(05-27-2012, 06:21 PM)andyrockin123 Wrote: (i.e. walking down a hall that you've traversed multiple times, then having something sudden occur).
When people see the word "jump scares", it seems to have such negative connotations now; there were plenty of jump scares in the original game which fall into the aforementioned definition.
1. This is more a case of the dreaded teleporting keycard squad gameplay which for some reason Frictional pull off really well (when in essence the very idea itself is unrealistic and stupid).
2. It doesn't have negative connotations now, it
is negative because nobody seems to know how to do it correctly (mainly big budget horror directors). A jump scare is by definition something that startles you to the point you want to jump (out of your seat). If it is earned, that is to say it had suspense and build up, then it only serves as an emphasis of sorts. It's not cheap if it immerses you psychologically and then plays with your feelings in one cruel moment of shock.
It is of course useless if it's overused (unfortunately it is) and there is no build up. To share one of my favorite quotes ever (that I quote a lot): "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it". If something is only startling and not horrifying, then it can literally be anything. You could have a jump scare in a Barney cartoon and it would be "scary", so it has nothing to do with horror apart from being a tool to get across a certain point.