Help with terminology

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 2:08 am

I couldn't think of another forum where this would be more appropriate, so i figure i'll ask here since we have a sizeable number of people familiar with obsure artsy knowledge.

Is there a term for a sharp contrast of mood between audio and visual elements in an a/v production? Like a horror with a happy, upbeat soundtrack (going with a "it's more scary" result, not a comedic one).

I'm contemplating the merits of creating a horror-type video that twists the audio to be more frightening by the mere fact that it doesn't seem like it should be paired like that. Quite literally a psycologically jarring (or scaring) piece.

I know, given the vast expance of human experience, there is no such thing as a unique idea, so I assume such a thing must have a name. Any ideas?

Kitsuner · Post by **Kitsuner** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:01 pm

Juxtaposition?

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 6:13 pm

Kitsuner wrote:Juxtaposition?

Well, that is what i'm going for, but more specifically tied to the nuances listed above.

Tsunami Jones · Post by **Tsunami Jones** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:00 pm

Contradiction/contradictory, maybe?

Flint the Dwarf · Post by **Flint the Dwarf** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:28 pm

I think the official artsy term is "fucked up."

Scintilla · Post by **Scintilla** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:34 pm

I want to say irony of some sort, when the audio is saying the opposite of what you really mean to get across with the video.

Not a film person though.

Tsunami Jones · Post by **Tsunami Jones** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:07 pm

Maybe paradox or parodixical?

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:48 pm

Twisted and macabre. Like a movie about adorable little children eating people. The only literary piece I can think of would be Swift's, and that's just irony and satire (with a dash of macabre). I've never heard a more specific term for the genre.

godix · Post by **godix** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:50 pm

I don't think you guys are on the right track. Using a childs song to convey horror isn't irony or contradictory. A lot of childhood things are actually meant to be kinda scary. Not all clowns are nice, not all fairy tales are happy, almost no campfire story is wholesome, and many traditional child songs either directly or indirectly refer to death. Until the modern idea of 'protect kids from EVERYTHING' took hold a large amount of things targeted to kids were intended to be frightening.

So anyway, I don't know the term for it but I'm pretty sure none of you have hit on it either.

Flint the Dwarf · Post by **Flint the Dwarf** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 10:06 pm

No, I'm pretty sure I got it.