Episode 7:
Terrifying Tunes -
The How & Why of Horror Music
Terrifying Tunes - The How & Why of Horror Music
BY IAN & SIMON
What is it about horror music that makes it so frightening? And, what makes horror music so good at making movies more scary? Viewer beware… you’re in for an informative video!
This episode was produced by first semester freshman as part of a first year colloquium titled “Neuroscience-Fiction in Film” taught by Angel Kaur during Fall 2019 at UNC Asheville.
Articles Referenced
- Blood, A., et al. Emotional responses to pleasant and unpleasant music correlates with activity in the paralimbic brain regions. Nat Neuroscience. 4, 282-387 (1999).
- Garfinkel, S.N., Critchley, H.D. Neural correlates of fear: insights from neuroimaging. Neuroscience and Neuroeconomics. 3, 111-125 (2014).
- Hanser, W.E., Mark, R.E. Music influences ratings of the affect of visual stimuli. Psychological Topics. 2, 305-324 (2013).
- Hoeckner, B., et al. Film music influences how viewers relate to movie characters. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. 2, 146-153 (2011).
- Jeong, J., et al. Congruence of happy and sad emotion in music and faces modifies cortical audiovisual activation. NeuroImage. 4, 2973-2982 (2011).
- Koelsch, S., et al. The roles of superficial amygdala and auditory cortex in music-evoked fear and joy. NeuroImage. Vol 81, 49-60 (2013).
- Sauvé, S.A., et al. Effects of pitch and timing expectancy on musical emotion. Psychomusicology. 1, 17-39 (2018).
- Tan, S., et al. Viewer’s interpretations of film characters’ emotions: effects of presenting film music before or after a character is shown. Music Perception. 25, 135-152 (2007).
Related Reading
Graphical summaries of selected articles used to created this podcast.
Episode Transcript (PDF)
Credits
Written, Directed, Edited, and Featuring: Ian O’Brien and Simon Hirsch
Scientific Research by: Ian O’Brien and Simon Hirsch
Web Content by: Ian O’Brien and Simon Hirsch
Background Music (in order of appearance):
The Halloween Dawn – Twin Musicom
The Stalker – Hainbach
They Can Feel You – Hainbach
Aurora Borealis Expedition – Asher Fulcro
Hotel Mario Main Theme – Jack Levy
Inside a Computer Chip – Doug Maxwell/Media Right Productions
Mad Science – MK2
Rio Nights – Quincas Moreira
Unrest – ELPHNT
Toccate in D Minor – Bach
Gymnopedie No 1 – Satie
It’s Coming – Josh Kirsch/Media Right Productions
Cavern – HOVATOFF
Ipanema Daydream – Bird Creek
Easy Sunday – Bad Snacks
Landing on a Dark Planet – Doug Maxwell/Media Right Productions
Fortaleza – Topher Mohr and Alex Elena
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