This is how you make something almost unrecognizable.
There is nothing worse than seeing a modern movie monster revealed in a film or TV show that isn’t as scary as you thought it would be. In fact, the creature kind of looks familiar, and the fear and suspense that has been building throughout the runtime is dead. How do you avoid this lack of fear of a movie monster?
The human mind is a wonderful and strange thing. We can create something far more terrifying in our heads than what is on screen.
However, there is one dark corner of our brain that cannot comprehend creatures or characters that look almost human but not quite. No matter how long we look at these unnatural creatures or characters, the signals in our brains light up and tell us to fight or run away. That is the power of the “uncanny valley.”
How do you use the uncanny valley to scare your audience? Let’s break it down.
Author: Alyssa Miller
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
