Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

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diegetic in nature, with an unseen original source. Chion’s acousmêtre specifically
relates to the voice that is heard, but the viewer has not seen its source, with the
anticipation of expecting, however, to see the source at any given point in the film.
Chion puts his thesis forward in order to stress the significance of sound in cinema,
and how it not only informs and enhances its visual counterpart, but also how it can
be used, with the sound of the voice providing the major thrust of his examples, to
frustrate, heighten, and complicate the experience of viewing a film where sounds do
not have an immediate visual source.
There has been some renewed interest in the use of sound in horror, and
Chion’s work is frequently at the forefront of this discussion. K. J. Donnelly
addresses Chion’s work on cinematic voice (2009; 103) before breaking off into an
argument regarding the integral use of music to the sound design in the Saw films
(103-104). Donnelly acknowledges that “Michel Chion points to technological
developments in cinema that have had a notable impact on film aesthetics.” (104)
This sets up his analysis of the Saw films, claiming that the series “demonstrates a
situation where film music has an intimately close relationship with the film’s
overall sound design: where there is a convergence of sound effects, ambient sound
and music.” (104) This argument contains strong links into the Friday the 13 th series
as well.
While Chion’s writing on the acousmêtre, which is inherently concerned with
the voice as per his central thesis, proves a useful tool to understanding sound design
in the slasher film, it is the root of the acousmêtre which initiates my analysis:
acousmatic sound. However, in order to clearly articulate my analysis of sound, I
will be using a very specific variation of the acousmatic sound. Particularly, I will
be discussing sounds used to represent something (an action, an event, an object) in