Research : The Importance Of Sound In Horror Films

Sound is often overlooked in films but it is often the single most important element in setting the mood for the scene. Music has the ability to set the tone for how events will unfold. Music may progressively build to signify that a dramatic event is about to happen or it may be upbeat to lighten the mood. Horror films rely heavily in sound clips to create a scary scene. One does not think about it but if one were to remove the sound from a horror film its fear factor would decrease dramatically. John Hubinette in his article “Music and Sound Effects in Horror Films” stated that music is more powerful in horror films than any other genre.The purpose of a horror film is to scare its viewer and the director tries to do that in all ways possible. Scenes in horror films are usually graphic and may contain images that are meant to scare or repel us from the movie and, coincidently, keep our attention so we do not look away. Therefore putting the right piece of music at specific times are critical.

As you can see in this video clip that the use of sound in horror films is extremely important. As you can see in the first clip without sound you could mistake it as a comedy, for example when the girl gets tripped up it is quite amusing. If you were to put some bubbly music in the scene it would become more of a comedy than a horror. When you watch the cli with sound it is much more eye catching and intense, it almost draws you in as you want to look away but you just can't. 

As you can see in this film clip the use of sound is very important as you could mistake this for a film in the 'Wacky' genre. This is because of the funny faces and the quote, 'Heres Johnny' could potentially make people laugh rather than feel frightened. Putting the right type of music in this was critical as if you put the wrong type in such as a cartoony sound you would mistake it for a Comedy or anything other than a horror.

In this clip the importance of sound is at its best as if their was no sound added you would struggle to know when the shark is attacking and approaching. These two things really build tension which plays a massive part in the clip. Without the sound this clip would mean nothing to the audience and it would be much less interesting.