Mise-en-scene:
Around the 23 minute mark, the setting changes to the clock tower to indicate that it is almost 2am. It then cuts to a door that appears to swing open by itself, in order to show two pairs of legs wearing suits levitating a few inches above the floor, followed by a person walking quickly while crouching. The camera is aimed at the floor in order to hide the upper bodies of the legs, but most of the body of the crouched man. The two levitating figures then float by the clock tower shown previously, joined by others like themselves and the third man out the door. I believe the camera angle was used to show the mysterious nature of the levitating people in order to add horror, as it was followed by a shot that clearly showed the scary face of one of these men in suits as the woman looked out the window. I chose this scene because it seemed to purposely reveal an important amount of uncertainty to the city-wide loss of vocalized communication.
Non-diagetic:
Around the 26 minute mark, one of the characters opened his dorm room door to two of the scary looking suited men, as two of the crouched men in undone straight-jackets hurry in to hold him down. The suited men have closed eyes, and typical horror movie music starts playing. The music picks up in volume and tempo as the character realizes that the suited men are pulling out scalpels to cut him open. This music was from an unknown source that began after the sound of knocking, and drowned out the sound of the crickets that were heard a few seconds earlier. While this music would not be present were something like this to actually happen, the fact that it replaced any sound of talking or screaming added to the helplessness of a person unable to use his voice as these creatures harvested his organs.
Diagetic:
In the scene following the one where the men in suits silently clapped to the jars of hearts, the professor uses a projector to ask questions using transparencies that he had already written on. While fairy tale monsters stealing human hearts would be a terrifying prospect, he can’t speak. The only sounds that can be heard are those of the shuffling of transparencies where he tells the students the story of these strange people. This further emphasizes the helplessness of the people in the town, as they are unable to discuss killing these creatures vocally, instead writing on dry-erase boards about Buffy’s task.
Hi, Stefanie, I am totally agree with your example of Non-diagetic sound, diagetic sound and mise en scene in your post. You said that:”This further emphasizes the helplessness of the people in the town, as they are unable to discuss killing these creatures vocally, instead writing on dry-erase boards about Bu.” I think that the movie truly demonstrate the helplessness of the students by using diagetic sound because diagetic sound would always happen in our daily life. However, I believe that non-diagetic sound is more important in movies to show the horror atmosphere for audience because it can always show up in any exciting point in the movie to make audience involve in the drama. Which sound do you think is more important for movie to provide a horrible atmosphere for people? Non diagetic sound or diagetic sound?
I would agree that the non-diagetic sounds in this episode of Buffy were more important to tell the story. They are definitely a crucial component of the atmosphere of horror movies and TV shows, but the fact that they don’t have an identifiable source doesn’t really advance the plot of the movie. While a noise coming from within a house adds a very real element of danger and mystery, the non-diagetic creepy music simply adds suspense without necessarily introducing any monsters, strangers, zombies, etc. So, although I believe that the non-diagetic sounds were more important in this episode of Buffy since everyone lost their ability to speak, I think that diagetic sounds are more important to horror movies overall. Without any dialog or identifiable sources of noises, there isn’t really a plot to captivate us. As Carroll explained in tonight’s reading, one of the primary allures of horror movies is the process of identifying, explaining, and confronting the source of fear. Also important is the different speeds at which the characters and viewers complete this process. Non-diagetic sounds are certainly an important part of adding horror, but don’t contribute as much to the process I have summarized.
I really enjoyed the breakdown you outlined for each category. The only thing I have a criticism about is the fact that I wish you would have emphasized more on the musicality then the actual scene that you saw. The music is what made the episode what it was and pulled emotions into the scenes. A deeper understanding of how and why sound could have such an effect would be a cool thing worth exploring! Thanks