Exorcism of Emily Rose Sound Deconstruction

• The various uses of sound in one of the scary scenes from 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' adds to the genre of horror as there are both diegetic and non-diegetic sound effects. The close up shot of the woman screaming has both diegetic and non-diegetic sound effects. At first we here subtle string instruments which act as a backing track to the primary sound of the woman's diegetic scream which overpowers all other sounds in the shot. These sounds add to the horror genre because they are both common conventions which emphasizes the genre as horror.
• The close up of the nails scratching against the wall uses diegetic sound effects to highlight the horror genre as it isn't a pleasant sound, which affects the audience by having sharp and loud effects to cringe viewers as the sound effect can be seen as torturous and unbearable. This makes the sound relate to the genre as the common depiction of horror films is to give the audience an unpleasant viewing, which is what this sound affect has done.
• Just before the twenty second mark the diegetic sounds of percussion has a quicker tempo, is more high pitched and the has shifted from being secondary background music to primary music. The high pitched music suggests that there is a level of discomfort and building tension. The common conventions used by the diegetic sound represents the genre as horror because it conforms to common horror films that they use similar techniques to signify tension and discomfort.
• The non-diegetic sound effects become more dominant as the woman is throwing herself around and when two male characters are introduced into the scene and becomes as equally as loud as the diegetic sound effects that have both been edited together to give a stronger impact to the audience. Montage editing is shown when as the woman's legs land on the floor we hear a drum beat which matches the timing of her landing, exaggerating her actions and making them more dramatic for horror effect.
• The diegetic dialogue is kept to a minimum during this scene as, with only the vicar saying "Alice can you hear me?" which is followed by some unknown Latin by the possessed woman creating mystery, but is also key iconography that represents the possession genre. The reason why diegetic dialogue is so limited in this scene could arguably be that dialogue removes the horror effect.