How to creat that scary jump scene?

[lightcameraction]

Hello.This is my second thread for the last 2 hours,I'm sorry about that,but I'm shooting after 2 days and there is no one else to ask.

I saw a couple of tips on google about that,but I would like some tips from you as well .

Basically my character is looking thru a binocular .She is looking at a creepy house . So I would like my grandpa ( ;D ) to appear in one of the windows and create a small jump scene for the audience .


But what is that makes these scenes effective and scary ? Is it the music or what ?

 

[Jsthompson79]

Hello.This is my second thread for the last 2 hours,I'm sorry about that,but I'm shooting after 2 days and there is no one else to ask.

I saw a couple of tips on google about that,but I would like some tips from you as well .

Basically my character is looking thru a binocular .She is looking at a creepy house . So I would like my grandpa ( ;D ) to appear in one of the windows and create a small jump scene for the audience .


But what is that makes these scenes effective and scary ? Is it the music or what ?

Build up of tension and suspense with the added effect of great ambient sounds and music is what makes jump scares effective. That and coming up with creative new ones that haven't been done to death, pardon the pun.

 

[rayw]

Make the viewer second-guess or question what they see.

1. Have your character look over the exterior of the house with un-aided eyes.
2. Have her lift the binoculars up to get a closer look.
3. Her view pans from one side to another, no one in the windows,...
4. ... she pans back and BAM! Creepy old man is staring right at her! (SH!T! He wasn't there a moment ago!) Synchronize with loud audio prompt.
5. She drops the field glasses and he's gone!
6. And, like a natural dumb@ss, she enters the residence anyways, as per horror film code of conduct.

GL!

 

[Cracker Funk]

Make the viewer second-guess or question what they see.

1. Have your character look over the exterior of the house with un-aided eyes.
2. Have her lift the binoculars up to get a closer look.
3. Her view pans from one side to another, no one in the windows,...
   [*]Over the last minute or so, there has been a slow, backwards crescendo, with music dropping-out, and sound effects/dialog slowing down to complete silence, before...
4. ... she pans back and BAM! Creepy old man is staring right at her! (SH!T! He wasn't there a moment ago!) Synchronize with loud audio prompt.
5. She drops the field glasses and he's gone!
6. And, like a natural dumb@ss, she enters the residence anyways, as per horror film code of conduct.

GL!

And then a cat jumps out of nowhere!

Just kidding. I think Ray's answer is pretty much the same thing I would've said. Not exactly original, but it sure does seem to do the trick. I did, however, add one more very important note highlighted in bold.

 

[rayw]

And then a cat jumps out of nowhere!

And crows flutter out of nowhere!


Audiences just CAN'T GET ENOUGH CHEAP SCARES!!!!

 

[Jsthompson79]

I must be odd. I like original jump scares. One of my favorite right now would be from The Woman In Black when the main character touches a handprint on the window. That actually made me jump and I even expected something to happen. However the way they shot it worked extremely well as did the music leading up to it.

 

[Cracker Funk]

You mean this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8xxYLpxnjI

Yeah, that's the classic everything-gets-really-quiet-then-ALL-OF-A-SUDDEN-BOO! It's a cheap trick, but it works.

It also helps when you've got He Who Shall Not Be Named.

 

[Jsthompson79]

You mean this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8xxYLpxnjI

Yeah, that's the classic everything-gets-really-quiet-then-ALL-OF-A-SUDDEN-BOO! It's a cheap trick, but it works.

It also helps when you've got He Who Shall Not Be Named.

Yes that one. My fiancee would love the modification to it but I am not a fan of that trilogy. I felt this film was pretty good. I want to see The Apparition and The Possession as soon as they are on VoD. I think both of them will have some of the standard scares but I am hoping they bring something original too.

 

[directorik]

Easiest trick you can do. It's quiet and then there is a loud noise.

Hell, you can do it in broad daylight in person to anyone. Walk up
behind someone and say, "Hello" loudly. They'll jump a mile. You
can do it face to face. Next time you're in a room with a couple of
people sit quietly for a few moments than then suddenly stand up
and say any word you think of loudly. "Pizza" works. People will jump.

 

[rayw]

I think for this year's Second Annual MidKnightly Halloween Horror Short Film contest I'll enter a submission full of nothing but cheap scares.

Not a GD actual threat in the whole thing.
Just pure... JUMPING SH!T!

 

[Jsthompson79]

I think for this year's Second Annual MidKnightly Halloween Horror Short Film contest I'll enter a submission full of nothing but cheap scares.

Not a GD actual threat in the whole thing.
Just pure... JUMPING SH!T!

Lol I love that video.. And Ray that film idea sounds pretty cool. I think you should do it. I want to see it.

 

[lightcameraction]

I think im gonna remove that scene

 

[AudioPostExpert]

My answer would be proper sound design. By this I mean not just designing the sound for the film but designing the film for sound.

For example: Character looking through her binoculars at creepy house, sound design element/music building tension. Suddenly she's startled by a noise and looks round, sound design element/music hits this point but not hard, sound FX of a mouse rustling in the undergrowth, at this point too. Character realises the sound was nothing, and as the rustling moves/dies away and sound design element/music dies away picks up the binoculars again and BAM, go for the full hit.

The timing is critical between being startled by the mouse and the hit as she sees your grandpa. You've got to leave just enough time for the audience to start to think the build up was a cheap anti-climax but not enough time for them to crystallise that thought and move on. Probably around 2 secs between hits. Misdirecting the audience is good fun, less clichéd and done well, usually more dramatic and impressive. But in this example you've got to design the film for sound; planning, shooting and editing the scene to get the timing right and included the reaction for both hits. This is how film should be though, sound design is a collaborative art, not just the skill of reacting to what has already been filmed/edited.

Obviously this is just an example, there's many directions your scene can be played, using sound design as a tool to manipulate the audience's emotional response, depending on the scenes around it, what you are trying to get the audience to feel (beyond just a momentary jump), etc.

G

 

[ShockingMind]

I think for this year's Second Annual MidKnightly Halloween Horror Short Film contest I'll enter a submission full of nothing but cheap scares.

Not a GD actual threat in the whole thing.
Just pure... JUMPING SH!T!

That's an awesome gif...which I had those kind of reactions.

ISn't there a famous story of Spielberg re-cutting Jaws to include the dead man under water scare. And afterwards when audiences watched it, they jumped for the Dead man but less so when the shark appears as they were anticipating the shock!

Would be interesting to make a short with just typical SHOCKS in it and see how long people jump for. More like a social experiment than a piece of entertainment though.

 

[harmonica44]

It would be cool to d this, in the shot where you see through the binoculars. Have the point of view start out at the window and no one is there. Than have the binoculars move, and the window goes out of frame. Then move back to the window and all of a sudden Grandpa is there. This could be scarier rather than him just moving into the window but it's a suggestion and your call as to what you think would look better, while you are shooting it.

 

[Caidh Mor]

I must be odd. I like original jump scares. One of my favorite right now would be from The Woman In Black when the main character touches a handprint on the window. That actually made me jump and I even expected something to happen. However the way they shot it worked extremely well as did the music leading up to it.

That's the point, though! Build that tension, let the audience know that something's going to happen. After they've followed your lead long enough, loosen up on the leash, and as they're just starting to calm, nail them. It's a cheap trick, but audiences just don't seem to get enough of it.