That Sounds Scary
Gabrielle Margocs' Independent Study @ Austin College
Scene 2 - The "Forbidden Room"
Kairo
Pulse
The reveal of the unnerving “Forbidden Room” video by Ryosuke/Dex are two very different events between the films.
In a three minute, generally quiet scene with technology-illiterate Ryosuke, audiences must wait and listen to Ryosuke mumble and grumble his way through setting up the internet. Aside from simple diegetic sounds of Japanese, keyboard clacking, and a computer hum, there are no other audial stimuli.
Once the eerie video pops up on the screen, the audio changes. The "Forbidden Room" video only features a louder electronic hums and whirls while silent scenes of dark figures change on screen.
(Below is an excerpt of the scene)
Tech-savvy Dex takes a minute to boot up the computer while a melodic soundtrack with a driving beat pulses behind him. It is upbeat and rythmic, with no added voice of the character. Diegetic sounds are present, but at a minimum.
Pulse’s "Forbidden Room" video stars similar shadowy victims, but also adds background music to the video hum, and fuzzy static sound effects throughout. These are simple startles, as loud sounds.
In regard to the video itself, both scenes enlarge the unnerving video to the audience's screen, as if they are in the POV of Ryosuke/Dex. Yet because the sound varies, the experience as each character in that moment may vary as well.