Dark Water Film Analysis

            This film was excellent example of the use of music and sound in films.  To begin with, I don’t like horror films.  They just aren’t my kind of film.  This film, however, intrigued me.  The theme was very interesting.  It was actually kind of neat to see another’s perspective of the afterlife.  The film was a horror film, meaning the purpose was to invoke fear.  The music and sound in this movie excellently contributed that purpose.

            The film used the sound of dripping water a great deal throughout the movie.  This sound was an obvious success.  The presence of water was the indicator that the little girl in the raincoat was near.  It came to the point where any sound of water was horrifying.  The sound of dripping water was always playing when it was otherwise silent.  It started subtly at the beginning of the movie, and as the film progressed, the water dripping became louder and faster to increase the intensity.  The water stains on the ceiling grew larger and larger and the water flowed more and more.  As it got closer to the end of the movie, there was less dripping and more sounds of rushing water.  These sounds wonderfully achieved the goal of giving fear to the viewers.

            The music also appealed to that fear really well.  The film used creepy music anytime the mom caught a glimpse of the little girl.  She appeared randomly throughout the apartment building and the school, and the music always helped to start that creepy feeling.  With all the build-up that the music and sounds created, by the time it actually showed the girl it was scary.  The music was used even subtly to push a scary feeling.  Sometimes it was loud and intense, but mostly it just played in the background to keep that creepy mood throughout the film.

            At the end of the movie, when the mom finally encounters the little girl, the girl says something in a weird scary voice.  This voice alone was a use of sound that, again, accomplished its task.  The short scream was just enough to trigger fear in the audience.  The face of the girl was scary, too, but in reality the noise was really what gave the needed affect.

            Music and sound are two major contributors of feelings in film.  This particular film was invoking fear, and it used sound and music successfully to do so.  The most obvious use of sound was the dripping water.  Whether or not water itself was in the frame, the sound was present.  Music was also a large factor in striking fear.  It was always there.  It was quiet, and it was loud, but regardless, it had the same affect.  The scream was one particular use of sound that worked well.  Again, this film was an obvious selection for exemplifying music and sound in film.