Does the uncanny valley bother you?

[Aerozord]

The uncanny valley (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UncannyValley) for those of you that dont know, is the point where something appears human, but is just inhuman enough to be very unsettling. Its something I have been putting alot of thought into particularly in how to capture it for the sake of horror.

Though as I looked into example and analysis of it I notice something, for the most part its not unsettling to me. Not to say I dont understand it, or that I am never abit bothered by it. But for the most part it just doesn't bother me.

Not entirely sure why. Maybe its because I'm an aspie and whole crux of aspergers is difficulty in noticing such minor changes, or because as the forum has seen I have a somewhat dark sense of humor (http://nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?p=959660#post959660). I have certainly laughed at several things people find fundamentally creepy. Then again maybe I am just too analytical. Its the whole that's unsettling about the uncanny valley, how the parts don't quite fit together. So if you mentally dissect and examine each component on its own and understand it, its not really scary anymore.

But maybe all of that is wrong, and what I am really missing is that the uncanny valley is not as big of a deal as its made out to be and most people are like me, only mildly bothered or indifferent about it. That the things just look fake and silly, not unsettling and scary

[Ecks]

Aero. There are two NPF rules, unwritten, of course, that you have failed to take into account with this post.

One, you do not link to the time sink wiki.
Two, YOU DO NOT LINK TO THE TIME SINK WIKI.

Now that that's out of the way... life in general, not to mention the imageboard from hell and just general internet browsering has desensitized me to many things your average joe would find genuinely sick and disturbing. I have no gag reflex when it comes to the truly depraved or highly questionable... there are things I find distasteful, but I just won't look at them.

Ergo, things in the "uncanny valley" department do not faze me. Horror flicks are boring to me, because I can take them apart at the trope level of detail and thus they all become predictable.

[Azisien]

I looked through some of the examples in the tropes article and I think I classify most of them as looking silly or stupid, not "unsettling." Then again it might be because I'm not an aspie. Wait. :ohdear:

[Kerensky287]

Whaddya think of THIS? (http://muppetswithpeopleeyes.tumblr.com/)

[Aldurin]

Best thing to bother me in the uncanny valley area is the whole conflicting evidence that there is a normal person nearby, or a monster, or a monster person nearby. It's not about what's at the end of the hallway, but everything you notice trying to get there.

[Azisien]

Whaddya think of THIS? (http://muppetswithpeopleeyes.tumblr.com/)

You know, the Miss Piggy one actually looks pretty good.

[Nique]

Decent CGI is not creepy, a Ventriloquist Dummy is.

[Aerozord]

Best thing to bother me in the uncanny valley area is the whole conflicting evidence that there is a normal person nearby, or a monster, or a monster person nearby. It's not about what's at the end of the hallway, but everything you notice trying to get there.

not entirely sure what you mean, are you saying its the context about it? That its only creepy if there is the possibility of it being an actual threat, or more a contrast that its when compared to whats around it but if everything looks like that then its fine?

[akaSM]

Whaddya think of THIS? (http://muppetswithpeopleeyes.tumblr.com/)

Everything is creepier with people eyes.

[Osterbaum]

Most things in the uncanny valley creep me out. Like those Japanese robots made to look like humans.

[dwmitch]

I grew up in the uncanny valley. My dad's a ventriloquist so dummies don't freak me out the way they do a lot of people.

CGI has never bothered me, either. There are only two times it's bothered me. One was when a dummy head my dad made but never used started rotting so he was going to burn it, but told me I could take the eyes out before he did (I was thinking of building my own dummy at the time). I took it out back, smashed it open, and seeing a human looking head with part of its skull missing was just creepy.

The second thing was a youtube video of robot heads chanting "freedom." It looked like someone took the facial skin off of cadavers and draped it over mechanical constructs. It didn't help that they didn't have any sort of bodies, just mechanical heads with loose synthetic skin on a table.

[CelesJessa]

But maybe all of that is wrong, and what I am really missing is that the uncanny valley is not as big of a deal as its made out to be and most people are like me, only mildly bothered or indifferent about it. That the things just look fake and silly, not unsettling and scary

Uncanny valley, from my understanding with computer graphics, isn't supposed to be scary, necessarily. It just means it's super human looking but just off enough to look odd or wrong. Like, for example. The humans in Tangled are stylized and aren't supposed to look photorealistic, but the humans in the polar express are much closer to photorealism, but the slight amount they're off makes them unbelievable. It's the same thing that makes terrible self portraits (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kPILXZwdU40/SQ9ICtPncoI/AAAAAAAAACk/j-iUDeymUmY/s400/bad-self-portrait-tattoo.jpg) a little bit creepy while cartoony caricatures (http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs19/f/2007/253/8/b/House_M_D__caricature_by_nelsonsantos.jpg) look "right". Sometimes things in uncanny valley are creepy, while others are just mildly bothersome. The only constant is that your head says that it looks "wrong".

[Shyria Dracnoir]

It isn't just CG; perfectly alive flesh-bearing humans can still project an air of unnervingness.

Case in point: the jerk they got to replace Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K in that MIB 3 film that got mentioned in this thread.
(http://nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?t=40686)
http://i2.blogs.indiewire.com/images/blogs/theplaylist/archives/article-1376036-0B96751E00000578-966_634x563.jpg

Fucker still makes me want to reach for the panic button.

[Fifthfiend]

More like hot and bothered.

[Fifthfiend]

LeQAybKFvtk

Oh baby yes

yes

just like that

[Professor Smarmiarty]

The uncanny valley is how we tell between regular god-fearing humans and creepy alien dopplegangers. And I'm thankful for it.