Abstract
The two Silent Hill films (2007, 2012) were constructed around the existing soundtracks of the source video games (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012). As a consequence, they have highly singular soundtracks, on the one hand cementing the films’ relationship to the games and on the other sometimes appearing extraordinary for films. The films follow the games in having a soundtrack that, although it adopts some film aspects, reverses some of the film conventions, most notably in having sound effects that have an emotional character and music that appears unemotional and mechanical, like an inanimate object or traditional sound effects. Silent Hill sound and music articulates an ‘essence’ of audiovisual culture that can be both specific to video games and film.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bessell, D. (2002) ‘What’s That Funny Noise?: An Examination of the Role of Music in Cool Boarders 2, Alien Trilogy and Medievil 2’ in G. King and T. Krzywinska (eds) ScreenPlay: Cinema/Videogames/Interfaces (London: Wallflower), 136–144.
Bridgett, R. (2008) ‘Dynamic Range: Subtlety and Silence in Video Game Sound’ in K. Collins (ed.) From Pac-Man to Pop Music: Interactive Audio in Games and New Media (Aldershot: Ashgate), 127–134.
Chion, M. (1994) Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen (New York: Columbia University Press).
Collins, K. (2008) Game Sound (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press).
Davidson, P. (2005) ‘Silent Hill: A Movie Made by Gamers’ [interview with screenwriter Roger ‘Pulp Fiction’ Avery] in IGN, 13 October, http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/658/658291p1.html, date accessed 3 April 2007.
Doyle, P. (2005) Echo and Reverb: Fabricating Space in Popular Music Recording, 1900-1960 (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press).
Eisenstein, S. M. (1987) Nonindifferent Nature: Film and the Structure of Things, trans. H. Marshall (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Gans, C. (2006) DVD commentary. Silent Hill. Fox Home Entertainment, B000GHRCEE.
Gorbman, C. (1987) Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music (London: BFI).
Kelly, A. (2014) ‘How Sound Makes Silent Hill 2 a Horror Masterpiece’, PC Gamer 262, February.
Kulezic Wilson, D. (2008) ‘Sound Design is the New Score’, Music, Sound and the Moving Image, Vol. 2, No. 2, 127–131.
Lastra, J. (2008) ‘Film and the Wagnerian Aspiration: Thoughts on Sound Design and History of the Senses’ in J. Beck and T. Grajeda (eds) Lowering the Boom: Critical Studies in Film Sound (Chicago: University of Illinois Press), 123–138.
Mundhenke, F. (2013) ‘Resourceful Frames and Sensory Functions—Musical Transformations from Game to Film in Silent Hill’ in P. Moormann (ed.) Music and Game: Perspectives on a Popular Alliance (Wiesbaden: Springer VS), 107–124.
Perron, B. (2012) Silent Hill: The Terror Engine (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press).
Whalen, Z. (2007) ‘Film Music vs. Game Music: The Case of Silent Hill’ in J. Sexton (ed.) Music, Sound and Multimedia: From the Live to the Virtual (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press), 68–82.
Yamaoka, A. ‘GDC 2005: Akira Yamaoka Interview’ Game Informer magazine, www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200503/N05.0310.1619.39457.htm, date accessed 7 March 2007.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Donnelly, K.J. (2016). Emotional Sound Effects and Metal Machine Music: Soundworlds in Silent Hill Games and Films. In: Greene, L., Kulezic-Wilson, D. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Sound Design and Music in Screen Media. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51680-0_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51680-0_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51679-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51680-0
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)