LogFAQs > #930391820

8. Silence (23 points)
Nominated by: Shonen_Bat (0/5 remaining)


Importance: 10
Fear: 5
Snake: 8

In the documentary "The Making of Silent Hill 2", Akira Yamaoka was quoted as saying "...selecting moments of silence is another way of producing sound." This has always been one of my favorite quotes regarding the craft of horror, and how silence is such an overlooked but very important of creating an effective piece, in any medium. There are so many ways to utilize silence. You can craft an instant sense of danger by having a normally bustling place, like say, a busy city street or active jungle, be suddenly hushed by the presence of an imposing figure. One of the most common ways is cutting out all silence and dialogue and simply focusing on a steadily rising tension that will more often than not lead to a jump scare. In the inverse, let's go back to Yamaoka, and how he uses silence to craft his scores in the Silent Hill series. Yamaoka typically uses harsh industrial sounds that makes the player panic and their heart-pound, creating a sensation of adrenaline that relies on the player's instincts and blinds them from rational thought. When the horror fades, Yamaoka's score does as well, with a decline in tension that serves as a time to reflect on what the player has just experienced, and emphasizes how isolated the player truly is. The silence in Silent Hill isn't about making the player feel comfortable, per se, but rather creates a contemplative feeling that compliments and represents the often introverted protagonists' inner thought process. Just as sound can be distressing, it can also be quite the comfort. There's a reason so many people sleep with white noise machines at night, or use music to stop bad thoughts from creeping into their minds. When things are quiet, we become more alert and more aware of our surroundings, and thus more susceptible to being frightened. There's nothing to stop our minds from racing, to stop our negative thoughts entering our cranium, we just think and think because our bodies crave sound to let us know we're not alone. Knowing how to use this your advantage can instantly make your work of horror better, and you can easily prey on the fears and insecurities that we all share. Horror continues to embrace silence more and more, not only with whole films like A Quiet Place based around the concept, but also in shows like The Walking Dead. I'm really excited to see how far we can push these concepts, and create truly terrifying visions that embrace the silence as much as they can.

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What I am about to do has not been approved by the Vatican.
https://imgur.com/MmrKwGZ - https://imgur.com/ntWVGyh