Moho Forum

I've always been finding myself playing with the idea of writing and animating a creepy pasta, actually I did do it once. It's ambiguous and without any context whatsoever, I decided to just not upload it, because nobody would get it. Hell, I don't even get it.\

Anyways, I've read Jeff the Killer and it could make for a decent cartoon if done right. The key to making a cartoon scary is ambiguity and atmosphere. I would say that if you want to make Jeff extremely scary, play the game that Jaws or Alien played, don't ever show him directly. Instead, focus on signs that he's near, like extremely suggestive camera angles or seemingly out of place music that is abrasive to the soul. Mess around with audio to create sound effects that are immensely fucked up. Jeff is scary all within his own right and that notorious picture of him is pretty horrifying, you should capitalize on why that picture is so scary and use it. Remember, the scariest thing to a person is what they don't understand, the unknown. Play on that.

little side idea, Creepypastas tend to mention a lot of "Hyperrealistic" quality animations. You have access to cartooning, you should capitalize on that.

As for the character himself (which i noticed just after I wrote all of this) he's not bad, You'll want to fix his hands and make them more anatomically correct. My issue is that he doesn't look dangerous. Thing is, those two versions of him, the regular one is fine and could pass for normal Jeff, but for bad Jeff, all you did was change colors. You'll want to do more than that, maybe give him something of a posture, maybe a slump. The way he carries himself should resemble something more reminiscent to that of a stalker. Jeff has no lips, so his teeth should be exposed at all times in a twisted grin, which is definitely an opportunity to make him more definitive than normal Jeff, and a fun one at that.

MrSoHot wrote: I will make sure the animations are dark and very surprising. And a few jumpscares just to show how mean he is

Jumpscares are fine, but try not to rely on them. I don't know if you've ever played them, but if you did; think about the comparison between resident evil and of silent hill. Resident evil was scary because things jumped out at you like a cheap haunted house ride at an amusement park. Silent Hill on the other hand creeped you out so hard, that at times, you couldn't play the game, you had to shut it off, and it had nothing to do with things that jumped out at you. It was those moments of intensity, the atmosphere, the suggestive camera angles, the events that had absolutely no explanation. The manner in which they played silence on you and made you feel so alone. The sense of vulnerability.

You can make these work by providing more questions than answers, but the questions have to be really really compelling, and not knowing should be the worst feeling in the world.

Of course, this is really hard to do. I mean, this is all just my personal input. You don't HAVE to try and make the scariest thing ever. I've studied the scary things for the past 10 years, so I have a vast array of opinions and perspective on them. If you show me what you got so far and I can try and give you some practical advice and less of this ideological crap i'm spewing out. hahaha.

sargumphigaus wrote:

MrSoHot wrote: I will make sure the animations are dark and very surprising. And a few jumpscares just to show how mean he is

Jumpscares are fine, but try not to rely on them. I don't know if you've ever played them, but if you did; think about the comparison between resident evil and of silent hill. Resident evil was scary because things jumped out at you like a cheap haunted house ride at an amusement park. Silent Hill on the other hand creeped you out so hard, that at times, you couldn't play the game, you had to shut it off, and it had nothing to do with things that jumped out at you. It was those moments of intensity, the atmosphere, the suggestive camera angles, the events that had absolutely no explanation. The manner in which they played silence on you and made you feel so alone. The sense of vulnerability.

You can make these work by providing more questions than answers, but the questions have to be really really compelling, and not knowing should be the worst feeling in the world.

Of course, this is really hard to do. I mean, this is all just my personal input. You don't HAVE to try and make the scariest thing ever. I've studied the scary things for the past 10 years, so I have a vast array of opinions and perspective on them. If you show me what you got so far and I can try and give you some practical advice and less of this ideological crap i'm spewing out. hahaha.

The Silent Hill thing so much. Scary is subjective, but like sargumphigaus said earlier, the unexpected is what scares universally. Watch the movie "The Strangers". There were moments that I was physically uncomfortable, because I knew that something scary was gonna happen, but I had no idea what - so my mind had creative freedom to fill in the blanks. If you give someone's imagination just a tease, just a little idea of the scary that lies ahead, their mind will take over.

Lumpy wrote:so my mind had creative freedom to fill in the blanks. If you give someone's imagination just a tease, just a little idea of the scary that lies ahead, their mind will take over.

Exactly, you wanna scare the pants off your viewer, give the details to the viewers mind and they'll provide their with their own personal hell, which in a way makes the film that much more memorable to the viewer as what they've experience has become personal.

Nice character design, I'm interested in what you do with it.

Lumpy wrote:Watch the movie "The Strangers".

No thanks. Saw it once, couldn't sleep for a week. Talk about creepy.

Angel Heart is another movie that's all about the creepy atmosphere and not the jump scare. The one time something jumps out, it turns out to be nothing. Jeez, just thinking about that one is giving me the heebie jeebies now, haha.

definitely an improvement. He actually looks creepy now. My next advice would be to develop a specific style of animation for him. Something that sets it apart from the other characters, nothing too obvious. subtly is key. Also familiarize yourself with lighting. One of the most effective ways to do this is to use masking. When you place the actual MASK layer, the one that determines what is seen and isn't, use soft edging to blur the invisible lines so the light versus darkness barrier doesn't look too definitive. Masking is tricky and can be a real pain in the ass to figure out. I use it all the time and even I still get turned around with it. I bring it up because Jeff is at his scariest when he visits people at night when it's dark. So you don't want to make him too definitive and clear. Use small things like streetlights through a window to illuminate him with masking, and never show him in his entirety when he strikes. It's not what we see that scares us, it's what we don't see.

This is the tutorial that showed me the ropes on how to use masking. I know it's for an older version, but the rules still apply for ASP9

As for the styleized movements, bear in mind that Jeff is a preditor, so I'd say base his movements on that of an animal, a stalking night cat perhaps? A snake maybe, I'm not saying to make him slither or pounce, rather, make him flow in a way that reminds you of something that scares you or people in general, like making his head shift about like a cobra or makeing him slowly hunker down and bide his time like how a panther gets low to the ground. These ideas implement an oppertinity to build suspense. Making him run in to get the deed done is one thing, but to having him stalk in with these kinds of qualities can really help paint the scary mannerisms of how much if a cold calculated killer he truly is.

Also remember that Jeff cut his own eyelids off, so he doesn't blink. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but an emphasis on his eyes could definitely work the scenario to your advantage.

Lumpy wrote:Watch the movie "The Strangers". There were moments that I was physically uncomfortable, because I knew that something scary was gonna happen, but I had no idea what - so my mind had creative freedom to fill in the blanks. If you give someone's imagination just a tease, just a little idea of the scary that lies ahead, their mind will take over.

I just remembered what that movie was just now. Yeah, totally watch the strangers, it's a perfect reference point for being stalked and murdered in your own house by a terrifying serial killer.