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How to make a scary movie
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How to make a scary movie
LONDON: Making a scary movie is simple, according to mathematicians. Just follow the formula.
A team from King's College London, headed by mathematician Anna Sigler, spent two weeks watching scores of horror flicks, including Psycho, The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Silence of the Lambs.
They then they came up a formula which they say will give the perfect result every time. It's: (es+u+cs+t) squared +s+ (tl+f)/2 + (a+dr+fs)/n + sin x – 1.
As a result of their research, Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film The Shining, based on the Stephen King book and starring Jack Nicholson is deemed the perfect example of a horror flick that has followed the recipe to the letter.
For mathematic losers, the formula is explained this way.
The key quality to a horror movie is suspense, which is created by escalating music (es), the unknown (u), chase scenes (cs) and a feeling of entrapment (t). Thus they came up with (es+u+cs+t) squared. They then added shock (s).
Next, the terror in the film has to be both realistic and unexpected, so they added (tl) for true life and (f) for fantasy, which they then divided by two - (tl+f)/2 - to create a balance.
Next they determined that a scary film works best if if the characters are alone (a) and in the dark (dr). The film's location also contributes (fs). And the fewer the number of characters (n), the greater the shock factor, which led to (a+dr+fs)/n.
Finally, while judicious use of the gore factor (sin x) can take the film into the superior sector, stereotypes (1) can work against it, which is where they got sin x – 1.
The research was carried out for Sky Movies.
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