Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

120
and the specific role that A New Beginning plays within this development. This
approach will highlight the evolution of preferred perspective and aesthetic
approach, and will reveal the increasing aesthetic complexity within the series.
Robynn J. Stilwell writes of the manner in which sound in cinema contributes
to viewer/character identification, saying:
Experiencing a strong identification with a character in the film places us
in another’s subject position, creating an emotionally empathetic
response. Film has many ways of coaxing the audience into that position,
from character development, narrative discourse and events, to the more
‘visceral’ point-of-view shot compositions and sound design. Because of
its intimate relationship to our real, physical bodies, via the vibrating air,
sound seems more immediate. (2005; 51)
Stillwell effectively asserts the close link between sound and its impact on the
emotional engagement of the viewer, which is useful when establishing perspective.
Little work has been done to date concerning sound in the horror film, even
less with respect to the slasher film. Of the work that has been done, Michel Chion,
in his writing on the acousmêtre and acousmatic sound in The Voice in Cinema,
identifies the significance of sound in creating offscreen space occasionally using
examples from horror films such as The Invisible Man (1933;dir. Whale) to illustrate
his theories. Chion writes, “Acousmatic, specifies an old dictionary, ‘is said of a
sound that is heard without its cause or source being seen.’ We can never praise
Pierre Schaeffer enough for having unearthed this arcane word in the 1950s.” (1982;
18) Chion’s writing on acousmatic sound highlights occurrences when the sound is