sound in horror films

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1281385/Ever-wondered-music-horror-films-scares-The-harsh-sounds-tap-instinctive-fears.html

do an example with a youtube clip

Film makers have often relied on disturbing soundtracks to heighten suspense and terror in their films, like the screeching violins of Psycho and the crashing chords of Jaws.
Scientists believe there is a specific reason why music in horror movies helps scare us, so it can be quite an important component when making a horror film.



They have shown that the harsh, discordant and unexpected sounds used in horror soundtracks imitate the screams of frightened animals


The study looked at a class of noises called 'non-linear' sounds.
These range from the sort of distorted notes that come from a hi-fi cranked up too high, to the squeal produced by blowing too hard into a trumpet.


Prof Daniel Blumstein, who led the study at the University of California, Los Angeles, studied the soundtracks of 102 of the world's most popular movies - from war films and dramas, to horror movies and adventure romps.
The study - which involved composer Peter Kaye at Kingston University, London - looked at the music in films, as well as special effects and screams.
The analysis showed that horror films had the most noisy female screams - while adventure films had the most screams from men.
Horror films also had an higher than expected number of abrupt shifts up and down in pitch, he reported in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
The study concluded that the use of these non-linear sounds was not random - but used to 'enhance the emotional impact of scenes'.
'Non-linearities are commonly produced when animals are under duress, such as the fear screams produced when animals are attacked by predators,' he said.
'In mammals, and possibly also in birds, when you push too much air through your larynx you produce these non-linear sounds and its a pretty unbluffable signal of fear,' he added.
'It may be that film makers intuitively realise that they can use these types of sounds.'



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhIUfM9Dh8M
This is a clip of killings from the film Wrong Turn where main sounds are screaming and people being killed (so axes going through flesh ect.) But just before that moment comes in the background you can here screeching violins to add tension and build up to that horrifc thing happening.
Without the sound the images are qutie gruesome but not too scary, the sound on it's own however (in my oppinion) is still very scary, so together they create qutie a terrifying piece.

Film Sounds

I decided to layer 4 tracks together, to create a sound that help creates dramatic build up, suspense and tension.

There is the sound already on the film of feet running whilst 'Veronica' runs through the forest.
There is a low drone in the background to give some bass to it, making the sound louder and stand out more, it also gives it more of a musical sense rather than just sounds, it's also quite creepy and I think it adds tension. drone
There is the sound of a heartbeat which helps with the dramatic build up which leads to a cliffhanger. heartbeat
There is the sound of a girl breathing as 'Veronica' is running through the forest and therefore out of breath, it also helps with the dramatic build up. breathing