Research - The Importance of Sound in Horror Films

Music is one of the most essential elements to a successful horror film. Music helps convey a certain atmosphere or highlight the emotion of a current scene. In a horror film, there are two main parts; the moment before the scare, and the scare itself. The scare will have much more intense music rather than the moment before the action, and it will promote the action of the scene. Scares are often introduced with quieter, eerier music to form fear within the atmosphere.

Isolated instruments are very commonly used amongst horror films just before the scare occurs, which supports the idea of vulnerability to the audience. Alternatively, it could suggest a warning of danger to the audience and set the correct mood, in horror case, put audience on the edge of their fears.

Sometimes, long-lasting notes form a contrast with the sharp use of a solo-instrument (e.g. violin). This combination of instruments can cause a shock to the audience, making them vulnerable to any sudden changes within the next hour into the movie, or more cautious of sound. This gives the editors an advantage to then include more sudden, unexpected changes within the film to surprise their audience further.

To build up tension, intentional changes of pitch tones can be used in the music. Starting off with low-sound instrument like bass, suspending the notes then suddenly altering to rapid, high-pitched notes will build up tension in the atmosphere. This is often suitable for the music included before the scare.

Music can often be composed into a sequence to signal to the audience that an important event is soon to happen. Taking 'Jaws' as an example, as soon as the two notes begin to play, the audience are able to pick up this signal and prepare themselves for the scare. However, movies like 'King Kong' use composed piece to follow certain events or actions within the scenes. As King Kong climbs the Empire State Building, the music can be identified to rise and fall with the movement of King Kong.

Another good example for this is the famous shower scene from the movie 'Psycho' when the sudden use of violins match with the action of the knife being stabbed into victim's flesh. This really enhances the movement of the knife, and perhaps the pain each stab causes since violins can often intimidate screams.

Sound effects are also often used in horror films to suggest certain mood or emotion further with music or sound effect on its own. Sound effects commonly enhance connotations within certain scenes, taking crickets as an example. They're used almost all the time to show the fact that the certain scene is taking at the time of night. Thinking further about crickets, they can almost sound like sudden use of violins, but in a more calmer way, yet still keep the sinister meaning within the innocence. Also, birds like crows and and owls often let out calls when they're alone or close to isolation, which could suggest the establishment place suspended from humans, leading to no contact for help for the character(s). A crow could let out a scream to suggest if anything sudden has happened to cause it to spook. It would often leave the scene to safety, which could cause the character to look more vulnerable due to the fact that it's much harder to escape by foot rather than flight.

Echoed voices often happen in big locations, like alleyways or large buildings. In areas like these, it could also suggest isolation. With the echo travelling around the area, not only does it expand fear, but the voice also travels for long distances, meaning that its easier for the killer to locate their victim. Moreover, echoing voices commonly have the effect of a ghost, setting the atmosphere ghostly, which can act as an add-on to fear.