Enjoying Horror Discussion
May 7, 2014
Non-diegetic sound
At around 16:45 in the episode a man gets off the phone when you first hear dramatic sounds like something is going to happen. When you see him get off the phone you see a man tied up with strings and the music seems to get louder for dramatic effect. As the episode gets to 17 minutes the music picks up again and you see two men walking down the stairs where they make eye contact with another person, but say nothing as the dramatic music picks up. When music like this occurs especially in horror films you think that there is something big, or even scary that is about to happen. The use of non-diegetic sound helps keep the viewer interested in the horror film, and also on their toes for something is about to happen. I experience the non-diegetic sound all of the time because I enjoy watching horror films that uses this trait in order to keep the viewers interested.
Diegetic Sound
At around 17:30 in the episode there are a lot of diegetic sounds especially because during this time in the episode there are no words that are actually being spoken. When the two men are on the elevator when they start going up you hear the elevator as it goes up, which is the sound of an actual elevator going up. Also when one man has to open the keypad and enter in a code when he presses each button it makes the noise of what a button would make when being pushed. From the scenario of what is going on in the elevator these sounds are actually crucial in setting the mood of the scene and showing how serious the matter really is. I think that without these diegetic sounds in the scene, it would not seem as serious to the viewers, which would make people less interested in watching.
Mise-en-scen
I think a great example of this is at around 14:30 after everyone shown had a white cloud coming out of their mouth symbolizing there voices, you see all the clouds go to a box that is shut by a vampire. This is a great example of Mise-en-scen because they show the vampire for the first time in the episode and the costume he is wearing. The vampire is very creepy and sets the mood of a horror episode. His eyes and teeth depict a very aggressive and angry vampire, and in some ways how you would depict a vampire in a horror film. Even the box is considered Mise-en-scen because it is a prop that is used to store voices, which is pretty creepy in a horror standpoint. I would say that both the vampire and box are great example of Mise-en-scen and helps set the horror mood.
2 Responses to “Enjoying Horror Discussion”
May 9th, 2014 at 7:52 pm
You have some great observations for the diagetic and non-diagetic and mise-en-scene scenes during the episode. I can also tell you are well versed in horror movies. You know exactly what to look for when understanding the aesthetics of horror. I have one question for you however. When you watch horror movies i know that you look for the creepy props and make up on the characters but i was wondering if you have ever noticed the lighting in horror movie from scene to scene. And specifically how it reflects on the mood of the film. This is something I look for in movies and find it very interesting. I recommend you do the same and see how it adds up to the aesthetics of horror.
May 11th, 2014 at 12:07 pm
Will that is very interesting that you say that. At times I have looked at the lighting, but not as much as I should because you are correct that it does set the scene. I think that at times people forget about looking at lighting sometimes and I am guilty of that as well. That is great insight you just gave, and I will definitely be looking at lighting more now when I watch horror films. My question for now is that do you mostly look at the lighting as a way for a movie to set the scene? Or do you look at other factors such as costumes, music, facial expressions as well? If you combined all these factors with lighting I think it would enhance the experience of watching the horror film.