Shock and Awwww: Jump Scares but Cute
| Date start | 10.05.20 |
| Date end | 10.25.20 |
| Start Time | 12am |
| Format | |
| Medium | |
| Location | |
| Admission | Free |
| Event artist | |
| Presented by | |
| Associated Program | Media Jams |
| Resources | URIs of the form "https://itch.io/jam/shock-and-awwww" are not allowed. |
TLDR; From now until Oct 25th at Midnight we are seeking time based media that elicits a complicated mix of tenderness and terror, adoration and alarm, dread and disarmament.
Shock
The jump scare is a controversial building block of horror designed to provoke a largely unavoidable reflex response from the viewer. Film, movies, games, and other media have used building tension, subversion of expectations and audience familiarity with the trope to create a combination of memorable and terrible moments.
Awwww
A building block of the internet, cute things have helped create a least a momentary reprieve from the sometimes exhausting hellscape of social media and the internet at large. In comparison to the jump scare, cute things can provoke another largely unavoidable reflex response from the viewer resulting in an audible awww or gasp. The most extreme cute things provoking what Yale Researchers in 2015 dubbed “cute aggression”, which provokes a feeling of wanting to bite, squeeze or devour things that are too adorable.
Summary
This jam is an invitation to illicit a combination of two contrasting feelings from the viewer, those of shock, horror, dread or terror simultaneously with those of adoration, tenderness, awwww and disarmament. Some of our favorite some of our favorite humans (including Payasa and Christeene) will record themselves playing each submission and we will stream this via twitch on October 31st at 7pm CT.
Rules/Details
- No violence or gore
- Submissions are due by Oct 25th at midnight CT
- Any media that the participant can experience across time is eligible (games, film, sound, etc…)
- All submissions must be playable in browser or mac/pc compatible
- Submissions can be any length, however be aware that on Halloween during our event each host will play, watch or consume any given submission for at most 2-5 minutes
- Hosts may have varying previous experience with video games or interactive media, please include clear instructions.
