Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Conclusions

My main motivation for writing this blog has been to better understand the thriller/horror genre, and to analyze the differences between film, game, and textual media. It has also served as research to help me create my horror game, "Nightmares of a 6 Year-Old Girl" (pictured).

What I've discovered:

  • It is a very powerful technique to prey on the participant's sense of security in what they take for granted: that their friends and family can be trusted, that they have a safe place to live, that there is a police force they can count on, etc.
  • In a largely religious global community, fear of demons, the Devil, and other anti-deities is strong, and easily exploitable.
  • The key to an effective scare is in the control of tension.
  • There are basic formulas inherent to the media you are working in, and knowing the formula (whether you're breaking it or adhering to it) is important in creating the best narratives.
  • Each type of medium gives the participant more or less control of the story, this can be used to your advantage.
  • Find inspiration in folk stories, as they are often based in truth, and have had countless re-tellings to evolve into a better story.

Interview #2 - UTD/SMU Professor, Kenneth Brewer


[+] Who is Professor Brewer?
[+] What makes scary movies scary?
[+] How does film build tension in participants?
[+] Why do people enjoy scary movies?
[+] Favorite horror/thriller films?

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Podcast: Interview with UTD Professor Murphy

Transcript


[+] Who is Professor Murphy?
[+] Does the act of reading affect the scare factor?
[+] Goosebumps and choose-your-own-adventure books
[+] Does your imagination when reading enhance the scare factor?
[+] Do you have a favorite thriller novel or writer?
[+] Films or Novels?

Guest Post by Chase Harding

Adrenaline Junkies

Skating can be a scary experience, which is what keeps people coming back for more. Skaters must regularly push past their fears in hopes of landing their desired trick. Fear exist as a constant motivator for skaters. Skaters are regularly faced with the decision of attempting a trick they have never tried or bowing down to fear and bailing out.

Be afraid

Certain skate-spots are renowned for striking fear into the hearts of all who attempt and even think about attempting the given stunt. One spot in particular is known as the "Leap of Faith". This particular skate-spot takes down all who face it, which can be as seen in any of the of the links below:

To Each his Own

Each kind of skating–street and vert– has its own distinct fears. Common things a skater fears when skating street are:

  • Cars
  • Racking oneself
  • Police

Common skatepark fears include:

  • Collisions
  • Burns/Bruises
  • Holes/Wet spots on the ramps

Fear with a Purpose

Fears keep a skater safe. As a skater progresses tricks and obstacles that might have been terrifying at one time get less scary as the skater gets better. A skater is normally only intimidated by the tricks he has not done. Embracing ones fears and learning to fall is the quickest way to progressing in any aggressive sport.

Find Chase's blog on where to skate in Texas here!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Folk Stories and Modern Ghost Stories

Sitting around a campfire at night evokes many stereotypical activities, one of which is telling ghost stories. The subjects of these stories are murderers that attack campers, Chupacabrae, and other monsters and psychopaths that are widely known, but with no particular origin. These aren't ideas created by film writers, comic book artists, or any one person; these are folk stories. They begin as a regular story, probably completely true, that gets morphed and twisted into something a little less true, through word of mouth. It changes and contorts until it's completely different. A dog attack turns into a giant dog attack. A giant dog attack turns into a monstrous animal ravaging a village. These are the origins of the great ghost stories.

So what are the modern day folk stories? What is the 2012 Chupacabra? What kind of monstrous beings does the Internet have in store? In this age, word of mouth travels instantaneously, the source of any story can be tracked down to a specific IP address. So how does it work?

Let's take a look at one in particular: Slender Man. KnowYourMeme.com has great coverage of the origins of Slender Man, including references to the "original" images that were posted to the forum site SomethingAwful.com which I have posted here as well.

The "original" Slenderman was created as part of a photo doctoring competition in which normal photographs were doctored to look creepy. The competition involved tricking people on another forum site that takes these things seriously, to take it seriously. The trick in these cases is subtlety. As you can see in these photos, there isn't anything immediatly alarming in them - but you get the feeling that the man doesn't look right. He's tall - very tall - and lanky. He's wearing a suit and you can't really see his face. Worst of all is that he's playing with children. What does he want with them? Why is he there? Personally - I find it a bit unsettling to look at.

As KnowYourMeme.com points out, The Slender Man story has been told and retold and altered by many people on the Internet and in the media. Though it is believed to be the inspiration for the Doctor Who villains "The Silence" (pictured right) similar monsters to The Slender Man have existed long before, as shown in the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer episode "Hush" as "The Gentlemen" (video below).

Sources:

Tomberry, Cyber6x. (2010). Slender Man. Know Your Meme. Retrieved from http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/slender-man

Friday, November 9, 2012

Maslow's Hierarchy of Fears

Reversing Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to generate anxiety

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a theorized hierarchical order that humans put all of their needs into. If I say I need to go shopping, while that may be true on some minor level, it is not even close to how much I need to drink water, and I would certainly not go to the mall if I was completely dehydrated.

  1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.
  2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc.
  3. Belongingness and Love needs - work group, family, affection, relationships, etc.
  4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc.
  5. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.

It follows that humans' fears are directly related to their needs. Fear of pain is the fear of not being able to fulfill our Physiological needs. Fear of public speaking is a mixture of our fear of losing our current Self-Esteem, not being loved, or losing out feeling of belonging.

With every monster and scary situation, look at it in terms of what needs it threatens. A possessed house? Considering we need shelter, and on a lesser level need safety and stability, this can be a scary prospect. Possessed daughter? That threatens our need for family and affection.

How can I use this?

If you're writing a horror story for a game, film, or book, consider what immaterial things your audience treasure most. If the crazed killer in your story keeps the protagonist from a source of water and food, the audience has a real empathic understanding of the desperation the protagonist is in. When your characters call the police to warn them of the imminent danger, as anyone in the audience would do, have the police brush them off, tell them it is probably nothing to worry about. This will get your audience's anxiety levels climbing as the characters run out of choices (the same choices your audience would want to rely on in a similar situation).

For examples on how to use Self-Esteem needs against the audience, watch the movies Se7en, and Carrie.


Source

McLeod, S. (2007). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

The Art of the Jump Scare

"It’s that moment when a character thinks they’re safe, only to have a demon appear suddenly behind them. The final coda when it feels like the movie’s wrapping up — but the killer comes back for one last jump. A mix of tension, cinematic sleight-of-hand, and score, it’s one of the most basic building blocks of horror movies, and it excels at one thing: catching the audience off guard, and jolting the hell out of them." - Bryan Bishop of the Verge

The so-called "jump scare" is one of the most common elements in horror movies - and is where all the tension that has been built up, breaks. You've seen it when the character bends down over a sink, and when they stand straight up, we see a figure in the mirror. Depending on the genre, the character will either then turn around quickly and see that the figure is gone, or be brutally murdered right there.

This is of course an example, and there are many ways a jump scare can manifest. However it appears, it is meant to be a shocking sight, and also completely unexpected. This is achieved by building tension, or as I referred to it previously, raising the anxiety levels of the audience.

The Magic

Enlarge Image

As Bryan points out, the jump scare needs three distinct phases to be successful: the rising tensions, the relief, and the scare. In the graph above, we see that as the tension increases, it reaches a point where having a monster pop out of the darkness will successfully scare the participant, instead of leaving them simply puzzled. (Participant Scarable line) Raise the tension more, and the participant will begin to suspect that the scare is just behind that door... and this is the crucial part: there is nothing behind the door. The tension is relieved, and that's the point in which the jump scare can really terrify you. It elevates the scare from a "cheap scare" to a well executed trick, that leaves the participant saying "I did not see that coming!".


Source

Bishop, B. (2012). 'Why won't you die?!'. The Verge. Retrieved from http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3574592/art-of-the-jump-scare-horror-movies