Category: Unit 06

To be honest from the start, I am not a fan of horror.

I watched a movie which had some horror elements in it when I was young, and it left a shadow in my heart. I just don’t understand why people want to make something to scare others, and why some people enjoy being scared.

Personally, I am not afraid I called man-made horror. Although I know that all horror movie or pictures are all fake, I still categorize them into two big types. One is “man-made”, another is “realistic”.

By saying man-made horror, I mean things that created by director or artists to scare people. They use computer and makeup techniques to create a kind of feeling of terror, and I guess I can accept this type of things as long as I know they are absolutely all mythical.

Here are some examples to illustrate:

http://www.picswalls.com/horror-wallpaper/

http://www.horror-extreme.com/asian-horror-movies/

Another type is realistic horror. I don’t like this type of horror because either stories or characters are all created based on real life. For example, many movies use mirror as an important prop to create horror motions, and I will start be afraid that there is something appear in mirror every time I look at mirror. Another example is mansion where lots of horror stories happened, so every time I visit my friend who lives in mansion I cannot sleep well. I just can’t help thinking scary thing even I know those stories are all fake.

Here are some examples to illustrate:

http://screenpicks.com/2012/11/note-to-hollywood-no-more-horror-sequels/

http://blogs.slj.com/connect-the-pop/2012/11/english/guest-post-by-miguel-rodriguez-opportunities-for-rich-discussion-and-literary-analysis-overcoming-the-stigma-of-the-horror-genre-part-2/

Like I said before, I am not a fan of horror movie or pictures or whatever, I just don’t get it why people choose to be scared. Lots of my friends tell me they have fun when they watch horror movies and I probably would never understand what kind of fun they could had.

Non-Diegetic Sound

The example I like to choose for non-diegetic sound is happened at 13:21 to 14:42 of the movie. A big clock appears pointing to around 1 AM while people are all in deep sleep. The reason I pick this piece of sound as an example is that I think this is a kind of sound that horror movies always use, which is just use musical instruments to provide deep down and terror effects. There is no people voice at all and it just a piece of background music. It is non-visible on the screen and it has not been showed to be present in the action. I guess this kind of sound in movie called effect sound and in terms of this piece, it absolutely contributes to the aesthetic of horror for this movie because I feel afraid by just listening it. I even has to get off my headphones because I am afraid of it.

Digetic Sound

In the movie form 40:40 to 41:03, there is only one sound, which is a very long screech from actress. This sound is visible on the screen because it is a voice of character. I call it actual sound and the reason I pick up it is very obvious. In this short twenty seconds, this one sound push the movie to the pick and this is the most exciting part of this movie since they finally find the right way to beat those vampires. People’s voice is a very important element in this movie and this shows again the importance of that screaming. I think this sound contributes a little aesthetic of horror for that move but not in a horror way. What I mean is that if I ask someone who never watched this movie to hear that twenty seconds screaming, she most likely will feel terror and be afraid of it. But the point is people who watched this movie will think this screaming is not horror but victory. They finally end all of this nightmare because of this screaming, so that’s why I say this sound means a lot in this movie but not in a horror way.

Mise-en-scene

I choose the first one minute as an example of mise-en-scene sound. A women’s voice appears while many students taking notes on frames, and in just few seconds I already know this voice must from a professor and this story starts in probably college. I think sound and picture are not from the same person is a really good way to start a movie because people more likely to feel interesting this way than let’s say, a female professor is talking about final exam in class. The main reason I choose this part as an example is that I think it attracts me in just few seconds and I want to see what’s going on, and I think this is a really successful beginning for a movie. I also can guess that girl in first frame must be actress in this movie, and that guy stand by side must have something to do with her. I think this part does not necessarily contribute the aesthetic of horror for the movie because this is just a start. However, I think the most horror movie is whose story based on real daily life. For example, something happened at home or school, these are really normal and common place that everyone might go, and using these place as the theme to make a horror movie is a smart choice since everyone would connect the movie with their real life after they watch the movie.