The meaning of music in horror movies Essay

Horror filmmakers and moviegoers rely heavily on the musical scoring to heighten their movie experience and make them even scarier. Whether it is a noisy dramatic orchestration as a monster is approaching or the highpitched piercing sound of violins you here from a knifekilling scene in Psycho, the music is imperative for a successful film. In my opinion, the orchestration and sound effects are far more important than the popups, the creepy monsters, or blood and guts. The music is there to frighten the audience but more importantly, directors trust the composer to create an intelligent score to form a structure.

Most horror movie directors and fans say that an orchestrated piece is the most wellliked and popular type of music for a horror film. Composers can express emotions through a full orchestra they can create a perfect thriller using all the different kinds of instruments. For example, the first movie that comes to my mind is John Williams Jaws scoring. With just two notes he created the top advertised and one of the most popular horror films of all time. John Williams has been known to use grandiose variations in the dynamics of his compositions to denote the mood present in particular scenes because it engages the interest of the viewer on a different level (Brightman). In the film Jaws, Williams will only include the theme song, bum bum, bum bum, bum bum, when the shark is slowly approaching. There is one part of the film that he jumps right into the theme song while the clip is flashed directly to the shark to catch the audience off guard. John Williams creates magnificent arrangements using many dynamics (crescendos, decrescendos, piano, fortissimo, staccato notes) for all his films to heighten the experience for the viewers. Without the iconic theme in Jaws the movie would be a flop!

In an interview I found online, John Williams talks about creating the music for Jaws. At first the director, Steven Spielberg, had the idea that the score would be very melodic goodness was he was wrong. John Williams brought just two notes, bum bum, to Spielberg and changed his whole idea for the film. Williams told him that the notes could be altered fast, slow, soft, or loud to increase the anticipation of the great white shark. John Williams was a genius in how he placed the music in the film to hint the shark approaching and when the shark arrives in silence it is a great jump in your seat. Because the audience was conditioned to hear the music every time they would see a shark it is even more terrifying to them when it pops out of silence. The visual of the shark in Jaws, or the knifing scene in Psycho are a creepy sight and very memorable scenes however, the music is what made the success of those films (Alderete). It is not always about the blood and the gore when it comes to making a successful horror film.