Sound that makes people jump?

[MisterSadistro]

I find that a loud ringing phone after a few minutes of complete silence, can tend to make people jump...

Remember 'When A Stranger Calls' ? A phone never seemed louder or scarier.
CK

[bloodrayne]

Originally posted by MisterSadistro
Remember 'When A Stranger Calls' ? A phone never seemed louder or scarier.
CK

Yup...My best 'phone scare' EVER was achieved by "The calls are coming from inside the house"....That was just 'chill/shiver' creepy...Of course, I was much younger then...

"Have you checked on the children?" was a good one, too...

[MisterSadistro]

I had completely forgotten about that film until I was watching the Bravo Channel's '100 Scariest Movies' or whatever it was called. I can't get it out of my head now. I saw it when I was a teen and more interested in naked girls, gore fx and body counts. I'm trying to find a copy now around here to watch it again. If I knew then what I know now LOL
CK

[bloodrayne]

Originally posted by MisterSadistro
I had completely forgotten about that film until I was watching the Bravo Channel's '100 Scariest Movies' or whatever it was called. I can't get it out of my head now. I saw it when I was a teen and more interested in naked girls, gore fx and body counts. I'm trying to find a copy now around here to watch it again. If I knew then what I know now LOL
CK

When A Stranger Calls Back was cool, too...The 'blending into the fireplace bricks' thing was wicked:cool:

[ADOM]

Originally posted by HappyCamper
Watch a horror movie, that you know there are parts in which you brace yourself for the scare. Usually at the moment of or just a fraction before the actual scare the audio-track changes. I bet you even though you brace for the scare, the sound will still startle you.

While editing a movie I'll go over the same scene over and over and over. It's a tedious process we all have to go through (a little less with digital editing, but it's still one of the hazards of the job). Anyway, when I leave the door open to my office my dog can hear every edit I make. In the last shot I edited for Death Plots, our Samantha character screams when she sees the Grimm Reaper at the foot of her bed. This girl has a blood curdling, ear percing scream. It made me jump the first time I heard it played back at 3AM. Well, my dog would go nuts everytime I would play the footage 5 or 10 seconds before the scream. She knew what was coming and didn't want to hear it. Now, when I play the movie for people, she leaves the room when she hears the lead in to that scene. Kind of like a Pavlovian response BEFORE the bell rings...and scary for the dog.

[scaryminda15]

THE SOUND THAT MAKES ME JUMP IS WHEN THEY PUT THAT SCARY SOUND LIKE JAWS MUSIC. IT ISN'T THE MUSIC ITS SELF. IT IS WHEN THEY PLAY IT YOU JUST GOT THE FEELING THAT SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN SO THAN YOUR HEART STARTS TO RACE BECAUSE YOU KEEP THINKING THE KILLER WILL COME OUT OF SOMEWHERE AND THEN KILL.YOUR MIND JUST KEEPS THINKING ON THE KILLER THAT WHEN HE SHOWS UP AND THAN YOU START YELLING AT THE SCREEN FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE BEING CHASEDTO RUN BUT THEY GET KILLED ANYWAY. BYE:SCARYMINDA15

[Delfino]

Originally posted by jittwoi
Signs although not a great movie had some pretty good jumpy/freaky scenes and it didnt even use a stinger i found that pretty impressive

I agree, one of the creepy bits that I thought was pretty cool was the bit where they showed the news footage of the childs birthday party and you see the alien walk out from behind the bush...I think the lack of a stinger, which was really the audiences expectation, was what made it even more effective and creepy.

A good way I create a good stinger is to use my guitar, its strung with 11's on the low strings (more beef :)) and is nearly always tuned down to DGCFAD...then I experiment with pinch-harmonics on the low strings. They're a good way of creating that "Rabbit in the headlights" facial expression on the people watching lol.

I don't know if that'll help you but its been pretty effective in my short-film making experience.

Delfino