I think that sound can be especially effective in the horror genre due to the fact that we live in such a visually-stimulated culture. A visual image can evoke disgust and revulsion based upon those principles that we've discussed before, an interstitial state, the violation of certain laws of nature etc.,. but sound operates on a plane that people don't use as their primary means of gathering information about their world. This makes sound particularly effective at making people uncomfortable. When a sound is experienced, the listener most always follows up with an effort to identify its origins -the sound itself leaves a gap that asked to be fulfilled. I believe this is why the concept of a disembodied sound can be so horrifying -it leaves so much to be answered. I think the concept of the "lo-fi" can be applied very readily here, for a lo-fi sound is difficult to place, adding to uncertainty. But then again, this degree of uncertainty can be played with by applying a hi-fi sound, that is, a sound that is clear and whose origins can be placed, but whose context is incongruous with the circumstances. For example, one might be able to place a deep, sonorous growling as coming from the nursery, with the horror effect originating from the inquiry as to why such a noise should come from the nursery.
Because sounds occur all the time and from known and unknown sources, for known and unknown reasons, and because the audience never seems to be satisfied with a sound in the same way we content ourselves with an image, auditory uncertainty is almost always easily attained. What makes the sounds that are heard? Do they mean something? Nothing? Do they signify the unknown, while at the same time confirming the unknown presence? They add to the complexity of the unknown.
In addition, the manipulation of sound as a musical accompaniment or score is another manner by which an audience can be toyed with. Music and sound effects are often utilized to signify and foreshadow, to accentuate the gravity of events and the emotional states of characters. Likewise, the use of silence in juxtaposition with the musical score can leave and audience squirming in their seats, as they assign significance to the absence of sound in anticipation of action. Use of volume and theme, and placement to accentuate and foreshadow are all tools that can confirm the presence of an unknown, create uncertainty ans suspense, and feed and guide the audience's emotional response to the visual accompaniment -or lack thereof- that they experience.
4 comments:
I like your idea that sounds "add to the complexity of the unknown."
I strongly agree with Penny. Sounds add to the unknown and definitely the element of horror. Also the same with the music in a horrow movie. When you don't know what's about to happen but it has that music building up to it, the suspense kills me. I always know something bad is going to happen in a scary movie from the music. It has gotten to the point that if I am forced to watch a scary movie I will hold my ears for the suspenseful scenes because I just can't take that much. I can keep watching but I can't listen to the music or sounds anymore, even the screaming characters or the large crash of something. And not knowing where the sound comes from is awful too for horror and suspense. I was working an overnight one time and my coworkers and I heard a creaky door from upstairs. We went to investigate. Its a heavy door, it woudn't move on its own, the wind wouldn't push it, not even a mouse would be able to wiggle it. We stood there talking trying to figure out what it could be when we heard a huge crash. Then three grown people tried to break down a locked door to get away from something that we did not even know that could have made the noise. It was terrifying.
If anybody would like to look to a non-horror film for a great example of the manipulation of sound, please look at No Country for Old Men.
"Silence", as we commonly understand it, is an effective tool ironically because we demand something. When the music is building up, as Michelle notes, we desire for closure and finale to the sound - a culmination. That lack of sound is even more upsetting because we don't have the reassurance of the sonic atmosphere to feed us either way. But, that's in regards to music more than sound.
Those disembodied sounds are a unique experience in and of themselves that don't fit quite nicely into my previous statements.
The term "disembodied" fits really well into my understanding of frightening sounds. Sometimes they seem completely random, and I think what may be more frightening than the sound itself is the break from our schema of the way the world works. I hear a strange sound and I can't think of any rational explanation for its origin, and that is scary.
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