Research : The Importance Of Sound In Horror Films

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• Scientist have proved that the sound in horror films help create the atmosphere during the suspense before a jump scare they also help by warning the audience when danger is nearby. A study that looked at a class of noises called ‘non-linear' sounds. These range from the sort of distorted notes that come from a sci-fi cranked up too high, to the squeal produced by blowing too hard into a trumpet. They done this by studied the soundtracks of 102 of the world's most popular movies - from war films and dramas, to horror movies and adventure romps.
  The study involved composer Peter Kaye at Kingston University, London - looked at the music in films, as well as special effects and screams. The analysis had showed that horror films have the loudest female screams to show vulnerability as a girl is screaming for her life. While adventure films had the most screams from men as men do not normally scream to show humor and fun.
  The horror films also had a higher than expected number of abrupt shifts up and down in pitch. Dramatic films had fewer than expected screams and lower pitched sounds than other genre of movie.
  The study found that the use of these non-linear sounds was not random however it was used to 'enhance the emotional impact of scenes'. The Non-linearity’s are commonly produced when animals are under duress, such as the fear screams produced when animals are attacked by predators which is commonly used in horror films.
  Jaws
  Jaw is a classic way to illustrate how sound in horror film help create a horrifying atmosphere. As you know it starts by be a subtle sound full of low notes that picks up speed and volume as the predator gets closer to its pray and there is background music that show vulnerability of the child on a lilo who has no clue what is coming as they are completely oblivious.

Research : The Importance Of Opening Titles

Before considering what our opening titles would include and how it would be displayed in our short film, we felt it was necessary to do some extensive research on it . Doing this would allow us to understand how certain features of the titles will affect the overall outcome and atmosphere given to audience. When we acquire this knowledge it will tell give us a good idea of what to add to give a scary and horror like opening title.

When researching the importance of opening titles I first went onto the website http://www.artofthetitle.com then i looked at opening titles of several movies to get an idea of how they are presented and in which order they show the names of the people that were involved in the making of the film. This would give us an idea of what common opening titles are like which would help us to know what names should go first, how long, what font, colour and what size to make it.

I then went on watch the opening titles of the movie Se7en to do some further research on horror opening titles and learn how they are significant in films. This movie in particular would a clear idea and better understanding of how horror movies portray their opening titles in terms of font, size and colour, which would directly help us as that is the genre we are using for our opening.

I then took sheets of A4 paper to do my research

Next I wrote down every timestamp of when an opening title appeared on the movie Se7en. From this I learned how frequently the opening titles would appear in a horror movie's opening titles. I found that there were on average 1 title every 4 to 5 seconds and that all the main people involved in the movie were shown towards the beginning.

Next I explored the typography of opening titles in the movie Se7en by talking about the background, font colour, font type and size. From this I had learned that the style, colour and size of the font really makes a difference to the atmosphere of the movie.

Next I turned off the sound, watched the opening titles of Se7en again and with detailed described all the visual elements I saw excluding the titles themselves. From this I had learned that the things shown in between each title give a deeper meaning to the movie and gives you a brief idea of what the movie is like.

Next I watched the opening titles of Se7en without displaying the actual video and described everything I heard. From this I had learned that the sounds within a opening scene adds to the sense of movie, give an emotion to the audience and create a clear atmosphere of the movie to set the scene for the film ahead.

Analyse the codes and conventions of horror films as shown in the openings of 'Dead Wood', 'Dead Mary' and 'Wrong Turn'.

• key:camera shots angle and movements ,sound ,editing,mise-en-scene ,codes and conventions

  Wrong turn

  In the remote forest of West Virginia, Halley Smith (Yvonne Gaudry) and Rich Stoker (Joel Harris) are rock climbing on a cliff. As Rich prepares to help Halley, she witnesses his sudden murder. Someone begins to pull Halley up the cliff so she cuts the rope and falls to the ground. Halley then attempts to escape to her car but trips over a piece of barbed wire before being pulled back into the woods, screaming, by one of the three cannibalistic mutant mountain men.
  The use of camera shots and angles consist crane shot movement to an establishing shot and then moves to a high angle on the girl to show she is below power to the male. The male’s point of view shot once reaches to the top is a long shot showing they are in total isolation then there is an extreme close up to show an intensity of danger.
  Editing of the opening consists of the times of climbing shows the great distance and how isolated they are. There was lots of cuts within a struggle of danger
  The use of sound the diegetic sounds were the sound of the leaves changing direction to the wind and birds singing to create a great presence of danger. The non-diegetic sounds were the sounds of violins creating a dramatic atmosphere and the sound on the cable snapping loudly.
  Mise-en-scene in the opening was how the girl was dressed as a teenager so the audience can relate too. There was fake blood on the dead body to shock the audience with the goriness of death. The car symbolises safety however it was too far away which happens a lot in horror movies..
  Conventions of the film are how typical the location was an isolated environment and there was a small number of people there which was also predictable for a horror movie. When the girl started running to safety she tripped. Running through trees also happens generally in horror films. Also that the friend dies during the first five minutes of the movie.
  
  

  Dead Mary

  A young woman and a group of her school friends embark on a holiday weekend at a lakeside cabin to reminisce about their college days, only to run afoul of an evil spirit.
  Camera angles and shots firstly consist of a low angle and an extreme close up of an old damaged sign. Then changes to a establishing shot of a sign that shows they are in an isolated location as the next gas station is far away. Then it changes to a low angle on the side of the car which shows possible danger lurking towards the car.
  The editing is smoothly done there is the pace between each shot it is quite slow however later on when there is a possible threat the pace becomes faster to create a fight or flight response to the audience to make the build-up more intense.
  The use of sound the diegetic at the start was a metallic creaking noise moving side to side this created a dark, cold cricked effect to the audience and the sound of the birds singing gives a sense that of nature is nearby. The sound of the radio having no signal creates an effect of loneliness and vulnerability as they are in the middle of nowhere and there is nowhere to run to for safety. The non-diegetic sound was a static noise when a figure was getting closer to the car and the noise then would get louder as he got closer building up an intense atmosphere for the audience.
  Mise-en-scene the girls clothes were showing a lot of skin which teenagers can relate to. The map and flare gun symbolises that they are alone in the middle of nowhere. The car shows that there is an escape vehicle in case anything goes wrong. The fact the male is having to get petrol for the car shows it ran out and broke down which is common in horror movies.

  
  Dead wood

  Four friends escape the grime of the city and head out into the woods for a peaceful, relaxing weekend. Events take a sinister turn when a mysterious girl appears in their camo looking for her boyfriend. Soon the nightmare begins as they find themselves lost in an endless wilderness stalked by a deadly force. As those left fight for survival they will discover the true nature of fear.
  Camera angles and shots firstly consist of a long shot establishing shot of the woods then changes to a tracking in shot of the character running from danger and then to a close up to see the fear expression on the characters face. Then it carried on with mid shot of him running from the danger and a point of view shot of him battling through the leaves.
  Editing involved included lots of have cuts between shot while the character is trying to run away from the unidentified danger. There are lots of changes from mid shots to close ups so the audience can see the facial expression the character is making to show the emotions of the character.
  Use of sound the diegetic sounds were the birds singing and the non-diegetic sound was the fast pace music creating a sense of someone is following the characters footsteps. When he got to the cliff edge the music became more intense creating an effect of the danger is getting closer and closer creating a vulnerable effect to the audience.
  Mise-en-scene of dead wood was the fake blood the male character to create a gory effect. Both character were teenagers. The male was wearing ripped clothes which the audience can relate to when running through the woods. They had a tent which is quite typical for a horror movie.
  Conventions were how it was set in an isolated location such as a forest. Running away from the danger and how the character all ways stops and waits for the danger is common in horror films.
  
  
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What are codes?

Codes are basically a chain of meanings creating an atmosphere. Codes are split into two parts – technical and symbolic.

Technical codes is how the equipment is used to help create effects to enhance the story in the style of media text. An example of this would be how the camera works in a film by adding effects to the film. The editing or the use of sound will be well put together on premier pro consisting (diegetic and non-diegetic) sounds

Symbolic codes highlights implicit meanings. Symbolic codes are seen from pieces of miss-en-scene. An for example the  way character's actions explicitly shows you how the character is expressing there feelings like the character's costume can be a peace of character we insinuate to help us understand what type of person the character is. Props have suggestions and connotations which can be put together by an audience.

codes fit both categories – non-diegetic like music and is both technical and symbolic.

What are conventions?

Conventions are the norm ways of accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific.

How codes and conventions apply in media studies

Codes and conventions are used together in all genres of films – it is not enough to discuss a technical code used such as camera work, without saying how it is conventionally used in a genre.For example, the technical code of story is used in some way in all film genres. It is a convention of the romantic genre that there is kissing is used to create love and romance – an integral part of any romantic film
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