After watching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode, I found the sound effects have a great contribution on the aesthetic of horror, which also create a sense of tension for the viewer as a classic horror film.
Diegetic: at the beginning of the video, Buffy and Willow had a talk at the last few minutes of the class in her dream, and then a noise is being produces at this moment like a girl sing a song about the box, which is a dietetic sound. Also, after they pack up their backpacks, there still exists a sound within this scene. These kinds of sound build in a movie indicate that there is some horrible things will happen, and these diegetic sounds add aesthetic value of horror for this film.
Non-Diegetic: owing to there was no speaking throughout the most of episode. I remember when Buffy and her friend wake up in the morning after their voices are stolen, there is a slow and creep background music added in this scene. And also even the sound of wind was exaggerated by the director. These kinds of non-diegetic sound make viewer feel uneasy and haunted. Also the non-diegetic adds a dramatic effect in the horror movie and had a best use of aesthetic value of horror to appeal the audience’s mood.
Mise-en-scene: when the video begins at 13:32 minutes, the director created a scene that a mysterious hand slowly opens a small wooden box in a clock tower with eerie sound effects, which indicate that there is something unordinary will be happen. The mystery man does not reveal the face until after the voices were stolen. Then I was scared when the man closing the box and revealing his scary white face with deep dark eyes during this scene, which all contribute to the aesthetic of horror for the video. Also, I believe the way of vampire man use floating instead of walking and scary smile was designed very well for the horror video, which also has aesthetic value of horror.
You use some great examples from the show to form your discussion about the horror aesthetics. your diagetic and non-diagetic examples are ones that I also noticed in the show. However, when it comes to the mise-en-scene I noticed that you focused on the actors performance and movements on the set. I was wondering when you were watching this specific scene if you had noticed the lighting on the set. one thing that i have noticed when i watch horror movies is the lighting that they decide to use in certain scenes. The way the set is lit actually has a very strong influence on the horror aesthetics of a film. the lighting can change the entire mood of not only the motion picture but also change the mood of the audience. next time you watch a horror film I urge you to take a look at the lighting.
I thought that you brought up some great examples and explained yourself in a clear manner. It was easy to follow and was awesome that you included the time stamp when analyzing the Mise-en-scene. The only critique that I have is I feel like you focused only on how the characters responded to scenes. You discuss the sound of the film and how influential it can be to the mood of the scene. Your briefly discuss the aesthetic qualities but I wish that you would have gone more in depth on aesthetics. You could have expanded your thought about the use of the mysterious box and how all the components helped create that eerie feeling amongst the audience. You mention the scary smile of the vampire. It is a great tactic and visual representation to add ambiguity to the scene without the use of sound.
Hey Jack, I really appreciate your suggestion about how the sound effect related to the aesthetic value of horror movie. From the episode, when the box is opened, the editor add a fast tempo which is ominous non-diegetic noise cover a eerie sound that is an aesthetic content to instill fear and anxiety in the audience and signal that a threat is nearby . Also, at the end of the video,( Buffy and her friend fight with the followers of the vampires), the background music is using symphonic music, which would built up tension to explode in a shock for the viewer. Also, the higher volume of sound will increase your sensitivity and change the mood of the film. Like when you are reading in quiet situation, a sudden loud sound would make you jump out of your seat. These kinds of sound effects are also a way of aesthetic of horror to apply in many thrillers or horror films. I hope my explanation will work for you.
I enjoyed reading your different examples for diagetic, non-diagetic and mise-en-scene. There were so many different examples for non-diagetic and mise-en-scene it was interesting to see what you chose. I also noticed that there was hardly and dialogue in this episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Do you think the lack of dialogue could be considered misc-en-scene because the director intentionally did this to convey a creepy horrific feeling?
I think the example you used for non-diagetic sound was very good. It is a scene that I did not even consider because of the lack of sound. However, it was the silence that made this scene eerie. Everything was completely silent for a few minutes and it contributes to the feeling of urgency that the viewer has to fix the problem.