Likely, you have watched suspenseful or scary movies -- and have shivered for days afterwards! Scary movies have one particular "signature" camera shot that makes them frightening or suspenseful!

Imagine two characters walking down an eerie hallway. Everything is quiet and there is no other activity. In this "lull" in the action, the camera shows the surroundings of the characters or other clues indicating "No surprises here, none whatsoever . . ."

Suddenly, in the next shot, the camera focuses abruptly on something horrifying and close to the characters! Cue to spilled popcorn and screaming audience members! These particular shots, called "jump-shots", are extremely effective in eliciting noticeably shocked reactions from an audience. However, the name is not due to people jumping out of their seats in fear.

This progression helps audience members follow the story in other kinds of movies .

The purpose of a scary movie is to achieve suspense and shock; jump-shots are designed for this effect. A jump-shot skips the" contents" shot and "jumps" to the concluding shot, effectively "shocking" the audience at the same time the characters are shocked!

Other techniques, such as special camera shots, camera angles, lighting, costume, acting, and sounds manipulate audience reactions or viewing habits. These contribute to ideas, effects, and themes of all films (TV and theatre). Visual elements of film are similar to elements of visual images .