CUROSITY

Horror genre in films and televisions have evolved and grown over the years. When I watch horror movies I usually end up not wanting to look. So what exactly makes me watch it? Movies like The Shining, paranormal activity, The Walking Dead, The exorcism and so many more. Horror has the intention to instill people with fear, yet everyone including my self still want to watch it. Why is that?

In the first article I found it’s called Why do Some Brains Enjoy Fear? Which is the science behind the appeal of haunted houses, freak shows and physical thrills. This certain article is interviewing Dr. Margee Kerr who is a scare specialist. And the question that was asked; what fear was and why some people enjoy it so much. What happens in our brains when we are scared? Is it different when were scared in a fun way or versus being actually afraid. This article stated that “to really enjoy a scary situation, we have to know were in a safe environment”. Watching scary movies is all about trigging different responses and getting the adrenaline, endorphins and dopamine flowing! But when triggering these certain responses you need to be in a safe place. That is the difference of being actually scared more then just the fun way. Horror movies allow us to be scared but not a real scared for your life scared, more of a controlled scared. This fake form of fear lets us get away for some time and enjoy fear that really poses no real threat to any individual. The Adrenaline, endorphins and dopamine all start flowing, but in a safe way which allows us to enjoy it. Both of the two articles Carrolls and the interview with Dr Margee Kerr suggest that the people who love horror are the ones who know that it just a movie, there is no possible way they can be harm. They are all in a controlled environment while watching this film. Horror films are all about the unknown, but while feeling safe. Horror films are all based on curiosity, trying to find the unknown. Being Safe in a environment allows you to have the curiosity which relates back to Carrolls article. The difference between people hating horror films and not is the unknown and the curiosity of the unknown. One of Carrolls  main ideas is that ‘Monsters, are the natural subjects of curiosity” (Carroll).

The Second article I found was called Why Some People Love Horror Movies While Others Hate it by Margarita Tartakovsky. The first thing she explains is the excitation transfer process which you get while watching a horror film. This is one of the ways why someone would enjoy a horror film because the way it makes them feel after the film. There are negative reactions and positive reactions but the spark of it sticks with you for time after the film. People have different wiring, and you might have a different physiological reaction if your more sensitive. Tartakovsky said “about 10 percent of the population enjoy the adrenaline rush.” He also explains why some people turn to scary movies because of novelty. Sparks happen in horror films when you say “you don’t see that everyday” Which means that in horror films you get to see things that isn’t the norm. Like I said in my discussion topic, You don’t see little girls in real life singing creepy songs, you see them singing fun songs like ring around the rosie. This whole article explains why people do and don’t enjoy horror movies, which I think some of the main reasons tie back to the Noel Carrols article, Why Horror.

One of Carrols ideas that ties back to Tartakovsky is that horror story’s is driven explicitly by curiosity. “It engages its audience by being involved in processes of disclosure, discovery, proof, explanation, hypothesis and confirmation.”(Carroll) Which compares to what Tartakovsky said. “Since danger disrupts routine, curiosity about change is important for survival.”(Tartakovsky)  I think both of them have a main point that horror films create curiosity. Curiosity keeps everyone coming back for more and searching for that unknown.

It’s interesting that in the end, I related both of the articles to the theme curiosity. Both articles main ideas I found all revolved around curiosity of the unknown.

Ringo, A. (2013). Why do Some Brains Enjoy Fear. Atlantic Media Company. Retrieved on February 17,2014 from, http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/why-do-some-brains-enjoy-fear/280938/

 Carroll, N. (2002). Why Horror?. In Neill, A. & Riley, A. (eds.) Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2nd ed., Chap. 17). New York, NY: Routledge.

Tartakovsky, M. (2012). Why Some People Love Horror Movies While Others Hate Them. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 17, 2014, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/10/31/why-some-people-love-horror-movies-while-others-hate-them/

Non-diagetic example

There is a mix of non-diagetic and diagetic sounds through out this Buffy episode. The one that I noticed first started at 15:44, was a non-diagetic sound, which appeared as mood music. Both characters lose their voices and figure out that they cant speak. When they figure out this, you can imagine they have fear. The fear is not shown through their voices but the background music that was playing. There are a lot of instruments. A violin is playing and it sounds almost creepy. The violins are playing screechy noises and its not pleasant to the ear. Everyone is in the stage of FEAR. And the music in the background does a great job portraying that. The background music adds the aesthetics of horror. It does this by informing the audience of the fear of the specific situation.

Diagetic Example

A diagetic sound from the Buffy Episode is the basically the main part of the video. Its any two characters talking or having a conversation. It is any actual sound.  The conversations between characters tell us what’s going on the in the story. When the boy and girl talk in and out of class is a diagetic sound. Buffys’ daydream in the beginning of the episode is a diagetic example. Showing Buffy walking down a dark hallway walking towards a little girl chanting shows the aesthetic horror. It shows aesthetic horror because it’s for seeing the next episode.

Mise-en-scene

I think the first scene with Buffy and riley about to kiss is an example of mise-en-scene. Where there kissing on the table, and everything around them disappears in the audience. The way this scene was edited, it influenced this scene in a big way. The elements helped express what the scenes purpose was. The Frame just closes in on them, closing out the whole rest of the environment. The background is darker and everyone disappears. The ascetic horror is a big part of the actors’ performance. Having the camera so close up and always on Buffy helps tell the story. The position of the camera sets up the mood and sense.