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How To Make A Good Horror Film |
Posted on Apr 26, 2007 at 4:46 pm by DrBlood
Alas, that
is never the case. Everyone thinks they know best when they are making
their own movies and forget even the most important rules due to budget
and time constraints.
So I thought today that I'd outline a few
points which would make my horror film watching more enjoyable.
Directors and actors please take note.
1) A horror film should
be scary. It's no good just loading it up with blood, gore and
screaming if you are playing something like "The Smurf Song" in the
background or you have distanced your audience from any empathy with
your characters. Think of how to evoke an atmosphere of dread by using
suitable background music (or even not using any at all!) and by making
your characters attractive to the viewer. Remember your target audience
and what they are there for.
2) Characterisation is everything.
If we don't get to know the characters then we don't care about what
happens to them. Flashbacks and voiceovers don't work. The character
should give his own exposition throughout even if you are short of
time. Also characters should be consistent or consistently
inconsistent. Don't suddenly turn a weakling into a hero or a hero into
a weakling and try to avoid comedy unless you know your stuff and have
someone with natural ability to perform for you.
3) Unity of
time and place is also very important. This is straight out of
Aristotle's literary criticism. Try to keep the action in one place
(unless you are making a James Bond movie) and in a reasonable time
period. You only have 90 minutes to fill so try not to get over
ambitious and put a year's worth of action into 10 minutes. You are not
supposed to be making "Dances With Wolves". Most good horror movies are
over within a 24 hour period or less. Let's try to keep it that way.
Also watch out for continuity errors. Even changes in light can make
editing later an absolute nightmare.
4) A story should have a
beginning, a middle and an end. It doesn't matter if you put the
beginning in the middle or the middle at the start as long as the plot
has those three elements. Don't confuse the audience with numerous
flashbacks and an ending that makes no sense to the original story. The
use of an epilogue is best avoided unless your name is Quinn Martin.
5)
Avoid CGI unless you have an enormous budget. Even the most expensive
computer effects always look fake and are easily spotted and sneered
at. If you don't have a big budget avoid the gore in favour of other
more creative deaths if that is what you are after. Watch Twilight Zone
episodes to see how it is possible to be really scary at times without
resorting to buckets of corn syrup or a bag of pigs' intentines from
the local butcher. If you are making a monster movie, keep him hidden
most of the time so that you can get some shock value with the final
reveal.
6) Make some suspense. Use some appropriate music and
focus on the predicament of one character. Don't go overboard or the
audience will feel fatigued and bored. There is a natural timing
involved in such things and you will only see it once you view the film
yourself after shooting.
7) Don't have too many characters on
screen at the same time all jabbering over each other either. More than
three speaking roles and the viewer is lost. Using an eavesdropping
character who is out of sight of the others is also a good use of a
silent character to create some intrigue.
8) If you are a
director then give your actors some appropriate direction. Remember
that this is your film not theirs and your vision is the one which will
be pulled apart by critics when you get it wrong. Don't suffer
primadonnas from acting school telling you how they should be in the
role. Check with your scriptwriter often to make sure this is what he
or she intended the character to be like too. Use storyboards if your
cameraman doesn't have a clue either and never let him use his own
judgment.
9) If you are an actor, do not give your director a
hard time. He has the producers breathing down his neck and just wants
to get on with the job. He doesn't care if you just learnt how to speak
with a glass of water in your mouth in acting class and doesn't want it
demonstrated in every scene. Do what he tells you to do otherwise
you'll end up on the cutting room floor or be replaced with a sock
puppet.
10) Finally, for this time. After you have made the
film, don't rush to sell it straight away. Watch it again, edit a lot
and reshoot if possible. You are very unlikely to get it right first
time and no movie is perfect but being realistic about what you are
seeing yourself is. If you can no longer trust your own judgement get
an outsider in to critique it before you make the changes.
*****
I may add some more to this but I'd like to get some feedback before I continue.
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(4 comment(s) published) |
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Phibescurse said .......
Sounds good. No more weak horror!
Sep 25, 2007, 4:40 pm
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Shredfromhell said .......
Most of that stuff works great... but I'm more of a fan of "abstract" and "unnatural" plots and themes in horror movies. I really can't stand to watch the same thing over and over... I like innovative filmakers, not just ones willing to satisfy the same horror movie audience. To me, being innovative is the main key into making a great film of any kind. Just my opinion.
Aug 7, 2007, 4:46 pm
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Oddtopsy said .......
I agree with everything both of you said, However, my 2 cents is, its' ok to break the rules and formulas, but only **ONLY** if you know and understand the rules and formulas and how & why they work, in the Horror Genre, sometimes breaking the from the typical can work out in favor. other times. not so much.
I sugest to anyone making a film to watch everything, from grade Z shot in the backyard movies, to the mega millon $$ films. somehwere between all that is the rules how they work. and what you shouldnt change.
point in case, when I turned 18, and making my first movie, everyone was telling me, Put nudity in your movie, Nudity sells, everyone loves nudity.
so I added Nudity for the sake of everyone who told me they wanted to see some skin..
so i gace them a Fat naked man with a small package.
to this day i dont' regret it, and found the screening to be one of the funniest i've ever seen. the gasps of horror that swept the croud.
OK so maybe thats a bit of target.
my biggest complaint in low budget horror, is the FX, i agree, if you cant do it some form of gory justice, dont' do it, there are many ways to get the gory point across with out showing anything.
a crunch or squish sound can more than make up
for on screen carnage.
but if you do decide to "show it" then fucking show it with balls out glory,
Good Clear audio is also one thing that can make or break a movie, no matter how low budget. if the audio is excellent. its' puts you into the movie, i've seen some decent budgeted stuff, and the audio sounded like mud, everything inaudible, or garbled, and cant' figure out why anyone would release somehting with that many problems.
even if it means spending weeks on end in a studio ADRing the entire film from scratch. it could be a saving grace.
ok thats all i got for now. hope i didnt contradict anyone or just repeat the same thing you allready said.
-Odd
May 1, 2007, 11:35 am
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darklurking said .......
Damn good pointers to anyone who hasn't made a horror movie yet and is looking to get a few tips, or any of the numerous directors in hollywood who have no idea how to scare someone right now.
A few pointers on the technical side -:
1. mass editing, jump cuts and flash frames do not = scary. Tension is built by holding shots, getting into the head of the character and a hell of a lot of the time, sound or lack of.
I finally dragged my ass to the video store the other day and picked up saw3. after about 20 minutes of being grossed out and not in the slightest bit scared i came to a point where i almost threw up. Not from the goregoregore but from editing. A sequence of someone walking slowly down a hall. 1 minute and 23 cuts i counted, that's almost 2 seconds per shot. slow it down a little and you might scare somebody.
2. forget the pressure hose, or the black cat on the car bonnet. Cheap scares are cheap scares only. You get a quick payoff but you've probably just let everyone off the hook and now they're breathing easier. Take James cameron's Aliens = tension throughout the entire runtime.
3. Couldn't agree more on the CG thing, practical fx are always going to be more impressive than anything your home pc can spit out with average textures. Just takes people right out of the film.
4. try to avoid daylight if you're shooting dv. People don't get scared during the day until you're the best damn filmmaker on the planet.
5. less can be more. i.e. the movie signs, check it out the last 20 minutes you see nothing and hear everything.
6. check out my movie that i'm making at
www.myspace.com/thedarklurking
we're all here for a bit of shameless self promotion so why not me.
practice makes perfect, and we're all still practicing
Apr 26, 2007, 7:10 pm
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