Anempathetic and empathetic sound

Anempathetic Sound

Anempathetic sound is when opposite music or sound has been used in a film when the action is completely opposite to the music this enhances the images on screen. Unlike empathetic sound where the music matches the mood or action on the screen. For an example in Full Metal Jacket you can hear the Trashmen’s song Surfin’ Bird being played non-diegeticly in the background. This juxtaposes because on the screen you can see the horrors of the Vietnam war of people killing each-other and bombs being exploded but at the same time we hear Surfin’ Bird which is a cheery rock n roll song with pointless lyrics. This being played with the heavy images of Full Metal Jacket perfectly shows anempathetic sound because it would seem inappropriate but somehow it goes because playing Surfin’ Bird really emphasizes the horrors of the Vietnam war. For something that Surfin’ Bird would be appropriate for should be a comedy film because of its immature playful sound which is why putting it with the Full Metal Jacket makes the images more shocking.

Another example of anempathetic sound is from Shaun of the Dead, during a scene in the pub where it is the climax of the zombie attacks the Jukebox in the pub begins to play Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. The reason this works really well is because this enthusiastic classic rock is about enjoying yourself by having a good time. This works really well to achieve anempathetic sound because the images on the screen are gory and horrific so the images and the music juxtaposes. The reason this song has been chosen is because the film in itself is a comedy so it is humorous to the audience to hear a classic song that doesn’t fit the images on the screen. Also what makes it even more humorous is that the characters in the film can hear the song because it is being played diegetically through the jukebox in the movie and because of the zombies attacking it makes it humorous that they can hear this song. Normally you would expect to hear this song in perhaps a rom-com movie as one of member of a couple is happily running search for the other one however the fact of it being used in this section of the film clearly shows anempathetic sound.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=imsHXpEuxX0




Empathetic sound 

empathetic sound is the complete opposite of anempathetic sound, empathetic is when the music matches the  mood of the pictures on the screen. in this example of the use of the jaws theme in jaws it allows you to experience the scene twice one with only dialogue and the same scene again but with the empathetic sound in the background. the sound his empathetic because of the eeiry screeching of the strings create the scary panic atmosphere and the fast tempo that increases makes the viewer jumpy because they know that something unpleasant is coming and in this case it is the killer shark this creates suspense.  The music fits with the images because you can see people panicing on the scream and when their panic rises, because the shark is getting closer, the music tempo increasing making it sound like the shark is racing towards them. You can really feel the different atmospheres between watching the same clip without music because without the music the scene is flat and did doesn't have any ambience but when there is music is works with the dialogue to create the emotions of the scene.

This is a piece involves the use of both anempethetic and empathetic sound. The clip is of the famous shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. in the images we can see the actress having a casual shower when a silhouette appears behind the shower curtain. Which is followed by the mysterious owner of the silhouette killing the women with a knife. Everything is silent to create the atmosphere that she is just having your typical shower and nothing is going to happen. The camera shows a variety of close ups like we are in the shower with her. This long silent introduction has be used to purely create tension. As the camera pans to the silhouette of the killer the diegetic sound of the shower becomes quieter. Suddenly when we see the ominous silhouette draw back the curtain we hear the iconic high pitched shrieking staccato strings that has been used replicate the stabbing and slashing of the murder. The harsher and quicker the stabbing becomes the texture thickens so that the high pitched staccato strings have doubled to create intensity and to increase the dynamics. The shrieks are made up of dissonant chords which gives them that eerie and thrilling sound. When she is slowly dying and the murderer disappears the terrifying and iconic shrieks have now been replaced by only a cello playing a slower and sustained notes getting lower and quitter as she dies.This iconic sound is now famous and whenever somebody mentions a stabbing you will find them to be singing this music from Psycho in which Hitchcock originally didn't want music at all he at first only wanted the sound of the running shower and the women's screams.

The anempathy comes from once she has died the only sound that is heard is the running of the shower which sounds normal like everyday life. Maybe the reason Hitchcock chose to have the shower running is to show that the murderer has provoked Marion's everyday routine like having a shower by killing her while she is doing her natural daily routine to show how deranged the murderer is. Or Hitchcock decided on it to create terror for the audience that the killer will kill anywhere anyplace. This natural sound of a shower adds to create suspense and tension because the viewer wouldn't be expecting the killer to kill during the day and in somewhere as random as a shower.
The empathetic music for this scene fits well because of the violins attacking like the blade of the knife slashing into the women but this music will only suit the horror genre because of the sound and tone to it. You wouldn't likely to hear this music in any other type of movie because it just wouldn't fit well, unless it was for a comedy so using the shrieking strings at a moment where it isn't a serious horror the music can be used as a joke to create comedy because of it's relation to horror in can make it humorous in a comical situation.