Anthology Horror Films

                The Anthology Film

    This is a great way to make your first feature. If you are having trouble writing the script for a full length feature then why not three to five shorter scripts that can combine to form an entire feature length horror movie?

    This type of film making gives you more time and a greater freedom where casting is concerned. Because you are dealing with multiple stories you do not need to hold together the same cast for as long. Secondly you do not need to occupy the same locations for as long. Because you are really shooting different stories you can spread out production over a longer period of time if you wish.

    There is also the fact that you can share the production of an anthology film. You can shoot one film while a friend, partner or fellow director can go out and shoot a different segment. You can collaborate with another film maker or two that you admire. This is how Grindhouse got made.

    Okay things to consider if you are going to shoot an Anthology.

    Decide on the genre and stick to it. The stories should connect and not be all over the place. They have to feel as if they exist in the same world.Think about movies like Sin City. And since we are on the subject of Sin City I would like you to consider a common look. The camera and equipment should be the same if possible. I know that half of Grindhouse is shot on film and the other half is digital, but the over all look is kept consistent.

    Here is what I believe that you will need to consider when creating one of this type of low budget films.

    You may want to have a common theme, (we discussed this earlier). Something like an object, a place or a thing that connects the stories. Look at the trailer for the new movie V/H/S to see what I mean.

    You can use a person to connect the stories. It does not have to be the same character. In the movie Trilogy of Terror, the actress, Karen Black, is used to connect all three stories. She plays different people, but it is always her.

    Or you could just do one that has stories that do not connect at all except for the fact that they were all written or directed by you. The choice is up to you. Have fun with your movie, after all that is why you are doing this. If you are not enjoying the filmmaking process why do it.  Film making is a time consuming process. You are going to be spending 16-20 hours a day working on your film at time so again try to have some fun. It is fun to be a horror filmmaker.

    Okay that is it for now. Remember to tell a friend about this Blog. Add us to your google plus and stumble us on stumbleupon.

                  Lighting Your Horror Film



    The first thing that separates the men from the boys in the film making world is good lighting. Learning the basics of what is called 3 point lighting should be the first step you learn if you want to become a good film maker. The 3 point lighting rule is one that you will break from time to time and when shooting a horror movie you will break this rule on purpose more often than in your standard drama or comedy film.

    I say that you will break it because you will want deeper shadows or a character lit from only one angle to achieve a certain type of effect. But you will need to learn the rules before you will want to break them. Let us begin with a fun little basic tutorial on the 3 point lighting set up.


    Okay while shooting your no budget horror film you will want to know the basics of good horror film lighting. Just keep one rule in mind here, that is the things that you don’t see are more important in a horror movie than the things that you do see. Some times you can not afford the best effect or creatures and that is what shadows and darkness is for.   Think of movies like The Descent and Alien and The Grudge. Darkness and shadow is as important as light in these films. Learn to control the light and you may someday be able to rule the darkness.


    Okay we have come to the end of another post. Remember to tell a friend about this Blog, leave a comment and to stumble us on Stumbleupon or add us to your Google plus.

    At the end of each future post I am going to try to add a trailer for a lost or hard to find horror movie. I think that all of us love the idea of seeing a really good horror movie as much as becoming a horror filmmaker. Here is the trailer for the legendary Cannibal Holocaust. This first of the found footage movies was band for many years for a reason. It is brutal to living things.

Try Practical FX

                Practical FX Part 1

    CGI rules the world of film making these days, but with the exception of the big boys, Spielberg and Lucas and Cameron, most of these CGI effects suck.

    On your low to micro budget horror film you will not be able to compete with the big boys so why not go old school. Practical effects are usually more convincing than computer generated ones at our budget level.

    CGI bullet wounds just don’t rock as well as Squibs. Part of this is due to the fact that the actors can feel it when they go off and react to them. Squibs are not for every scene, but when the hero or villain have been shot it is a great moment on the set and for the audience watching to see something that looks like actual blood flowing from an actual gaping wound.


    Gaping wound, doesn’t that sound cool?

    Part of the reason we are doing this is because we love the blood and the gust and brain matter dripping from the walls and rusty objects. We love it when the bodies hit the floor and those bodies just look better when they are dripping red rather than having the red stuff added using a software program.

    Ask yourself this, which effects did you like better. The ones in the John Carpenter version of The Thing or the rebooted prequel? Consider this that every single effect in Carpenter's version were practical FX, no CGI. Could you find many or any scenes in that film that could have been improved by CGI?


    Sometimes less is more. Because they could do so much on the new version they ended up doing too much. Let’s go back to the future and use only CGI when it is called for.

          You may disagree and that is okay. Make your movie your way because at the end of the day you will own it. It is your baby and bring it into the world the best way that you see fit.

    Okay remember to stumble us on Stumbleupon, tell a friend about this Blog and check out our advertisers
 if you see something that interest you. Those guys help to keep this horror film maker  Blog going and hopefully if it get big enough will help to pay for the production of a future film of mine.

    Good luck, see you guys soon.

Writing You Horror Movie

    Horror Filmmaking Your Script

    This is a lesson I have taught before on my screenwriting blog and I am going to teach it here. I hope that some of you will get this one simple point that should rule the plots that you select for your scripts.

    I will believe anything once.

    Your audience will believe anything once.

    The world will believe anything once.

    If you are writing a comedy this rule does not apply, but if you are trying to be serious follow this rule no matter what else you may do.

    I will believe that the ghost of dead pirates have come back to claim revenge of the town responsible for their deaths. The Fog. (The original)

    I will believe that a man escaped after many years locked away in a mental institution and headed back home with the sole purpose of killing the last member of his family, his sister. Halloween.

    I will believe that a band of cave explorers have found themselves trapped in a cave that is inhabited by carnivorous human like creatures. The Descent.

    Take any good horror movie, Jaws, Alien, The Exorcist, Saw, The Thing, The Ring, The Blair Witch Project, The Grudge. They will all have one thing in common and that is that they are at their core about one thing.

    Pick a bad horror film and I promise you that 95 percent of them ask you to believe more than one thing. Watch scifi channel and the mega shark lobster spider BS that they put on the air every week and you will quickly get my point.

    Find one subject and stick to it, even if you get bored. A bored audience is better than a pissed off audience.

    “But I got lots of ideas.”You say.

    Good, then make lots of different movies.

    The one script writing rule you must follow to create a good Horror Film is pick a subject and stick to it. I do not care if it is a killer bunny rabbit or a possessed block of ice, stick to that plot line to the end.
Killer bunny rabbit trailer alert:

Hey people still watch this movie. It still comes on cable a few times a year. It is a stupid plot, but they stuck to it and did you get a look at that cast?  

    Final advice on writing. Read as many scripts as you can and write every day. Like weight training you do it ever single day until it becomes a habit. Even if you are writing notes write something every day. I almost forgot one more thing. Do not confuse horror with suspense. In  a horror film something is chasing you, in suspense you are chasing something. Disturbia is suspense the lead is chasing answers to his suspicions. While Fright Night is horror. The plots are close, but Charlie is being chased for most of the film by the neighbor who knows that Charlie knows that he is a vampire.

    Good luck and remember to stumble us on stumbleupon and tell a friend about this blog.

Horror Films Need Blood

            Horror Films, Blood Drive

    Let’s face one fact that if you are going to make a modern horror film you are going to need blood. Your actors are filled with it and if they do not mind bleeding for the cause the you could go that route other wise you are going to have to make some of the fake stuff.

    There is a simple way to do this and most fake blood is made the same way. You can experiment on the basic recipe and come up with a look and thickness that suits your project best. With the use of Dslr cameras to shoot many films I have noticed that some of the blood looks to bright and thick to be realistic. You need to be careful and do a few test before you settle on the blood that you are going to use.

    Here are quick tutorials on making blood.

     Okay now that we have looked at fake blood how about fake skin for your digital feature film. It will involve getting some liquid latex and if you are one of those people who are allergic to latex I can not help you. (Okay do not cry, if you have to you can use silicone inside of latex.)

    You are going to need this skill even if you are not shooting a horror film. Blood and stab wounds have to look realistic in action and or dramas. And if you are one of those people shooting a walking dead or zombie film this make up effect is a must.

Good luck with your project and remember to stumble us on Stumpleupon and add us to your google plus. If you wish to learn more about the basics of filmmaking please visit us at thephonefilmmaker.info. Thank you for visiting.

Horror Filmmaking intro

            The Horror Filmmaker

The Exorcist

    So you want to make a horror movie.

    It seems that it would be my job to cheer you on and to say go for it. The world needs your unique vision. I would say that, but most of you want to create water down re-workings of your favorite films.

    No peep talk yet.

    We have seen big budget remakes of Friday the 13th and the Fog and Nightmare on Elm Street, The Chainsaw Massacre and countless others that had one thing in common. They stink, stank and stunk up theaters from coast to coast and living rooms across the nation.

    Do not copy. Reinvent what you love.

    The Evil Dead is a re-invention of Night of the Living dead. For that matter so is Return of the Living Dead.

    Rob Zombie did not remake Halloween he re-invented it.  He took a great film and flipped it. The original is very cold and well paced. His remake is hot and the pace like the camera work is shaky. He made a very angry and aggressive movie. It is one of those rare horror films that did not give the audience a moment to laugh it off. The original film presented a soulless killing machine who dispatched victims without reguard for them, the new re-invented Michael Myers killed more like a wild animal than a human being.  

    To create a great horror movie you have to really think about all the things that are going on not only inside the story, but inside each character. You have to dig deep to come up with characters whom will be remembered. To make films that people will want to watch for decades to come.

      Okay let's get started.

 


    I would like you to subscribe to this blog.  Introduce yourself. Make comments and ask questions. Maybe we will make connections. Meet like minded people who want to make the same kind of movies that we do. You might need an intro to someone who does makeup effects or set design or wardrobe or stunts. This blog along with my main site will help in those areas. 

    Okay if you want to jump ahead to the basics of filmmaking click here to visit my website otherwise stay tuned.