Research: The Importance of Sound in Horror Films

Sound in horror films are very important because sound refers to everything we hear in a movie.
There are two categories of sound in film: Diegetic and Non Diegetic sound - Diegetic sound can either on screen or off screen and it is refer to as the actual sound like doors slamming, footsteps etc.

Non diegetic sound are therefore the sound from outside of the fictional world that we can see on the screen for example, the shower scene in the film Physco.




Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho has become one of the most celebrated American films in its genre and Bernard Herrmann’s music for the film contains an equally celebrated musical icon—the slasher music—that has become a universal motif for all slasher films. The roots of this slasher music are found in a tune called “The Psycho Theme” (a label given to it in the cue sheets) that has been largely ignored over the years. This paper illustrates how the “The Psycho Theme” is transformed throughout Psycho and how it degenerates into the most famous icon in the history of film music. In addition, a rationale is offered to explain the shift from tonal to atonal music over the course of this film.

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. The story usually takes many twists and turns and the ending is always difficult to predict in order to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat.

Music

this is one of the most important aspect of a horror film as it is helping the film try to create specific mood to the scene. the effective use of music will help promote even more emotions to the audience.
even though there are a lot of diverse range in the music that has been used throughout different horror films, some of these common conventions include:
*isolation instrument  are often used just before a key event occurs which helps link the ideas of vulnerability, to the audience.
*long suspenseful notes often help contrast with short sharp notes to help shock the audience.
*extreme but intentional change to very fast big pitched notes to makes the audience feel immediate tense.


here is what i found about sound effect and examples
of what is used to