage the audience, with the without disruption. This typical convention is used in all types of documentary and most types of media, the way in which the voice over speaks is in a strong, demanding, male voice. The audience tends to feel more inclined to pay full attention o the documentary as the voice over is a strong, independent voice. Other than interviews of the public, a professional speaker was also involved in a box pop to give the documentary more credibility.
With the use of a professional speaker it gives the audience reassurance that the documentary contains factual information. By including a person of a highly respected and well paid profession (such as a doctor, scientist etc. ) makes the documentary seem factual, and audiences tend to believe documentaries more if a professional appears with in them. During the extract the reflections helps create a more serious tone by using statistics, facts and his own knowledge to educate the audience regarding the matter at hand.
Furthermore montages of clips also help create imagery for the audience. By using montages of clips during documentaries it displays multiple photographs and images to the audience at one time, it can also help exaggerate the importance and seriousness of why the images are being shown so quickly at the one time. As the montage included images of various tablets, needles and prescriptions it emphasizes how many various hypes of alcohol and drugs are available and the damage it can do to your body.
Interfiles are also used in the extract to make the audience think about the documentary, and open their minds. Within the extract the font used in relation to the subject of drugs and alcohol is a bold font which looked similar to the font that would be used on prescriptions or on medicine bottles, this bold font makes the text stand out. The background of the screen is white in contrast to the thick black lettering, possibly resembling good and evil, innocence and delinquency, or even life ND death.
Also the various sizes in which the words are displayed give the audience an idea of the danger of each word – words with a bigger font are more likely to stand out to the audiences eye, making them more memorable. All together these audio codes work to engage and entice the audience, ensuring they are captivated by what they are viewing. The layering of these techniques help the audience subconsciously absorb the facts given to them without feeling barraged with information creating a far more enjoyable viewing experience, no matter what the subject.