Horror (notes)

These are my notes on how to make a good horror game

Extra Credits - Horror That Lingers - How the Uncanny Instills Fear(Floyd, D. and Portnow, J.2014A)

Surivival:

Slow burn

Tension

Psychology – into the cognitive flow  in the zone full enjoyment and focus. Rewarding. Passage of time

Clear goals and direction

Feedback

Confidents of being capable of completing the task – level of challenge vs. the level of skill

Control- belief that if you succeed it’s because of your actions and if you fail it’s down to you. –control of actions

Silent hill – psychological horror

Discomfort

Feeling less and less safe

Losing control

How the Uncanny Instills Fear – when something is not right. A disturbing feeling. Tense

Most of the scene is normal but a little dose of uncanny

The truth master is making the idea that is can exist in the real world

Extra Credits - Shiver with Anticipation - How Horror Games Create Tension Cycles

(Floyd, D. and Portnow, J. 2014B)

Pacing –

Start with tense start to get the players interested

Settle down and draw the baseline of what is going on

Before this gets too boring another tense moment where what you can learnt is establish

Down back down again

Then make this an even bigger tension scene than the last

Learn more about the goal before going to the main part of the game

This will be where the character has his last clam moment. The quite before the storm. The last reflection of his journey so far before the facing the challenge yet

The final tense scene which will stand the longest and will be the best scene for the full game.

After it was all said and done the silence after the war.

Tension and release curve in horror – intense engagement and rest.

Build the tension – scare you – then release

Don’t have keep to a high level of tension through all your game as it will be exhausting for the player.

Don’t keep scaring the players are they will grow custom to the scare and find it less scary

-The player needs closure to reflect on the overall experience

survival horror: Tension, satisfaction, curiosity and sorrow.

Break games into three pieces = Arc, Scene and  Action

Arc: the overall experience – the piece as a hole

Scene: sub-section or a level- a level should follow the same engagement pattern tension – scare – rest

Action: a specific moment. Example raising the gun, aiming at the target...BANG! then satisfaction and chill after you put the gun back.

Tension and release curve in horror –

The tension building is as important as the pay off. Those moment when then

You know something is coming, you fear when it comes but you don’t know when it comes

Minimal – spending long amounts of time before anything happens

Just waiting for it to happening. The longer you wait the more you get scared. Thinking to second guess when it comes.

Expectation of what going to happen.

Limits I perception: in the dark, right angles and closed doors.

The sound of a door opening  ‘EEEEe’, shhhh’ of leaves. The ‘pinggg’ of objects dropping.

Red herring

Key themes:

Fear, distrusting, discomfort, irritating

The Psychology of Scary Movies 

(Hess, J. 2013)

Tension

Mystery

-Suspense

Gore

Terror

-Shock

Relevance

The universal fear of things like death and the unknown

cultural relevance dealing with societal issues

personal relevance to the protagonist or in a way that condemns the antagonists

Unrealism

-comfort in knowing that this isn’t real.

-hyperrealism

-Enjoyable and not too serious 

-soundtrack, video game cliché, black humour

Sigmund Freud -Uncanny

Aristotle -Catharsis

Dolf Zillman – Excitation transfer theory

Film Scholar Noel Carroll - Curiosity and Fascination

Societal fears

4 CATEGORIES OF HORROR WATCHING

Gore watching – low empathy – High sensation seeking – identify with killer

Thrill watching – high empathy – high sensation seeking – identify with victim

Independent watching – high empathy – positive outlook (overcoming fear)

Problem watching – High empathy – negative outlook (sense of helplessness)

Horror = nightmares

Horror is a safe place to practice  survival skills – face our fears. Try and fight back. The face impossible odds and win. 

Bibliography  

Floyd, D. and Portnow, J. (2014A). Extra Credits - Horror That Lingers - How the Uncanny Instills Fear. [online] Extra Credits/YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSKtTBjSBg0 [Accessed 27 Apr. 2016].

Floyd, D. and Portnow, J. (2014B). Shiver with Anticipation - How Horror Games Create Tension Cycles. [online] Extra Credits/YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyiAR2BXtKU [Accessed 27 Apr. 2016].
Hess, J. (2013). The Psychology of Scary Movies. [online] Filmmaker IQ/YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcAfzK4YPSI [Accessed 26 Apr. 2016].

McMahon, J. (2007). Aesthetics and material beauty: Aesthetics naturalized. New York: Routledge.

 Neuendorf, K. and Sparks, G. (1984). effect of forewarning on emotional responses to a horror film. Journal of Broadcasting. [online] Available at: