Research: The Importance of Sound in Horror Films

Introduction:
The importance of sound in any type of film is often overlooked and not noticed at all. Though the film is the most important part of a movie due to it being the visual part, sound is what brings that movie to life. It can add different types of emotions, manipulate the mood of a film and can elevate a scenes intensity dramatically. A good sound design and edit can make a good film phenomenal. However, bad sound editing could actually detract from the films success so you must be careful when picking what type of instruments and atmosphere will benefit your film. Generally in horror films sounds like screeches and screams are often used a lot as they can create a sudden scare in the viewer but more deep and dark tones can create a unsettling mood within the viewer to get them on edge.

Examples of Horror Movie Sounds: 
Some of the most iconic horror movie soundtracks include Jaws, The exorcist and Psycho. Take Jaws for example. The film would be nowhere near as successful if the tune that built up to its victims being attacked was not implemented into the film. The non-diegetic soundtrack gives the audience the full experience of knowing that something bad is going to happen. It builds up an insane amount of tension and sends a cold shudder down the viewers spine. Without the music it would look like just a normal shark attack but as the music is in place, it brings a great sense of danger and in some way could resemble a heartbeat of the audience. As the music gets more upbeat this could cause the viewers heartbeat to increase as well due to the adrenaline that the music is creating.

     
         


Another video that can benefit me within looking at sound within horror films is this. (below). This video explains the difference between non-diegetic and diegetic sound and how they have different impact on a horror film.








Researching the importance of sound within horror films can benefit me as it can help to me to make sure that can maximise the different effects we might be looking for. It can help create a lot of tension and bring a new level of emotion to the film.