Elena has turned off her humanity after becoming a vampire and is draining the blood of her friend Matt. Stefan and Damon intervene to try and get Elena to turn her humanity back on. Damon threatens to kill Matt if Elena doesn't comply. When Elena calls his bluff, Damon swiftly snaps Matt's neck. The sound of his neck snapping shocks Elena and causes her humanity to switch back on as she grieves for her friend. It is then revealed that Matt is wearing a ring that will revive him, and everyone is relieved except Elena who must now cope with her restored emotions.

1. Link to clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxYm9Grdjr8
The Vampire Diaries
The clip that I am analysing for sound is one from the popular US series, The Vampire Diaries. It is
into its fifth season now and even has a spin off counter show, The Originals – which revolves around
the „Original Vampires‟ who supposedly started the entire vampire race off. In this particular clip,
Elena Gilbert, the protagonist of the series has turned into a vampire, but because of all the terrible
things that have happened to her, she‟s decided to turn her „humanity switch‟ off, and has become a
total psychopath. In this short video she is draining the blood (and life) out of one of her best friends,
Matt. Her two „escorts‟ – vampire brothers Damon and Stefan rush into help. Stefan holds Elena back
while Damon gives her a „pep talk‟ and challenges Elena to flip her switch, saying he‟ll kill Matt if she
doesn‟t. She says “You‟re bluffing” and Damon promptly snaps mortal Matt‟s neck. Elena‟s humanity
instantly is flicked back on as she thinks her best friend is dead and every human emotion fuels through
her. Luckily, Matt was aware of this and wears the one ring that is able to bring him back from the
dead. Elena‟s got her humanity back and Matt isn‟t dead so everyone wins, but how will Elena cope
with all the emotions she turned on?
My scene actually starts 3 seconds into the clip, and it starts off with the diminishing fade out of the
non digetic music being played in the background from the previous scene. This introduces us to a new
scene, a new plot. The first thing we see is Matt‟s body on the floor, and the first thing we hear clearly
is diegetic noise - Elena‟s voice slicing through the darkness “Oh come on, I barely drained an artery.”
She continues talking, whining at Matt to get up so she can drink some more of his blood, whilst noise
in the background of owls hooting, crickets and all the other animals sounding – this could be either
diegetic or non-diegetic because this scene takes place at night. It is also a scene of synchronous sound
– everything is sounded as it is displayed on the scene, e.g. Elena‟s foot kicking Matt‟s body with a
resounding thud – it is in time. Matt then barely whispers “Elena, stop,”- he‟s begging and we can hear
it in his voice as he struggles to breathe. Elena‟s face then swarms into view, and as it does, nondiegetic music begins to play in the background, quite soft music e.g. notes on a piano being played,
but there is also a slight high pitched instrument in there as well, like a violin or something computer
generated – and this can tell us that something bad is going to happen, it is foreboding. It also can mean
that whenever Elena‟s character is about, there will be trouble. Elena then comments “But you‟re so
good!” – She basically ignores his pleas. The Vampire Diaries also likes to portray the vampires as
having inhumanly speed and strength. The editors have made it so that whenever the vampires want to
travel quickly or use a lot of strength, the characters seem to „blur‟ as a demonstration of the quickness.
The next part does this, as Elena hauls Matt up against his car and prepares to bite him again. We hear
the synchronised audio of Matt‟s body being grabbed from the ground, and thrust against the bonnet of
the car, as well as a non-diegetic sound effect of Elena‟s vampiric snarls while she hoists him up. There
is also a non-diegetic soundtrack being played in the background at this point, and the volume and
pitch rises as the action gets more fast paced. The next bit is a blur as the two new characters, Damon
and Stefan intervene, with Stefan yanking Elena away from Matt‟s nearly unconscious body. As they
too are vampires, they blur, and accompanying them is this slight „swish‟ sound effect to highlight their
smooth and quick movement. We hear a diegetic emphasised thud as Elena is pushed against a tree and
the sound Matt‟s body makes as it slides down the car‟s front. We also hear dialogue from Stefan,
some words meant to calm Elena down and stop her blood frenzy. The next part shows Damon
supporting Matt‟s limp body by the neck, while he echoes his brother‟s diegetic words of “Stop it” but
unlike Stefan who has a calming effect, Damon then follows it with a “You‟re acting like a spoilt brat,
you know that?” – This harsh tone tells us something about his character – he doesn‟t like to play
games. He then says “You think we can‟t punish you,” and after looking at Matt he says “Maybe not.
(Pause) but I can sure punish him.” At this point another non diegetic sound plays in the background,
with very deep and dark tones and pitches, which is gradually rising in tempo and pitch, which is
tensioning the atmosphere, along with Matt‟s barely audible begs of “Elena, please...” This background
music of non diegetic sound continues as the characters talk (diegetic dialogue) and at the point where
Damon snaps “I‟m done playing nice,” we know something bad is going to happen- and this is
reinforced by the background sound rising in tempo. Damon continues speaking, addressing Elena
directly, commanding her to switch her emotions back on or “God help me I‟ll give you something to
cry about. I will kill him right here.” – these last few words shock the viewers and along with the rising
music keeps us on the edge on our seats, and particularly as even his brother Stefan warns “Damon...”
and he knocks it aside, with a loud “Don‟t Damon me!” as he forces Matt onto his knees –a sound
which is emphasised to show Matt‟s weakness and lack of control. Damon teases Elena, patronising
her, saying that even if Matt dies – who cares? “just one less buzz boy.” Damon and Elena stare
intently at each other, each challenging the other to back down first. The non diegetic music rises just

2. as the tension does. Finally Elena speaks, declaring “You‟re bluffing.” There is not even time to blink
as in the next shot all we see is Damon‟s hands a blur, and Matt‟s neck suddenly twist more than it
should do. The non diegetic background music stops abruptly (signalling the end of Matt‟s life) and is
replaced by the non diegetic sound of the „whoosh‟ of the inhumane actions of Damon‟s vampiric
actions as he snaps Matt‟s neck. Along with this, we hear a non diegetic emphasised sound effect of
Matt‟s neck snapping, which is so sudden and loud in the suddenly quiet night. This is all synchronised
audio and so makes the scene and the actions flow, as well as making it more realistic. This is followed
by a loud diegetic gasp from Elena, who cannot believe what she just witnessed. A gentle non diegetic
soundtrack plays slowly and quietly in the background, as if to be an audible metaphor for the calm,
kind and peaceful boy who now lies on the ground, dead. Elena‟s footsteps are synchronised and heard
clearly as she approaches Matt‟s body slowly, whilst the two brothers stare at each other. Damon
speaks first, still with a harsh tone, addressing Elena while he says “What about now? You feel
anything now?” followed by an almost sick comical question – “You angry I just turned your buddy
into road kill?” The background sound rises as Elena reaches Matt and Damon continues to torture her,
saying “Or are you sad, that the guy everybody loves, is now just a bag of bones?” he goes on about the
potential Matt had for his life, as Elena‟s diegetic gasps become sobs. Damon crouches down to Matt‟s
body while Elena watches, and in a much gentler tone he declares “Guess it was a good idea that he
was wearing this” – at this point the camera switches to a close up of the ring on Matt‟s hand that will
bring him back to life. The music abruptly changes again, transforming into a higher, brighter
„triumphant‟ pitch, which is a metaphor for the rush of relief that Elena is feeling which is made clear
when she breathes a very audible sigh of relief and sinks to the ground. This triumphant sound
continues to play in the background and Elena grabs Matt‟s hands while chanting his name in relief,
gradually rising in tempo and pitch. It also sounds like violins and violas are being played as Damon‟s
soothing words wash over Elena and us – “You feel that weight lifting off your chest? That‟s joy,
because your friend isn‟t dead. That‟s emotion Elena, that‟s humanity.” The repetition of „that‟s‟
emphasises the relief and seriousness in Damon‟s voice, and as he whispers the last word „humanity‟
the background non diegetic track suddenly shoots up its pitch, volume and the tempo, with what
sounds like a synthesized drum pounding out finite beats which accompany Elena‟s quiet sobs. The
soundtrack suddenly ends on a high pitched note – just as the clip ends, emphasising the relief and
solution to the situation.