Deconstruction of Sound "Theme Songs" in Slasher Films

I decided to do sound deconstruction of the "theme tunes" within a few slasher movies. These tunes are repeated throughout the movies, and are used to build tension and signify to the audience that something is going to happen. The slasher movies that i deconstructed the sound of, and then compared, are Saw (2010), 28 Weeks Later (2007) and Scream(2011). I chose these slashers as they are all quite recent, and all have different subject matters- keeping the options for our controlled assessment film opening open.

28 Weeks Later

This tune is used with a build up of constant sounds that are in relation to the action on screen within the film 28 weeks later. The building sounds adds tension to the scene, and with this tune being added, it increases the intensity of the scene even further. It is also used to indicate to the audience that something bad is going to happen, as before it does, this music usually starts very quietly, slowly increasing in volume and speed.

This is a good general theme tune to look at, due to the repetition of the tune, and would be a good idea to base a created building up of tension "theme tune" for our coursework film opening, with only the need to make a few second rift, and slowly repeating it, increasing its speed and volume to add to the suspense of the scene. The ending of the tension built from this music is often ended with a final climax, then brought into a silence that is eerie and makes the viewer unbelieving of the innocence of it- as if everything is now okay.

Scream 4

This scream 4 tune is made up of a few different sections of rifts, some repeating constantly, some completely changing, however, they are all used in relation to the action on screen, to build up, once again, the suspense and tension within the scene. It is generally used during the scenes where the killer is stalking their "prey" and/or killing them.

The music  is made up of techno, electronic functions at different tones to create rifts. This would be a relatively simple remake on an electronic piano, and due to the repeating elements, it shouldn't take too long either.

Saw 3D

The Saw 3D tune is a mix of repetitive, and changing sounds and rifts that together get louder, faster, quieter and then more intense to suit the scene before the viewer. This music is made up of wind instruments, drums and strings, all combining in complimentary and contrasting effects to give intensity and tension to the scene. The music is used, not only during the "game"/ death scenes, but also during parts of the movie, where the police are getting close to saving, and catching the people who are being put into these "games" by jigsaw.

This theme tune is an interesting one to be inspired by, looking at how to mix repetitive, and changing sounds together, while building tension and intensity of the music and atmosphere. It would be hard to recreate, however, as the instruments used are orchestral, of which we do not have in this project, at our disposal.

Looking more in depth onto sounds and theme songs within horror/slasher movies, I found that there are many occurrences where contrapuntal songs are used to the scene, for example someone is being killed, and a happy, jolly song is playing. This could be a good feature to look at for sound for coursework film opening, making the scene before the viewer look even more disturbing. The effect of this contrasting music also brings across a feeling of mental disability, thinking that the gruesome acts on screen are fine to carry out, and this could be a feature that we play on during the film opening that we are going to create. Below shows some of the examples of these contrapuntal songs:

Tiptoe, Through The Tulips

The song "Tiptoe, Through The Tulips" and was used in Insidious 1 to create the atmosphere that something is not right. It is played, only once within the movie, but is done so during the scene where the main woman sees the "ghost" like figure of a boy dancing in the middle of her deserted house. The effect the music is trying to bring is an unnatural-natural feeling to the scene to make the viewer feel uneasy and add suspense.

The song is made up of a person singing at a high pitch, over the top of stringed instruments, possibly a guitar. The music is not actually on its own, scary, nor is the content of the songs lyrics, but put into the context that it is in the Insidious movie, it creates the atmosphere that it does.

Sweet Dreams

The song "Sweet Dreams" is played over the top of the werewolf killing scene in Trick r' Treat. This song, however not contrasting to the subject matter in the film, still brings the effect of abnormality to the scene. It enhances the feeling that what is being carried out in the scene is "wrong" but the lyrics within the song such as "Sweet dreams are made of this" connotes that the characters don't care about this, and are doing it anyway- bringing to it a sense that maybe the "baddies" have something wrong with them.

The song is made up of a person simply singing the song over the top of an electric guitar playing the tune. The effect of the electric guitar gives a "rock" type approach to the music, and makes the scene seem more hardcore, like the music. This could be quite easily recreated, or even inspired by to create a similar style one that we make up.