The example I choose from Buffy is the scene at 2:21. When the man character kissed the women character, the scene suddenly has changed. A full filled college classroom turned into classroom with nobody but only women and man character. And the sound of a singing girl suddenly showed up, here it is diegetic sound. I choose this scene as example because it did contribute to the aesthetic of horror, due to it is transition between a romantic scene to a horror. Terrified and attracted audiences and pushing plot to the next phase.
The next example for non-diegetic sound I choose is the scene at 13:30. Here was the bell of a church ringing and scary sound in the background. Then wired hands opened a box, with lots of sound of muttering and echoing, mystery fogs (peoples’ voices) coming out of peoples’ mouths into that box. This scene also contributed to the aesthetic of horror because it is the foreshadowing of the next phases.
The example of mise-en-scen is pretty straightforward due to it is very common technique and trait in any movies. The clip I choose is from 22:50, several zombies was walking or floating on the street. I do not think it contributed to the aesthetic of horror because there were no plots or story tell what were them, these zombies just suddenly showed up and terrified audiences.
I like reading your post. At first, the diegetic sound example is very typical. The singing girl is very horror. Only one girl is singing in a dark hall. It scared me because usually children are fearful dark, but this girl is very peaceful. In addition, the girl is still singing when she saw other people. However, she is not blind. So I thought that she is a vampire or ghost. Secondly, I also choose similar non-diegetic example with you. In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, at night, the background music is very scary especially when people losing voice. All in all, I just DISagree with your idea about mise-en-scen. I think any horror costumes, lighting, actor’s performances, figure expression, movement, environmental setting are mise-en-scen. Like you said, maybe in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the vampire’s makeup is not horror, but it contributes and creates a horror environment and scene, so it contributes the aesthetic of horror.
Nice to see that we choose the same example for the diegetic sound. I am expressed by the sudden change of the scene, from nice and happy into horror. The girl’s song is really wired and makes me worried. However, for your example of non-diegetic sound, I still think the bell ringing is coming from the bell in church, which is within the scene. According to our lecture note, non-diegetic sound is the sound “coming from the source outside story”. Moreover, I think your example of mis-en-scen does contribute to the aesthetic of horror. According to our lecture notes, the mise-en-scene includes the “production design, colour, lighting, performance, framing, diegetic sound”. Therefore even the factors without plot can contribute the sense of horror. The movement and figure of the zombies are very scary for me. I feel worried when it comes dark and the zombies move around carrying wired smile on their faces.
Hi, Shengyuan. I read your post and I agree with your opinion to the example of diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound. I choose the same example of non-diegetic sound with you. However, I disagree with your argument to your example of mise-en-scen. You said this example did not contribute to the aesthetic of horror because there were no plots or story tells what they were and they just suddenly showed up and terrified audiences. I think we do not need to know where these zombies come from because it is not the key for the horror video. The key of horror is the unknown so that makes people feel scared. In addition, this video just is an episode so maybe the source of these zombies already is introduced before or will be introduced in the future. Anyways, the result is these zombies terrified audiences so I believe it contribute to the aesthetic of horror.