Psycho Strings: Difference between revisions
Content added Content deleted
m (Mass update links) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
In most horror movies, if it's not strings, it's probably a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAys8oqAAV0 waterphone]. |
In most horror movies, if it's not strings, it's probably a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAys8oqAAV0 waterphone]. |
||
Usually part of a [[Psycho Shower Murder Parody]]. See also [[Scare Chord]]. |
Usually part of a [["Psycho" Shower Murder Parody]]. See also [[Scare Chord]]. |
||
{{examples}} |
{{examples}} |
||
Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
** The whole soundtrack, really. |
** The whole soundtrack, really. |
||
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in an episode of ''[[Parker Lewis Can't Lose]]'': A man in a trenchcoat looks at a journal saying "The Chameleon escapes!", then orders a string quartet (which wasn't there before) to play a chilly music. |
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in an episode of ''[[Parker Lewis Can't Lose]]'': A man in a trenchcoat looks at a journal saying "The Chameleon escapes!", then orders a string quartet (which wasn't there before) to play a chilly music. |
||
* ''[[ |
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'': |
||
** Whereas the Daleks get the [[Ominous Latin Chanting|Ominous Hebrew Chanting]], the Cybermen get the Psycho Strings. The same sound effect was used for the Family of Blood. |
** Whereas the Daleks get the [[Ominous Latin Chanting|Ominous Hebrew Chanting]], the Cybermen get the Psycho Strings. The same sound effect was used for the Family of Blood. |
||
** The Master gets his own distinctive [[Psycho Strings]] theme, which is four loud drum beats. |
** The Master gets his own distinctive [[Psycho Strings]] theme, which is four loud drum beats. |
||
Line 67: | Line 67: | ||
* Sonata Arctica use this at one point in "Juliet". |
* Sonata Arctica use this at one point in "Juliet". |
||
* Avant-garde metal band Unexpect use Psycho Strings a lot, but most notably on "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLP7hQkCIyU Silence 011010701]". |
* Avant-garde metal band Unexpect use Psycho Strings a lot, but most notably on "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLP7hQkCIyU Silence 011010701]". |
||
* "O Green World" by [[Gorillaz]] opens with a sort of deranged banjo-plucking solo. The entire song may be a deliberate [[Shout |
* "O Green World" by [[Gorillaz]] opens with a sort of deranged banjo-plucking solo. The entire song may be a deliberate [[Shout-Out]] to [[Alfred Hitchcock]], as you also hear [[The Birds|crows screeching]] throughout the instrumental portions of the track. |
||
* "Opheliac" - the album, not the song - by Emilie Autumn is full of creepy notes on electric violin. |
* "Opheliac" - the album, not the song - by Emilie Autumn is full of creepy notes on electric violin. |
||
* The Soviet composer [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] was fond of using these for [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|political commentary]]. For instance, the [[Executive Meddling|Party-mandated]] Fifth Symphony's grandiose, triumphant finale is rather undermined by the string section sawing away in the background, rendering the whole thing rather hollow, creepy, and artificial. [[Stealth Parody|Not that anybody important noticed.]] |
* The Soviet composer [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] was fond of using these for [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|political commentary]]. For instance, the [[Executive Meddling|Party-mandated]] Fifth Symphony's grandiose, triumphant finale is rather undermined by the string section sawing away in the background, rendering the whole thing rather hollow, creepy, and artificial. [[Stealth Parody|Not that anybody important noticed.]] |
||
Line 87: | Line 87: | ||
* The opening of "One Winged Angel" from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', as well as Exdeath's theme from ''[[Final Fantasy V]]''. |
* The opening of "One Winged Angel" from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', as well as Exdeath's theme from ''[[Final Fantasy V]]''. |
||
* Used throughout ''[[Drakengard]]'' to great effect. The composer favored repeated [[Psycho Strings]] to set the mood in some cutscenes. |
* Used throughout ''[[Drakengard]]'' to great effect. The composer favored repeated [[Psycho Strings]] to set the mood in some cutscenes. |
||
* If Laura Bow has a shower in ''The Colonel's Bequest'', [[Shout |
* If Laura Bow has a shower in ''The Colonel's Bequest'', [[Shout-Out|and she gets killed for it.]] |
||
** Also occurs in the second game, ''The Dagger of Amon Ra'', whenever she finds the corpse of a murder victim. |
** Also occurs in the second game, ''The Dagger of Amon Ra'', whenever she finds the corpse of a murder victim. |
||
*** The second game also has it as the first thing you hear while Laura is chased by the killer. |
*** The second game also has it as the first thing you hear while Laura is chased by the killer. |
||
Line 135: | Line 135: | ||
* Used in the ''[[Spongebob SquarePants]]'' episode "Bummer Vacation" in which Sponge Bob's sitting in Patrick's house after being forced by Mr. Krabs to take a vacation and hiring Patrick as his temporary replacement. When Patrick finds him, Sponge Bob looks (and acts) completely insane, complete with [[Psycho Strings]]. |
* Used in the ''[[Spongebob SquarePants]]'' episode "Bummer Vacation" in which Sponge Bob's sitting in Patrick's house after being forced by Mr. Krabs to take a vacation and hiring Patrick as his temporary replacement. When Patrick finds him, Sponge Bob looks (and acts) completely insane, complete with [[Psycho Strings]]. |
||
** Used in the episode "Squeaky Boots" when Mr. Krabs goes insane with guilt after stealing rubber boots he gave to Spongebob. |
** Used in the episode "Squeaky Boots" when Mr. Krabs goes insane with guilt after stealing rubber boots he gave to Spongebob. |
||
* In ''[[Star Wars Clone Wars]]'', [[Hero |
* In ''[[Star Wars Clone Wars]]'', [[Hero-Killer|General Grievous']] [[Nightmare Fuel|nightmarish]] [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|assault]] on the beleaguered Jedi is set to a mix of trumpets and [[Psycho Strings]], proving that that possessing mastery of the force will still mean [[Squishy Wizard|nothing]] in the face of shock-and-awe tactics and superior swordsmanship. And that Jedi are still ''very much'' capable of feeling absolute terror. |
||
* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar the Last Airbender]]'', several of the scenes in the series finale, featuring {{spoiler|Azula's [[Villainous Breakdown]]}}, are accompanied by these. |
* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar the Last Airbender]]'', several of the scenes in the series finale, featuring {{spoiler|Azula's [[Villainous Breakdown]]}}, are accompanied by these. |
||
* [[Kim Possible]] does it twice, once with Bonnie taking a shower as a homage to [[Psycho]]'s famous scene, and again when music from the film plays after Ron falls off his bike and water comes from his head. |
* [[Kim Possible]] does it twice, once with Bonnie taking a shower as a homage to [[Psycho]]'s famous scene, and again when music from the film plays after Ron falls off his bike and water comes from his head. |
||
Line 145: | Line 145: | ||
[[Category:Sound FX Tropes]] |
[[Category:Sound FX Tropes]] |
||
[[Category:Psycho Strings]] |
[[Category:Psycho Strings]] |
||
[[Category:Trope]] |