mise-en-scene: Color has always been something that fascinates me so that is what I focused on when looking for an example for mise-en-scene. The color at 3:43 struck me and remained with me as I continued to watch the show. Buffy’s red sweater is very bright and eye popping, which can be attributed to the sweater being the brightest color in the scene. The guy is wearing dull green, red, and blue and the walls are beige with brown. These aspects allow the red sweater to really catch the viewer’s attention and draw that viewer in. The use of the red sweater adds vivid color to the scene and allows the viewer to identify Buffy in the scene. Given she has the bright sweater and it is early in the show, the objective is for the viewer’s eye to be drawn to Buffy. This adds to the aesthetic of horror for the video because it sets up the viewer to be drawn to Buffy throughout the rest of the show.
diegetic sound: At 40:40, Buffy ends over 25 minutes of no verbal dialog from the characters with a yelping scream. Buffy is the clear source of the sound and she is visible on screen, which is an example of diegetic sound. The use of no verbal dialog adds extra meaning to Buffy’s scream because it breaks the silence and kills the zombies. This signifies the end of another episode and horror adventure. This scream adds to the aesthetic of horror for the video because it is a clear message that Buffy is breaking the silence along with the evil. Buffy is once again victorious and lives to fight in another horror episode.
non-diegetic sound: The music played as the box is opened 13:30 is very spooky and mysterious. In horror and mystery films sound is often added for dramatic effect and this episode of Buffy is no different. The music sets the stage for the show and tells the viewer how to feel about the scene. If it were a happy song played at that moment then I would feel much different about the clock. In the show the clock seems very ominous and a possible place of dwelling for bad things. This use of non-diegetic sound definitely adds to the aesthetic of horror for the video. As described above the music is so eerie that it plays on the viewer’s emotion and draws in their attention.
You picked two of the three scenes that I did! The scream from buffy at the end of the episode is a huge diagetic sound source. As I wrote in my own post, it marks a big point in the episode for a lot of reasons. The clock tower was also a great scene, as it slowly gives us information in a way that keeps the viewer engaged, but curious at the same time. It’s like Carroll says in the reading about “the drama of iterated disclosure.” We are led along by the mystery of what is going to happen.
As for the red sweater, I did notice that it was very easy to pick out Buffy in the classroom, but I didn’t notice it beyond that. I have noticed that a lot of television shows will do this if there is a big crowd. Making the main character wear a bright color while making everyone else wear dull colors is an easy way to distinguish which character is important.
These are all really good examples. I think the episode had a lot of different examples that we could have all used. Personally, I didn’t think to use Buffy’s scream as my example of diagetic sound, even as obvious as it was. I think that your mise-en-scene example was the most enjoyable for me, however. I was so focused on looking for examples that involved horror specifically, I didn’t even recognize things like color that can add to the anxiety and anticipation. Well done catching some of the more difficult examples.