Horror

Goals

• Explore the psychological and emotional curiosity for and impact of horror art on individuals and society
• Analyze the unique aesthetic qualities of horror art.
• Understand and utilize some basic principles of film and television analysis.

Buffy Discussion- Feb 12, 2014

There is a scene in the episode where it shows various characters sleeping and as they breathe there is white smoke-like air coming from their mouths as they exhale. The scene starts with a ghoulish looking character setting down a box, which is collecting these breaths. There is an example of non-digetic sound that contributes to the dramatic effect of these breaths being collected. As the camera shifts from character to character the music builds with suspense and adds to the horror. The closing of the scene ends with the vampire closing the box and the music closes perfectly with a shot of the scary looking character smiling with bad intentions in mind. The non-diegetic sound that is played shifts the mood to add suspense and gives the viewer a sense of impending trouble for these characters. I chose this scene because it adds to the aesthetic of horror for the video. It is a mysterious scene that ends with a scary character.  This scene contributes to the horror of the following scene, which shows that Buffy and the other characters cannot speak. The music in the background while these characters are struggling to talk reveals the horror they are going through. Mise-en-scene is present in the scene where Buffy and friends wake up to find their voices missing. You can sense the panic in the characters as they are attempting to make a sound, but to no avail. Their performances show panic and confusion.  The performance of Buffy as she finds she cannot speak adds to the aesthetic of the horror of the episode. You can clearly see her trying to yell, “Can you hear me?!” with intense body language. She does not make a sound and the worry in her face is clearly shown. I liked the performance of the characters during this specific scene because they did a good job of acting out their fear of losing the ability to speak.

There is a scene where Buffy is daydreaming during class. The dream reveals a make out session followed by a little girl singing a creepy song. Buffy is then touched on the shoulder by her fellow make out friend and as she turns to look he has turned in a “Freddy” looking horror character. The music is very suspenseful and when the hand touches her shoulder the music climaxes and reveals the scary character. The music stops and the voice of the teacher awaken Buffy. “So I’ll see you all Monday for a final review session”. I liked this scene because it is something that many people can relate to. The voice of the teacher that is ending the current class session and those final words before everyone leaves. This digetic sound did not contribute to the aesthetic horror of the film. However, it was a nice transition from a scene that was aesthetically horrific to snap back into a milder scene. This is an example of digetic sound because of the voice of a character in the episode.

Reflection:

This assignment was very helpful in understanding the different elements of a horror film. I watched the episode with intent to see what elements were put into the film to give it qualities of horror. Non-digetic, digetic sound, and mise-en-scene are important elements in creating a horror film. These elements can make or break a horror film. Understanding what these elements were helped to analyze and dissect the film.

The Aesthetics of Horror file was helpful in defining these different elements of horror. The episode from Buffy was very helpful in analyzing the non-diegetc, diegetic, and mise-en-scene aspects of a film. The episode was fairly basic, but clear in the presentation of these different elements. This video provides an example of non-diegetic sound within a film. This is a key element in horror films. This music and sound that is coming from outside the story space greatly adds to the suspense of the scene.

Future: I have already begun to apply these practices in how I view horror films. I recently watched, The Grudge and was able to identify the different aspects in the film thanks to this section and assignment. I have continued to look for these types of elements in other films that I watch.

Aesthetics of Horror:

http://blogs.uoregon.edu/aad250shuette/files/2009/09/FilmConcepts.pdf

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