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Is there a name for what I guess is the opposite of a jumpscare? Like if there's something horrific lingering on the screen but is never pointed out? I'm thinking like that one scene in Mama where the little girl is playing and Mama is flitting about behind a wall, invisible to the characters but visible to the audience.
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Jul 14, 2015 15:37
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Several things were addressed. Jump scares have a bad name because of all the lovely horror flicks that are in vogue now, with scares that are nothing more than a carnival haunted house ride. Boo! Good ones are when we are sharing the imperiled character's dread, then something sudden yet plausible happens. That scene from Cat Lady is perfect, the sense of relief that it's just a bus is coupled with unease at not getting any answers about who that lady was or how she vanished. Take any scene from a cheaply made ghost or possession flick: a creepy child is put in front of the camera and slowly walks forward, we know exactly what is coming and how meaningless it is. Once it gets close enough to the camera it changes into a monster and jumps at the camera.  That is a pointless jump scare, instead of paying $15 for a ticket you and a friend could go into a dark room, tell her to clang pots and pans at an unexpected moment.Ty1990 posted:The scene in the Descent when they turn the camera on and the monster thing is just chilling behind the main character (first time you see the monster) scared the ever loving gently caress out of me also i was getting jerked off so that ruined it. Blhahaa, you're supposed to go to something completely unsurprising like a Die Hard flick. Sorry you got blocked by a spoop.
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Jul 14, 2015 15:48
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xcore posted:To add to the conversation. I was surprised how often the jumpscare was utilised in The Conjuring as I've seen this movie rank near the top a lot of "best horror movies of the millenium" The Conjuring was as good as a movie with jump scares get not scary.
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Jul 14, 2015 23:11
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flashy_mcflash posted:Is there a name for what I guess is the opposite of a jumpscare? Like if there's something horrific lingering on the screen but is never pointed out? I'm thinking like that one scene in Mama where the little girl is playing and Mama is flitting about behind a wall, invisible to the characters but visible to the audience. The Gallows actively made me angry with a scare along these lines. Spoiler tagged for anyone who wants to see it and hasn't already, because it's really kind of an okay movie overall and it's in its first weekend: There's a scene, about midway through the movie or a little past, where one of the characters who had been attacked previously (and has a rope burn on her neck) is sitting in a stairwell crying, alone. The ghost starts slowly creeping up the stairs on the right side of the screen, and then comes to the top of the stairs; had they played it like Lambert's death in Alien and cut right there to the others hearing screams from her general direction, it would have been pitch loving perfect. Instead, she leans towards the camera to look at her rope burn in the light... and then they pull a stupid jump scare with the ghost that we just loving saw walk up to her noose-ing her and dragging her away. It wasn't even a cheap jump scare, it just felt... I dunno, insulting, like the filmmakers thought I didn't notice the guy who took up a solid loving third of the shot 30 seconds ago.
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Jul 15, 2015 17:38
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I find jump scares more annoying and distracting than anything. Rarely they can be effective, but more often than not they're just a cheap way to shock. Particularly when there's a loud music cue accompanying it.
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Jul 15, 2015 18:01
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One of the more effective jump scares I've seen was in Sauna. Most of the movie is slowly creeping dread (aside from the visions of the girl), and it's mostly a very subtle and brooding film. Then right at the end as the kid's escaping and sees a body on the side of the river, it suddenly lifts up its head and has a black void instead of a face. But it's because it's thematically relevant that it works, not because it's a sudden spook.
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Jul 15, 2015 21:24
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I think a break from the endless megathreads is nice, "let's talk about <film technique>" is a decent thread. The worst part about jump scares is when the pre-jump is too long (most of the time) and you think "here's come a jump scare" to yourself.
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Jul 16, 2015 03:36
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Thats sometimes the best though, you know the scare is coming and you've got that dread/anticipation thing going. That's a lot more exciting to me than the complete blindside jumpscare, There's a reason they string you along and kind of warn you that it's coming, you're just anticipating when. The problem is when they mishandle the stringing along and you can predict it to the moment.
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Jul 16, 2015 15:01
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The GOP Delusion posted:The worst part about jump scares is when the pre-jump is too long (most of the time) and you think "here's come a jump scare" to yourself. But only if you get a jump scare. If you don't get one, it's great.
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Jul 16, 2015 15:04
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ShineDog posted:Thats sometimes the best though, you know the scare is coming and you've got that dread/anticipation thing going. That's a lot more exciting to me than the complete blindside jumpscare, There's a reason they string you along and kind of warn you that it's coming, you're just anticipating when. The problem is when they mishandle the stringing along and you can predict it to the moment. Yea I posted something similar a few pages back about the Exorcist III jumpscare. Its an all or nothing kinda thing. The jumpscare should come either completely without warning, or it should come after such a long build up that the audience will have naturally begun to relax. The latter is my personal preference because it feels like a magic trick; its using the audiences own nature to your advantage. The former can be more effective as far as simply startling the audience, but it feels cheaper.
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Jul 16, 2015 15:20
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I think my favorite jumpscare is from Alien. It's at the end of a scene where tension has been slowly building up and then Dallas goes down the ladder and I always expect the Alien to be right in front of the camera, and then he swings the light around and it has been in the scene the whole time, just shrouded in darkness. Then, it is pretty much just silence.
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Jul 16, 2015 21:03
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The Ring and Mulholland Drive both get brought up all the time as being fantastic examples of jump scares done right, and I think it's interesting that both movies only have one real jump scare each, and in both cases it's right near the beginning of the movie. They serve the purpose of letting the audience know that the director has their number and is willing to startle the bejeesus out of the audience if need be... and then that threat just lingers over the entire rest of the movie. That one early shock trains the audience to never let their guard down for the rest of the film, which does as good a job of helping to build tension as anything else.
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Jul 16, 2015 21:35
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flashy_mcflash posted:Is there a name for what I guess is the opposite of a jumpscare? Like if there's something horrific lingering on the screen but is never pointed out? I'm thinking like that one scene in Mama where the little girl is playing and Mama is flitting about behind a wall, invisible to the characters but visible to the audience. I dunno if there's a name for this, but I'll go ahead and list some of my favorites: The Strangers, of course, is probably only remembered at this point for the scene where an intruder just silently appears in the background. Hell, that shot is the art for one of its posters! But it might go down as the quintessential "hey there's something scary in the background!" The best parts about it is (1) it is the first time you see any of the villains in the film and (2) there is no acknowledgement from the movie at all of the intruder's presence, not even a subtle music cue. Halloween was probably the reference point for this type of shot before The Strangers: Michael Myers appears in the backdoor unbeknownst to the victim on the phone in the foreground. There's a soundtrack cue, which doesn't ruin the moment (plus the appearance is subtle and fast enough a viewer really could miss it without). Scream 2 has a really good one: the killer (out of focus) sneaks into the house as Sarah Michelle Gellar and her roommate are having a conversation. Very effective because it happens during a 'safe' moment and of course raises the tension when Gellar locks herself in and turns on the security system thinking she's safe. It's accompanied by an ominous music cue but it's not overdone and fits well with the movie's "funhouse" brand of scary.
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Jul 16, 2015 22:03
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flashy_mcflash posted:Is there a name for what I guess is the opposite of a jumpscare? Like if there's something horrific lingering on the screen but is never pointed out? I'm thinking like that one scene in Mama where the little girl is playing and Mama is flitting about behind a wall, invisible to the characters but visible to the audience. Haven't seen that movie but I think that's just basic suspense a la Hitchcock's bomb example. Alfred Hitchcock posted:There is a distinct difference between "suspense" and "surprise," and yet many pictures continually confuse the two. I'll explain what I mean. Of course Hitchcock was talking about thriller stories moreso than horror, but the same basic principle applies. Raxivace fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Jul 17, 2015 |
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Jul 17, 2015 01:41
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I just got around to seeing Under the Skin, which is absolutely amazing and I'm already planning to rewatch it very soon. Anyway there's a really good jumpscare in it when the audience is finally shown what happens to the men who go into the black void Its definitely aided by the typical string cue, but I feel it would stand on its own anyway just based on the incredibly disturbing imagery that contrasts with the almost serene atmosphere of the void. I doubt anyone could watch that scene and not have some sort of physical reaction to it.
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Jul 17, 2015 01:58
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sethsez posted:The Ring and Mulholland Drive both get brought up all the time as being fantastic examples of jump scares done right, and I think it's interesting that both movies only have one real jump scare each, and in both cases it's right near the beginning of the movie. I haven't seen The Ring in a long time, but surely there is more than one jump scare. Off the top of my head, there is the Kitchen Pantry "I saw her face" scene (probably the one you are referring to), the horses jumping off the barge, the multiple times a phone rings etc. Or are you just referring to jump scares that actually have the big-bad appearing on screen?
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Jul 17, 2015 03:50
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Basebf555 posted:I just got around to seeing Under the Skin, which is absolutely amazing and I'm already planning to rewatch it very soon. You get a subtle hint as to what's coming too, so your brain is like "No, is what I think is about to happen really going to happen... please no, no god wha--"  When it happens it's not really that "startling", it's more just sudden and it's the aftermath that's the scary part.
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Jul 17, 2015 04:20
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I liked the jump scares in Severance but I'm not sure if that counts because that was a comedy.
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Jul 17, 2015 06:22
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Surprised we got this far and no one mentioned the birthday scene in Signs. That's probably my personal favorite jump scare. That movie actually has a lot of good jump scares in it because they all come in scenes with a lot of atmosphere building up to something. That ending is dumb and the plot is dumb but I don't think that movie gets enough credit, it has a lot of creepy sequences.
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Jul 17, 2015 07:42
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Signs is a lot of really great scenes strung together by some used floss M Night found in a garbage can.
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Jul 17, 2015 08:34
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The jumpscares in Insidious are pretty crap, exactly for the reason that was in that Hitchcock quote. Usually there's suspense being built, but often it's not being build towards the shocking reveal of what has caused the suspense.
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Jul 17, 2015 13:25
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What's an example of a jumpscare in Insidious? There's like one I can think of.
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Jul 17, 2015 14:07
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:What's an example of a jumpscare in Insidious? There's like one I can think of. I really like Insidious, but what exactly is a jumpscare for you? Cause I seem to recall most scares on insidious being it, at least far as how I see them.
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Jul 17, 2015 14:30
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Darth Maul appearing right behind Josh in Insidious counts, but even that is not a total surprise. I just don't consider every time you see something suddenly supernatural to be a jumpscare. I'd count the title sting as one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBCQLGZTBxI But not really something like the little Tim Cratchit guy popping out of the bureau. Not even the Brazilian birthday party in Signs is one, even if Joaquin Phoenix reacts as though it is.
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Jul 17, 2015 14:48
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I don't know if not counting as a surprise is just a side effect of being informed on how movies work, but usually if they're good they still create anxiety because you know it's coming up. Darth Maul is totally the coolest though.
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Jul 17, 2015 14:55
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The Leatherface jumpscare in the original where destroys Franklin is my personal favorite. Come to think of it, him popping out of the storage closet in 2 is pretty great too, despite the mindless destruction of a Sonny Bono wig.
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Jul 17, 2015 18:26
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Glamorama26 posted:The Leatherface jumpscare in the original where destroys Franklin is my personal favorite. Do you mean the guy in the wheelchair or the guy who goes in the house? If it's the latter, it is one of the best moments in horror cinema period. The whole sequence is immaculate, and Tobe Hooper has been living off the fumes of it for 40 years.
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Jul 17, 2015 18:46
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:Darth Maul appearing right behind Josh in Insidious counts, but even that is not a total surprise. I just don't consider every time you see something suddenly supernatural to be a jumpscare. I'd count the title sting as one: I would say maybe the demon pacing the window could be a jump scare as well. Something comes at the camera and it's accompanied by a stinger. That said, it's one of my all time favorites.
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Jul 17, 2015 19:03
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:Do you mean the guy in the wheelchair or the guy who goes in the house? If it's the latter, it is one of the best moments in horror cinema period. The whole sequence is immaculate, and Tobe Hooper has been living off the fumes of it for 40 years. The wheelchair guy. It serves as more of a proper jumpscare imo. The first fellow going into the house is definitely the superior scene, it's just not very jump scarey too me. It's more the type that just leaves one slack jawed and stunned. Wonderfully executed and utterly terrifying.
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Jul 17, 2015 19:14
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flashy_mcflash posted:Is there a name for what I guess is the opposite of a jumpscare? Omniscient camera POV?  Phantom of the Paradise I'm using this example because: - it's a reference to Touch of Evil - it references the "Hitchcock bomb" - it's Brian De Palma - it uses splitscreen - it's Phantom of the Paradise A whole scene of freaking out because girls in bikinis are dancing on a bomb is more stress inducing than a 2 second heart skip because something randomly blew up and we didn't know the bomb was there all along. Carburetors man, that's what life is all about!
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Jul 17, 2015 20:00
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InfiniteZero posted:Omniscient camera POV? Ah that's the poo poo right there, though I don't know if that applies explicitly to the horror version (or if it matters). Thanks for the reminders of examples of these scenes from other films guys, I could do with a rewatch of Scream 2 and PotP
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Jul 17, 2015 20:21
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xcore posted:I haven't seen The Ring in a long time, but surely there is more than one jump scare. Off the top of my head, there is the Kitchen Pantry "I saw her face" scene (probably the one you are referring to), the horses jumping off the barge, the multiple times a phone rings etc. The Ring has a lot of 'kind of' jump scares because of the sound design: most scenes are generally really quiet but all the sound effects are really loud, so just about anything can potentially jolt you. It also does that thing where you hear a sound from the next scene a second before it actually cuts to it, which produces a few jump moments. Scary Movie 3 actually had a funny reference to this, where Anna Faris actually gets startled by the loud sound effects from the next scene. lizardman fucked around with this message at 01:47 on Jul 19, 2015 |
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Jul 17, 2015 20:22
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:Not even the Brazilian birthday party in Signs is one, even if Joaquin Phoenix reacts as though it is. Honestly by this definition I don't think you can consider the Mulholland Drive one a jump scare either. You know it's coming the entire time (at least you know something is coming the entire time). It still startles you, but mostly because you're already on edge. Same with the Signs one, you're just waiting for the drat thing to show up. A lot of good horror movies (and even the bad ones) have this sort of jumpscare, build up followed by release with music moment. You're right, it comes down to what you consider a JS. If it's simply that particular moment when the boo happens (ignoring the context/atmosphere/etc), tons of good horror has them. I think Jumpscares are just a nebulous negative term used by people to describe ineffective brief boo moments that still startled them, which is why everyone seems to hate them even though they are still very prevalent in most horror media. I think my personal hated jump scare is the classic "Dead body falling out of thing towards person" scare. Another good way to judge is the immediate aftermath. A good jumpscare leaves you petrified, but a bad one deflates the situation really quick, which is why I hate the dead body falling and the "oh it was just the cat" scares. As for Insidious, the one that jumps out to me besides the Darth Maul shoulder shot would be the moment in the house near the end with the creepy smile family, when he turns away and when he looks back they are all right there in his face. Insidious 2 had the fantastic moment in the living room with the well dressed proper lady ghost who slaps her, which has probably stuck with me better than the rest of the movie. Febreeze fucked around with this message at 23:36 on Jul 17, 2015 |
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Jul 17, 2015 23:33
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When I try to view the forums and forgot to log in, is a pretty good jump scare. Make sure you volume is max!
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Jul 18, 2015 00:16
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I hate jump scares but The Eye has a couple good examples that I forgive because of the tension and unease that run through the rest of the movie. Unfortunately it does go a bit off the rails at the end though. I'm referring to the Hong Kong(?) version not the US remake (which I assume was bad.) ozmunkeh fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Jul 18, 2015 |
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Jul 18, 2015 01:40
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Do people really hate James Wan that much? He has a weird economy to his scares that seems almost surgically precise sometimes--he'll telegraph the setup but then let it build, and build, and when the crescendo hits it's rarely ever a jump moment, it's more a relief of the scene's tension. The Conjuring and Insidious 2 are built around scenes like this, and I think most peoples' sticking point comes from not jumping on board with the movie from moment one.
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Jul 18, 2015 05:36
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There's only a couple of weirdos who hate James Wan.
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Jul 18, 2015 11:00
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I loved the first 2/3 of Insidious probably because the fear had nothing to do with being startled by jump scares (probably the scariest scene in the film is the little ghost dancing to Tiny Tim). I think the James Wan hate is people believing he had anything to do with Saw beyond the first one (apart from a producer credit which is meaningless). The birthday scene in Signs isn't a jump scare, it's just frightening.
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Jul 18, 2015 14:57
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Basebf555 posted:I just got around to seeing Under the Skin, which is absolutely amazing and I'm already planning to rewatch it very soon. Love that movie, and that scene is a great use of a jump scare. Rather than being startling, it's just shocking, really a ghastly thing to see happen. Coupled, of course, with the vulnerability of someone else and the nauseating realization of what will happen to him. That's one of the defining features between a good one and a bad one: a bad one startles you and is forgotten, a good one reverberates in your senses and in the plot.
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Jul 18, 2015 17:02
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HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:There's only a couple of weirdos who hate James Wan. he gave the Warrens a soapbox in the form of the movie the Conjuring, but he's not a terrible director.
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Jul 18, 2015 17:42
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