Research : The Importance Of Sound In Horror Films

The sound in horror films plays a huge part in what makes the film scary. Music plays a key role in a horror film because it immediately sets the tone. Before the actor says anything the audience knows what their fate is going to be based on the type of music that is playing in the background. Sound 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.This can range from sound effects to emphasise the terror or creepy music that creates a feeling of suspense. 


Here is a video of the importance of sound being explained!

In the video above shows 2 clips of the film Jaws One with no Non-diegetic sounds and one with non-diegetic sounds. In the clip where there is no non-diegetic sounds the atmosphere when jaws come is not the same because there is no build up to the tense the points that are the scariest. However in the clip where there is Diegetic sound the sounds build up as Jaws is about to be killed until the shotgun shoots. This research helped produce a more effective film opening because it gave us an example of a horror film opening which gave us inspiration when we were planning ours own opening. It also gave us an understanding on the hard work that we are going to have to put into this to get it to the correct quality.