Making Supernatural Like Sounds

Through my research into supernatural horror films, I have certainly noted how sound is a key factor in contributing to frightening atmosphere.

After watching Paranormal Activity 2 and 3, I noted that the back break sound is quite horrible and off putting to listen to. For my film opening I found easy ways in which this sound could be achieved. I simply used an empty plastic bottle, and crunched it.

One common convention audience expect to hear and see in a supernatural horror, is the usual door creek. This sound can be easily achieved through the use of door, one which is able to make a creek.

Another door movement, is the door slam. This is easy, as you can record and quickly shut a door. The shut has to be sudden and loud.

A door being repeatedly shut back and forth is also another common sound we sometimes expect to hear.

To help build a spooky atmosphere, I found that the sound of a tap dripping can be quite useful. To create the sound, I slightly turned the tap, allowing some water to fall out. Below the tap, I placed a bowl of water. This effectively built the 'dripping' type sound.

After watching the Grudge, I found that the supernatural character's croaky sound was rather daunting. I figured that it can be made through the use of one's throat. I tried forming the sound by my throat and managed to produce something very similar.

Some supernatural horror films such as Paranormal Activity tend to not reveal the ghost, but allow their sounds to be heard. We often hear a deep, ghastly breathing sound. I created this sound by gradually reaching the recorder, whilst breathing through my mouth. In order to build the ghostly sound, I put my lips out and had them fairly close together, increasing the volume as I got closer to the recorder.

 

Evaluation

Overall, I found this task quite simple. After watching several supernatural horror films, I figured that common sounds such as door creeks and door slams can be made easily, even without the use of Photoshop. One sound however, which was difficult to create at times, was the bone breaking. This is because the bottle would produce an unnecessary sound when returning back to it's original shape. In order to minimise this issue, I made sure that the sound was sharp and on point, by crunching the bottle quickly and moving it away from the recorder when returning to its original form.