That Sounds Scary

Both America and Japan have unique and expansive artistic cultures throughout history. Film is not the first artistic form of each nation, and is it inevitably influenced by previous artistic endeavors. Going back to the short history of sound in motion picture, recall how Japan used the benshi from traditional theatre to support their silent film era. In a rapidly industrializing society, film came to Japan easily with the help of benshi.

 

These storytelling stars acting within a “commingled theater-that is, performances in which two (or more) separate but equal forms of narrative information … [visual and audial], coalesce into one presentation”; made film a modernized, unique version of theatre. 9 Yet while benshi themselves eventually drifted out of Japanese film culture, other elements of theatre (including benshi-esque sound techniques) remained. Consciously or not, the need for narration in the beginning of film culture in Japan led some Japanese filmmakers to utilize other familiar theatrical aspects within their productions. And while many of those aspects are visual, I believe some are audial as well.

​

Continuing on the narration track, refer back to Kairo’s scene of Taguchi whispering “please help me” over the phone. His tone is dissonant and his voice is louder than both the current background music and previous dialogue; purposely and eerily standing out from the rest of the audio. Regarding Japan’s silent films, published Japanese media scholar Professor Jeffery Dym notes that benshi are “physically separate from the visual element, [but] spectators experienced an aesthetic harmony…”. 9 From 2001’s digital-audio-designed Kairo, that notion of physically separate but aesthetically synchronized sound remains through Taguchi’s dramatic voice. He is an audibly captivating narrator of the scene, driving the fear though tone more so than by simple visuals (of answering a phone).

​

On the other hand, America’s Pulse offers an opposite center of attention to its remade scene; a visual IM chat message from dead Josh reading “Help me.” repeated rapidly. The message is not without sound, in fact, there is a notifying bright ‘bing!’ at each message. But this sound, unlike Taguchi’s cries, remains disconnected from the visuals and emotional experience- when this sound is listened to by itself, offers very little emotional impact.

​

In the scene aforementioned, Pulse relies on the visual and audible “stinger” more so than Kairo. This sense of “show-and-tell” vs. audible subtleties and cues are also influenced furthermore by the countries’ respective art and music cultures.

​

In Japan’s famous kabuki theatre, there is a mix of audio and visual traditions that have become commonplace in today’s culture. One for instance is the vocal calls/singing within these performances called kakegoe. Kakegoe “serve to coordinate instrumentalists and vocalists” and “heighten dramatic tension”. 8 It is an audible cue for the performers as well as the audience, to signify a kind of change within the song or scene. While not quite sounding the same as the loud and punctual kakegoe, the singing choir within the ghost scene of Kairo serves the same cueing purpose. The scene is extremely quiet- in fact silent at times- until the ghost is nearing to attack Yoshizaki. At this pivotal moment between life and death, suddenly a choir of stretched calling and moaning breaks the silence. This singing, dissonant and mournful, cues the audience into understanding the inevitable death that is about to occur. Visually, Kairo’s ghost scene is timid, albeit creepy, but slow-moving and realistic. The ghost is just a normal looking woman who the audience barely glimpses up-close right before Yoshizaki’s scream to indicate the end. Therefore, the physical and emotional reaction to this scene comes from the audial elements, as the unnerving dissonance and low frequency choir guides audiences into fear.

​

In western performances, while there are such things as audial cues, many musical groups utilize conductors with the visual baton or waving of hands. In Japanese theatre, the person emitting kakegoe is the kabuki equivalent to an orchestra’s conductor, but uses their voice instead of a baton. In regard to the western-style of rhythmic regularity, “when special coordination is required, for example, at tempo changes, a conductor provides visual, not auditory, cues". 8 Pulse’s remade ghost scene features such visual cues over audible ones. An orchestrated soundtrack and various sound effects noisily suggest suspense and fear, but as for the climax to Stone’s death, it is more visual. Quick cuts between Stone and the ghost cue audiences into understanding the scene by their eye rather than just by ear. In a final warning, a loud horn effect and flashy noises, combined with the reveal of the contorted face of the female ghost sucking the life out of Stone, is both a visual and audial shock. The audio aspects of this scene are effective, but are also heightened due to the fast-paced visual acting and editing. Here, the Hollywood remake is swayed by American (visualy aspects of) musical culture, rather than the inherently Japanese original.

​

Hollywood has, since the beginning, seen sound as a separate entity alongside visuals. Referring back to Henry Carr’s quote at the shift to sound in film, he questioned “…what is [sound] going to do to us?” Although the two elements go hand-in-hand, when American film first started to use sound, they molded film around it- not necessarily seeing the aesthetic power both audio and visuals bring when placed together from the beginning. Japanese film culture understood first off that moving picture could have further depth with the inclusion of audio, after valuing the importance of benshi and other audial elements from theatre, music, and art culture.