If you look at the some of the more smashed up characters in Toy Story, you'll see the fear factor comes from something once innocent now twisted to be intimidating or eerily different.
The character is made creepy by simply showing a broken eye along with its inexpressive face.
Horror is something that is achieved more effectively by subtle things rather than full on imagery.
People are more freaked out by things they find comfort in being changed slightly with a dark tone, like being broken or showing unemotional/unempathetic behaviour.
The toys in Sids room from Toy Story 1 are good examples of this also.
They have all been tampered with, mixed together to form something unusual.
This kind of twisted innocents makes us think of psychopathic behaviour or various other reasons unknown to us, which can be quite scary to humans.
I chose the Neb bear for my own reasons, as this character has been my default character for quite some time, but has never been fully developed. This makes his expandable and great for trying out new things with.
I often partner him with the ghost of a young female, often in her late teens, as this ghostly figure has always frightened me. She originates from Japan and is known as an Onryo, which means the unrested sprite of a girl with long black hair, often fuelled by rage or some deep sorrowful emotion.
Because my version of the character has always been that of a mentally disturbed girl, she is seen carrying a teddy bear to symbolise her unhealthy attachment to childhood, unable to let go of the past which continues to haunts her. This is a dark concept which is why I think its use will work well in this my FMP game.
The Onryo depiction is used quite often is Asian horror movies, more notably the Grudge (or Ju-on) and the Ring (or Ringu). Both these movies use this ghost as the main antagonist and she is often unsettled by her past, vengeful for an unjustified event which took her life.
I am of course not the only to think of this concept with the girl and the bear. It is a pear used many times over, the toy is iconic of childhood and the girl replicated of innocence. This is why these two can be very scary, as mentioned before twisted innocence is very frightening to humans.
I think making the girl older is more intimidating as my idea of fear is not letting go of emotions and allowing them to consume you, which again is why the female ghost continues to carry her manky teddy bear.
I think as well the Onryo girl from the Japanese folk talks is more intimidating as her hair is always covering her face. Like I said before about the Baby character from Toy Story 3, we find lack of expression intimidating as we are unable to ready that persons emotions, there for they become unpredictable which we find threatening.
This girl is also used in same games, one example being the Fear series.
In Fear she tends to pop out for jump scares, which I have taken inspiration from and will be implementing this idea in my game also. The Grudge also had its own game where she was used very effectively.
She acts as the main antagonist and can follow you through the game, however as you are unable to attack she becomes a very intimidating threat.. I have more to say about these games but not in this post.
Check my next Game Research post for more details.
Bibliography:
Toy Characters>
http://pixar.wikia.com/Mutant_Toys
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114709/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/toy_story/
http://www.pixar.com/features_films/TOY-STORY
http://toystory.disney.com/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435761/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/toy_story_3/
http://www.pixar.com/features_films/TOY-STORY-3
Onryo>
http://yokai.com/onryou/
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StringyHairedGhostGirl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7nIkgnjIyU
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/grudge/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0391198/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298130/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ring/
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