Sound that makes people jump?

[jittwoi]

ever notice when youre watching a horror movie in most cases when there's a part that startles you/makes you jump there is usually a sound that comes with it which is at least 50% responsible for your girlfriend squeezing the blood out of your hand at the moment.

can anyone define those types of sounds and maybe explain how they are made and how they can be re-created?

i know a lot of times its usually done with string instruments/drums n that stuff but it would be interesting to further analyze the subject...

:D

[MisterSadistro]

It's known as a "stinger".
CK

[jittwoi]

do you have any more info on it? like how it works n stuff, what types of instruments are used and all that

[MisterSadistro]

It could be anything. A quick slide up on some strings, a drum hit, a fist on the piano keys. It just has to be quick and unexpected. Here's one I used in 'Slumber Party Murder Mania':
stinger (http://www.angelfire.com/il/drunkenflesh/images/stinger.mp3)
CK

[bloodrayne]

I jumped twice during The Grudge...BUT...It was only because I had fallen asleep and something loud (I don't even remember what the actual sound was) woke me up:rolleyes:

[MisterSadistro]

I jumped twice during The Grudge...BUT...It was only because I had fallen asleep and something loud (I don't even remember what the actual sound was) woke me up
Probably your snoring LOL
CK

[The_Return]

If you want a movie to make you jump, watch The Forgotton. Pretty good movie....and holy shit! Not scary, but so many "stingers" it's not even funny

[jittwoi]

yeah that car crash made my heart skip a few beats =P 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

[ownaGe]

ROFL, that link of the sting isnt really that great i dont think, you can find really good music/sound for that scary effect in Scream/Scream 2.

[ADOM]

Originally posted by ownaGe
ROFL, that link of the sting isnt really that great i dont think, you can find really good music/sound for that scary effect in Scream/Scream 2.

Listening to a stinger without the visual it was written for (CK probably composed that for specific shots, not just as a generic stinger) makes it a little hard to judge.

A company called Network Music does have CD's of generic stingers, slides etc that are all pre-licensed. I think Fresh might have a collection of them too.

[elias]

A good jump out of your seat moment is nice with or without the "stinger" but, imho, the scariest films are the ones that leave you with a lingering feeling of dread and actually send some chills down your spine at the right moments. Looking for a good scare? Check out the made-for-tv UK film "The Woman in Black" or Miike's "Audition".

[I,ZOMBIE]

i "movie jump" to any sound... i feel like GIR from invader zim all the time, i'm like "OOOOOOOO whaats that!"

[HappyCamper]

It's funny that you brought this up..I'm a film student, and we're studying Post-Production Sound right now. There are actually people who study what is called psycho-acoustics. It sounds (forgive the pun) just what it sounds like: the analysis of sounds on the human psyche. eh my spelling sucks too. Think about this: 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.

[alkytrio666]

It's always the little things that scare the shit out of you...but they always come with a stinger sound.

ex.

The cat eyes in the original Amityville Horror.

When the closet is opened and that statue thing falls out in Hellraiser.

[MisterSadistro]

ugh ! I've been in the NC mountains for the last week recording sound for a flick and the worst of the worst is airplanes. No way to work around them but to wait for them to leave. Pain in the ass. Running some footage tomorrow with the director of our night footage to see how much of the generator used for the lights can be removed to avoid long, painful dubbing after the fact. Anyone who makes horror films that doesn't bother with the sound is NOT going to make a scary movie. 'Nuff said.
CK

[filmmaker2]

Lacking real percussion instruments here, I did some experimentation with hitting things with sticks and so on, and I found that if I hit my wall-mounted gas heater sharply with my finger, it makes a satisfying "THUMMMMMM!" sound that sounds very dramatic and spooky. It even records well. Anyone hit any interesting objects lately?

Maybe I should rephrase that...

[MisterSadistro]

LOL My next score is planned to be all percussion actually. I've collected a huge supply of Native American drum samples for it. I still might cheat on it and use an Indian flute as well for the early sequences and let it get more "primitive" (for lack of a better word) as the film progresses and gets creepier. Sometimes less is more.
CK

[surfnazi]

I personally find a violin score, something like whats-it-called....the Devil something? I can't remember the name of the song but its used a good bit in different horror flicks and every time I hear it it makes me wanna piss myself. Check out some of the music in the movie Signs and in the film Tales From the Hood the segment involving the dolls that come to life there is that same kind of creepy music.

Violins man, thats the key to a scary score! That or some synthesizers ala Carpenter.

[barbra]

squeeking (why can't I spell that?) doors man, you can hear it in real life and get creeped out because we were conditioned to be nervous about that sound. You know the Haunting was a good sound movie. Really its just a house, there is nothing that you see that would scare you except the dr's wife in the library. its all sound. that movie scares me more than any other.

[bloodrayne]

Originally posted by MisterSadistro
Probably your snoring LOL
CK Actually...It could have been Dustin snoring...He fell asleep, too...lol


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