sound: jaws theme

for my film sequence i have chosen to use the jaws theme because even though it is a simple set of two notes played repeatedly they symbolise dangers getting closer because as the shark in jaws gets closer the notes play faster. for my film sequence i intend to use this as the main character draws nearer to the lonely figures lair and afterwards as the main character is running away i will use it as he does this. a simple piece of music used for horror films seems to have a greater effect on an audience than a more complex piece of music. this is because the jaws theme is more animistic and seems to be able to have some physcological effect on an audience because they know that something is going to happen and they are powerless to stop it.

where as a more complex piece of music requires an audience to try and figure out what is going to happen but for most horror films the film gives the audience a way of knowing what will happen before it does. it seems that parts of films that create some sort of physcological link have the greatest effect on an audience it is not just the blood and gore of horror films which scare an audience. the physcological factors are important as well.

it seems that in a horror films when an audience feels more connected to the film it has a greater effect of extracting fear from the audience. it seems a good idea to try and get the audience to identify with the main character so when something happens to them then the audience feels the same way, making it easier to scare them. it is much harder to scare an audience if they know that they are not in any danger. but physcological effects help to soften the audience making them much easier to create fear.

the jaws film was very effective in jaws and even though an audience will have most likely have linked this to sharks it is very effective in warning the audience of incoming danger. as the music gets faster it creates more tension and fear in an audience. this simple music can make an audience easily fear something that they can't see or hear. until it is too late, i had considered tricking the audience into a false sense of security but it seems when the audience knows something is about to happen they are much more susceptible to fear.

in jaws you know what is going to happen because of the music but that does not prepare you for it in fact it actually weakens the audience enough to get some extra fear out of the audience. the sound seems to be to be a important factor for generating fear in a horror film. if you don't have any music non diegetic or not which means the audience has a harder time trying to find out when the full horror is going to happen. the audience finds it harder to cope with fear from a horror film if it feels more personal to them, some horror films rely on blood and gore alone but i feel a mix of these is best blood, gore and physcologicial effects should be balanced so none of them aren't too much but are controlled to allow the audience to be scared as much as possible.

the jaws theme is the perfect physcological medium.