Of course, beating him to death is a joke, but Nanaya now knows what the problem with Kyon is.
"That's right, Old Kyon."
Nanaya thought for a moment, poured a glass of water for the other party, and then asked: "What kind of story do you want to write? Thriller, horror, or weird?"
Because he was very familiar with Nanaya, Old Gen didn't hesitate to ask directly: "Is there any difference?"
Nanaya smiled and said, "Although these three types are the three main ways that horror stories scare people, and the levels are progressive. Human art works want to express fear in only these three ways, and they are also the specific manifestations of the feeling of fear in the process of human development."
Gen Urobuchi was not a person who believed everything he heard. After hearing Nanaya's narration, he began to quietly think about the specific differences between the three words: horror, terror, and weird.
"Kiryu-san, what did you just say about the development of human history?" Kyon asked slowly.
"Yes, fear is an innate emotion of human beings and has played an important role in the process of human evolution."
Nanaya gestured lightly on the table with his hands: "Because falling from a high altitude can kill us, we instinctively fear heights; because catching fire can burn us to death, we instinctively fear fire; because wild animals can kill us, we fear large predators such as lions and tigers."
"Indeed." Shion nodded thoughtfully, "According to Nanaya, the word fear can be said to be a biological instinct engraved in human genes. And it is precisely because of this feeling of fear that those who pursue excitement will constantly challenge their limits."
"In fact, you don't need to be so euphemistic. Just call that kind of behavior death." Nanaya shrugged and replied, "Human ancestors paid countless painful prices to let us know the dangers of these things. Their behavior completely denies the instincts of human evolution for millions of years."
"What does this topic have to do with fear?"
"Of course." Nanaya answered Old Gen's question, "Although I don't really like to use my body to try to challenge some extreme sports, I can't deny that pursuing this actually contains the concept of human challenging horror."
"So?"
Seeing that Nanaya suddenly stopped, Old Gen became a little anxious.
"We've skipped a few parts. Let's start from the beginning."
Nanaya thought for a moment and explained, "Let's start from the origin of human development. If we choose something that runs through human evolution and the development of civilization and best represents the element of horror, I personally think that snakes are the most representative. Do you know why?"
"Because it's disgusting enough?"
These words were said by Shion, and judging from the expression on her face, she really didn't like snakes very much.
"That's about right."
Nanaya felt that he seemed to have discovered a small weakness of the boss, but he didn't intend to be stupid enough to confirm it.
"In primitive society, no, I should say that humans' fear of snakes already existed before they developed a proper civilization."
"oh?"
Old Gen sat up straight. This kind of writing material was the best content for him.
"Humans evolved bit by bit from primitive people. In ancient times, humans who had not yet fully developed could not understand the concept of poison. Therefore, although they could understand that being attacked by wild beasts would lead to death, even monkeys could understand that people would definitely not survive after being eaten."
"But humans at that time could not understand how venomous snakes could kill people. Why could two pinhole-sized wounds kill people directly? This kind of weird thing seemed completely beyond the natural laws that humans at that time could understand."
"So this is why, whether in the East or the West, the older the myths and legends, the more snakes appear. And no matter whether the snake plays a positive or negative role in the myth, its status is always very high."
"I can think of a lot."
Old Gen has a high literary literacy and he immediately thought of a lot of similar gods.
"When humans began to evolve, when they began to understand that snakes were not gods, but used venom to kill prey and enemies. Humans began to try to use snake venom or other poisons. At this time, humans began to show their ambitions. They were unwilling to succumb to fear, but began to try to overcome fear."
Old Gen took a sip of coffee and said jokingly, "So snakes have become the target of hunting?"
Nanaya nodded and admitted: "Indeed, people need to use a concrete thing to show their growth. So after humans left primitive society and entered feudal society, we often see many legends of killing snakes to prove the extraordinary protagonist of the story."
"In Western legends, Hercules killed two poisonous snakes when he was a baby to prove his bravery and uniqueness; in the East, there is also the story of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, beheading a white snake to increase the sacredness of this feudal emperor."
"You should have noticed the difference between these two stages. Earlier humans had an instinctive fear of snakes, so when they faced snakes, they could only passively defend themselves. When people began to try to control everything, when they faced snakes, they would try to play games with them and try to kill them."
Nanaya's words reminded Old Gen of the three words Nanaya mentioned before. He asked, "So-called horror is because people are in a passive state of fright, which is a state of passive defense; while terror is a state of game between two parties?"
"Yes." Nanaya nodded. "So when people go from being afraid of snakes to defeating them, what do you think humans who always want to go further will do?"
"Creating your own 'snake'?"
Old Gen's thoughts gradually became clear.
Nanaya was very happy that Kyon had caught up with his pace, which made him appreciate his abilities more and more.
"Yes, so after humans entered modern society, the feeling of fear became a form of entertainment. Novels, paintings, movies and even games are all about 'snakes' created by people. But the methods of scaring people are different."
"After learning about people's history of horror, let's now return to the topic of thriller, horror and weirdness." Nanaya continued.
"First of all, it's a thriller. In terms of film as a form of expression, the thriller technique can be simply summarized as jump scare."
Jump scare has always been a common technique in horror movies. This expression method is simple, rough, direct and effective.
In other words, this is the simplest and most cost-effective way to use visual media to achieve the purpose of scaring people.
But repeating this technique countless times can easily make people feel bored.
But this is secondary. Another reason why Jump scare is generally not highly rated is that most of the scares in Jump scare are only temporary.
Afterwards or when you repeat the experience for the second time, the sense of fright will be greatly reduced because of the psychological expectation.
Therefore, movies produced in this cheap way can usually only become fast food and cannot become classics.
Of course, this kind of thing depends on the level of the creator. Those movies that abuse Jump scare will naturally be despised.
But the masters of horror movies are able to make good use of the suddenness of Jump scare and sublimate it.
Their common practice is to build up the atmosphere through early stage preparation, so that the audience will unknowingly fall into the psychological trap they have designed in advance.
Then at the last moment, release all the tension at once through a Jump scare.
In this way, even if the audience already knows what will happen next, he will still be shocked by the last scare.
"So, Old Gen, you have to understand one thing." Nanaya further said, "These three techniques are not superior or inferior in themselves, they are just different forms of expression.
"The real difference is the people who created them." Shion followed suit, "There is a difference between a mediocre person and a genius."
Nanaya knew from Shion's eyes that the genius she was talking about must be himself.
"I now understand why I thought my previous outline was wrong." Old Gen said, "I was too direct in many scenes. It was just a simple pile of materials, which made the horror elements look cheap."
"That's right." Nanaya nodded, "Horror is more profound in controlling emotions than thriller, because it is no longer a simple passive acceptance of the audience, but a process of mutual negotiation between the audience and the creator."
"This technique cannot be achieved through a single shot, but requires the overall story atmosphere to create this atmosphere."
In Nanaya's opinion, the expression of horror is not simple, because it requires the scheduling of shots, changes in scene details, some recurring strange signs in the shots, and even the film's narration of a strange environment.
These techniques are no longer simply physiological stimulation, but a combined effect of both physiological and psychological factors.
For example, in Tsui Hark's "No Gate to Hell", the strange little island called Dajiajiao; and in Nanaya's own FZ, the murderer Ryunosuke Uesugi who thinks he is pursuing art.
Although there are no deliberately scary shots like Jump scare, nor are there direct bloody shots due to rating restrictions.
But the overall atmosphere does have a hint of horror, and it may even give people a chilling feeling after watching it.
"Oh, that kind of creative mode, I'm very good at it."
Probably because he talked about his masterpiece FZ, Kyon became excited. He looked at Nanaya with shining eyes and said:
"So what about the last weirdness? Kiryu-san, please tell me. You must want me to use this method to create it, right?"