sound

This is a clip from 'The Shining' when Wendy finds out that Jack is being affected by the house. There is a lack of sound at the beginning which is unnerving as the audience anticipate what is going to happen- silence is usually followed by a shock/surprise. The non diegetic music which accompanies Wendy's discovery is made up of high pitched, screeching noises; its unnatural and puts the audience on edge. The noise gets louder and made up of shorter notes as Wendy panics and then is suprised by Jack.

Music fades out as Jack appears from the corridor- fading out music usually suggests that danger is moving away but in this scene that is reversed as it is when Jack comes into the room that Wendy is really in danger. In this way the sound is quite contapuntal as it is loud and unnerving when Wendy finds a stack of paper but goes quiet when a real danger comes into the situation.

We hope to use sound to create an unnerving atmsphere in our film; if we use unnatural sounds and contrapuntal music we will be able to make the audience uneasy - psychological horror relies on making the audience uncomfortable.