For the diegetic in Buffy, I found that on 16:50, the woman try to enter some place with identification. The sound of computer says that she could not enter the hospital. The breathing of this woman becomes rapid. I think this is the diegetic part in this movie. From the link that the professor provides, there is no video on it. When I hear these sounds I can imagine the scene, there is no person and the woman must be chased by something. She is trying to enter some place to shield herself, but she cannot enter without identification. This diegetic makes me feel the situation of her, and this does a contribution to the aesthetic of horror movie. This situation for a woman who is by herself is very scary. Especially, her rapid breathing shows that she is in tension.
For the non-diegetic in Buffy, I found that on 25:44. The background music begins. At first of this music, the temple is very rapid. It sounds like the person is in danger, and when you hear it you will get nervous. The sound of violin makes it creepier. The sound of the drum, once and once seems some scary things will appear. At the mid of this music the pitch of it becomes slower, but it is very weird and spiritual. This is the non-diegetic in Buffy. I think this part of music is doing more contribution than the diegetic thing. It will lead people’s motion to a nervous point. Not only watching the video, but also listening to the scary music. The music is easy to control the audience’s mood.
For the mise-en-scene in Buffy, this movie is taking on some school campus. The fighting scenes seems like happens in a theatre. This makes more interesting that the woman could climb or fall into the stage. The place that the movie picks is more like the place that we are easy to identify. This mise-en-scene could lead people to the environment. When people see this scenes, people will think some day they will meet a vampire. Mise-en-scene is very important to make a movie more attractive and realistic.
Hi, Zheng! I really like your three examples and I agree with you that all of these three practices contribute to the aesthetic of horror. Especially, for the example of non-diegetic sound, you said the voice sounds like the person is in danger. I really agree with that the non-diegetiic sounds generally can imply what will happen to the character and bring audiences into the environment of movie in advance. So I agree with you that this part of non-diegetic sound is doing more contribution than the diegetic sound. However, we also cannot ignore the importance of diegetic sound because it also can make audiences feel scared in the same level with non-diegetic sound. Just like the example of diegetic sound (13:25) in my post, the voice of clock gears at that silent night. I do not know what will appear next along with the clock voice so it makes me very scared. Therefore, I think the importance of non-diegetic sound is equal to diegetic generally.
Hi Chan Si, thank you for your comment. I like the example that you mention on your diegetic sound. The clock is a very typical symbol in vampire movies. When we see the clock in the movie, we will know the vampire will do something. Just like you said, the diegetic sounds always give people some time to imagine what will happen next. This kind of sound makes the horror movie scarier, and this will improve the feeling of stimulation. Why people like to watch the horror movie? I think it is because this kind of movie could bring some stimulation to people, so I think the non-diegetic sound makes more contribution in the horror movie. Non-diegetic sound is not related with the plot of movie. This is the magic of it. The non-diegetic sound of a horror movie is always some scary symphony. When the non-diegetic sound begins, people’s mood will lead by the pitch of symphony. This will make the horror movie more stimulate. I think the non-diegetic sound is more functional than the diegetic sound.