Character characterization in American fantasy cinema: sound drama

Abstract

The present paper is devoted to the analysis of character characteristics in American science fiction and horror cinema of the 40s - 60s of the XX century from the point of view of sound drama and the identification of special properties of the sound of early electronic instruments that become a kind of cohesion in the general structure of the film text of a science fiction or horror movie. The sound of early electronic instruments (the termenvox, the waves of Martenot, trautonium, etc.) always aroused some apprehension among listeners - artificial timbres were associated with something mysterious and terrible. That is probably the reason why early electronic instruments were so often used in fantastic movies to create special mysterious and fantastic atmospheres, supporting a sense of fear and horror. Using American films as an example, in particular films by Alfred Hitchcock (“Spellbound”, “Birds”) an analysis is made of the use of early electronic instruments in cinema.