Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Diegetic- I chose the example of the when the demons take everyone’s voices away and Buffy’s friend is walking through the hall without any sound and then suddenly a man comes down the hall with a glass off water and it crashes on the floor. Since there was no sound at all and the crashing of the glass hitting the ground was a perfect example of diegetic sound. I can’t watch scary movies because of unexpected loud sounds like the crashing of the glass because it makes it even scarier. I liked this example because we learned that it is the voices of the characters, which was taken away and then sounds made my objects in the story, which was the glass.
Non -Diegetic sound- I chose the scene when Buffy is walking in the street looking for monsters and it is completely silent. There are no sounds or voicing occurring in the scene. The only thing that is playing is the background music with a fighting sound. The music gets more intense and louder as the scene continues and right before something dramatic is about to happen it quickly shuts off. The must puts the audience in a questioning, on edge experience because we don’t know what is going to happen or what to expect. I thought this was a good example because there are no other sounds in the scene besides the background music that is creating fear for the audience. It is doing exactly what we learned about, creating sound effects to make a dramatic effect.
Mise- en- scene- The example I chose is the complexion of the vampires. The creators dressed the vampires in dark suits and made them seem in a “darker” mood. Also their make up was extremely pale. The make up made them look like they were almost dead and the dark outfits really contrasted with the paleness of their skin. I thought this was a good example because of how the creators had to create these vampires to look real and actually scary. I thought they did a good job using the lighting, make up and attire to make them look like vampires. They did a good job with the costumes in creating something that needed to be scary to reach out to the audience.
Hi Janie,
I loved how for diegetic sound, you chose the scene where the demons take everyone’s voices away and the glass of water crashes to the floor. This is a perfect example of diegetic sound because the source of the sound is directly on the screen made by the breaking glass. I also appreciate how you included details about the complexion and costume creation of the vampires for the mise-en-scene. This aspect of any type of horror film or show is definitely one of the most important elements in order to make something completely unrealistic, actually look realistic and terrifying. One thing that you could have possibly added is to talk a little more about the setting and background of the scenes with the vampires which leads up to the episode’s climax.
Hi Janie,
Diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound, and mise-en-scene are all very important factors when it comes to viewing and interpreting horror films. They affect the scene in their very own unique ways, which cause the viewers to become immersed in the film. These elements set up and carry out each horror scene and give the audience the fearful emotions that they all desire. In a way, these several elements set up, or give away what is about to happen next in the scene. You can always infer what the next thing that happens based on the music and camera angle of the scene. For the most part people enjoy pleasure more than anything else. However, Carroll argues that “many people do seek out horror fictions for the purpose of deriving pleasure from sights and descriptions that customarily repulse them” (Carroll,1). Would you agree with Carroll’s statement? Or do you desire more pleasurable emotions?