Artifact 4- Horror

In unit 6 we learned about the aesthetic aspects of horror art and explored the curiosity that humans have with the art of horror. We first learned about digetic sound, non-digetic sound, and mise-en-scene, all of which are different ways sound, setting, characters, lighting, etc. are used in horror films. These three aspects help set the stage for a horror film and help to tie the whole film together to create a scary and mysterious vibe. We were asked to watch an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and to analyze it with digetic sound, non-digetic sound, and mise-en-scene in mind. This exercise helped me to get a better understanding of the art of horror. Before this assignment when I would watch horror shows or movies I never took the time to think about what it really is that makes something scary. I did not consider how the lighting, background music, or set could add to the horror of a film, I only really thought about how the characters made a film scary. I am a huge fan of the television show American Horror Story and before this assignment all I really got from the show was a good scare for the night. Now when watching it, I am able to analyze what it really is about the episode that is making me scared. I take into consideration all the aspects of the set, music, and characters that help to make the episodes as scary as they are.

Another portion of this unit was to get an understanding for why exactly humans are so attracted to horror films. From this assignment I learned that some people are just wired to like horror. They get a rush of dopamine that is released in their brains when watching horror films that they really enjoy, so they continue to watch them in order to access this feeling. Another aspect of enjoying the art of horror is the curiosity that humans have with the death, pain, and the adrenaline that comes from the experiences in horror films. Humans want to be able to understand all these things without having to actually experience them first hand. For this reason humans are able to enjoy horror films and shows. They can go through the same experience as the audience but do not have to endure the actual physical pain and worry because they know that what they are watching will not actually happen to them. For unit 6 we were asked to do research on the art of horror. We had to find two articles that related to this topic. The two articles I found helped me to further my understanding of the reasons why humans are attracted to horror. This was something I was very interested in because I am someone who enjoys horror films and shows. It is captivating to me that even though these films and shows can scare me for days and even weeks, I still chose to continuously watch them. I am glad that I now know the reasons behind this, because when I first started watching horror movies and televisions shows like American Horror Story I was a little worried about my curiosity for such horrifying film. This was definitely one of my favorite units because it helped me to get an understanding of something that was very relevant in my life during the time of the assignment.