Use the film The Others to explain how a director might use off-screen sounds in a film, and what genres are most likely to use such sounds

What will be an ideal response?

Answer: The ideal answer should include:
1. Off-screen sounds are used by filmmakers to bring off-screen space into play: The sound expands the image beyond the confines of the frame
2. Sound effects can evoke terror in suspense films and thrillers. We tend to fear what we can’t see, so directors will sometimes use off -screen sound effects to strike a note of anxiety. The sound of a creaking door in a darkened room can be more fearful than an image of someone stealing through the door.
3. In genres like ghost stories, suspense thrillers, and tales of the supernatural, off-screen sounds can create a sense of terror lurking beyond the frame.
4. In the psychological thriller, The Others, for example, director Alejandro Amenábar is able to keep the source of terror off-screen for most of the movie by tantalizing the audience with scary off-screen sounds, forcing us to bond with the terrified mother (Nicole Kidman) who is trying to protect her two children in an isolated Victorian mansion.
5. The Others is an excellent example of how Dolby sound, with its multiple sound sources, can spatialize sound, a technique called “the Doppler effect.” Weird sounds literally leap from one area of the image to another, often streaming to the rear theater speakers, giving the audience the scary sensation that they, as well as the character, are surrounded by the sound.