Enjoying Horror Discussion
May 6, 2015
While watching the epsiode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I noticed a lot of examples of non-diagetic sound, diegetic sound, and mise-en-scene. The non-diagetic sound that really stood out to me was the music and how it changed so drastically from one scene to another. When the actors were about to kiss the music would become romantic, when fights scenes were happening there would be intense, violent music and when there was a sense of confusing the music would become eery and ominous. The eery, mystical music really added to a sense of anticipation of what was about to happen and sometimes I though someting was going to pop out in the screen, so it definitely added to the horror aspects.
A diegtic sound example was when the girl was walking through the college room and everyone was silent and then the guy dropped the bottle and it broke. Because the room was so quiet, the sound of the bottle breaking was even more surprising and even caused me to jump!
A mise-en-scene example was the choregraphy of the fight scene with Buffy and the guy against the zombies. The way Buffy was kicking and hitting the zombies and even use a rope to swing and knock over a zombie was all choregraphed to make look real. Also, the face make up of the zombies to make them seem lifeless and grotesque made they seem more believable.
2 Responses to “Enjoying Horror Discussion”
May 6th, 2015 at 10:41 pm
I really enjoyed your post this week for a number of reasons. First, you mentioned the music, which plays a significant role in setting the tone along with adding to the aesthetics of the horror show. Your example of diegetic sound is a great one given the actual sound of the bottle breaking is the sound. The zombies definitely seem lifeless and grotesque so good job bringing up that point. My question to you would be which of the three aspects do you think contribute most to the aesthetics of this specific episode of Buffy.
May 7th, 2015 at 7:18 pm
During the scene where everyone first realized they went mute, and they are all in the room when the bottle drops got me as well. It was like a harsh reality check, reminding everyone that they were suddenly living in silence. It was done really well.
The music during that episode was also done really well. The creepy music during the scene in the bell tower, and the high energy music during fight scenes really got the mood set. Also, the lack of music at times was really important. Like when the bottle breaks, the silence is what made it stick out. If there had been music playing in the background, it would not have been as shocking
You made a lot of good observations in your post, and it was great to read. The other big thing I mentioned in my own post was the scream at the end, Which I’d say is about as important as the bottle breaking. I honestly wasn’t sure which one to pick.