Horror
Do you believe in what you see?
OBJECTIVES
- Explore the psychological and emotional curiosity for and impact of horror art on individuals and society.
- Understand and utilize some basic principles of film and television analysis.
ORIGINAL POST
Enjoying Horror Discussion
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.
REFLECTION
Like I said in my blog, I am not a fan of horror because 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 know why many people do in fact enjoy watching horror films and reading scary books. Even though I don’t like horror, I learned a lot about it by studying this unit. One objective that I felt very interesting was: exploring the emotional and psychological curiosity for and impact of horror art on individuals and society. I think the most attractive part in horror movies or books is the unknown things. People enjoy scary things because they want to know what would happen next. In Carroll’s Why Horror, he states that “pleasure derives from having our interest in the outcome of such questions satisfied” (Carroll, 277). I guess that’s why people won’t be scared if they watch a horror movie the second time.
I was also excited to analyze different sound effects in horror movie after I knew that there are several different kinds of effects which could lead to various results. Like I posted in my blog, I could understand and recognize some basic sound effects such as non-diegetic, diegetic, and mise-en-scene sound. I felt like it was very interesting when I just plugged my earphones and listened sound effects, but I still felt scary. I think this is the beauty of sound, so in this perspective, I definitely think sound is a kind of art. Here again makes me think of the limitation of art, which is none I think, because it seems like everything could be considered as art. Paintings, buildings, sound, and even foods could be seemed as art (I discussed food as art in my artifact page Food As Art). These elements made up our daily life, and I think this is why people are saying life is a piece of art.
Bibliography:
FUTURE
I thought I might want to enjoy a horror movie after taking this class, but I turn off my television within three minutes after the movie start. I guess I just don’t like the feeling that be scared, and I don’t curious about what would happen next neither, so I think I will just leave horror movie away. Like I said, I really learned a lot form this unit, especially the part about sound technical terms in films. I think I will explore this area in the future; for example, I will look up more kinds of sound effect and try to recognize them with my eyes closed during a movie, which could be any kind but horror.
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Table of Contents
· What is Art?
· Food As Art
· Adornment
· Horror
· Creative Spirituality
· Technology
· Remix
· Public Art
· Bibliography
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