14 DAY TRIAL // In a recent investigation, a group of researchers wanted to determine precisely what is it that makes the most well-known horror movies so popular with fans of the genre. The conclusions of the work are fairly interesting, the team says, given that the results have been known by filmmakers for many years. According to the data, using the mathematical method of defining chaos, and applying that to films, results in the most believable and frightening images. This is also true when it comes to sounds, the scientists say, as randomness and unexpectedness can indeed be rather frightening, Wired reports.
When shooting a horror film, directors and sound editors know that, oftentimes, unpredictable, unexpected and chaotic sounds are the key to success. This may refer to the classic screams, or to the squeaking of doors and wooden floor, to the maniacal laughter of children and so on. The conclusions are also valid for a number of other outbursts as well, the experts say, including the sound of wind through the trees, that of rain and storm, and so on. In order to make these discoveries, the team studied no less than 100 films belonging to the horror genre.
“The classic example would be a screaming baby on an airplane,” says Fitch, “the kind you can’t ignore and makes your life hell,” says University of Vienna in Austria cognitive biologist W. Tecumseh Fitch, who was not directly involved in the investigation. For example, if babies cry at regular intervals, and sob in the same manner, adults find it easier to ignore them. But irregular, chaotic crying simply screams for parents' attention, and leaves no room for mental accommodation, scientists say.
Details of the work appear in the May 25 issue of the esteemed scientific publication Biology Letters. According to University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) expert and study coauthor Danile Blumstein, the data could be used to eventually derive deeper knowledge on how human fear is expressed. “Potentially, there are universal rules of arousal and ways to communicate fear,” the scientist says.