Horror Movie Making Dreams, Wyrmwood

            Horror Movie Making Dreams, Wyrmwood

    If you are reading this blog then we can guess that you wish to become a horror film maker someday.  I believe that anyone can be a bad film maker. To be a good film maker requires hard work, learning some basic rules, hard work, a good screenplay, hard work and never giving up. Did I mention hard work? It is not something you do in your free time. You have to commit to giving as much as eighteen hours a day seven days a week to your project or you are not going to make it.

    Today’s post is about the mega zombie epic film Wyrmwood from Australia. This beast has been over a year in the making and in my opinion it is what a walking dead film should be. If you do not go big then you should stay home. This film looks like it has gone evil dead kind of big and bold.  Just remember that if you are willing to put in the work you can make any kind of movie that you wish and the size and scope will largely be up to you.
    Okay here is the trailer from Wyrmwood.





  







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Also if you are having trouble or do not know where to begin with your screenplay I have written a book that can help you. It is available at Amazon, iTunes and all other major ebook retailers.

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Horror Films, Behind the Scenes Filmmaking

If you cannot be on the set of a horror film during shooting I believe that the next best thing is to study behind the scenes footage. You learn a great deal about how the director handles the cast and crew. Some of the little problems that will pop up while you are shooting your film. Too many people believe that shooting a film is all sunshine and rainbows. It is hard work. From start to finish it is hard work and when it is finished shooting the really hard work of editing and marketing begins. The cool part about this post is that so many film makers took the time to do BTS reels so I had a great deal of them both micro budget and big budget to pick from.
First up are two videos from the guys at Bloody Cuts, They are great at delivering quality behind the scenes footage.

 
   

Here is footage from the big budget film the Conjuring.


   

 Good luck until next time. If you would like some hands on information from film makers who are out there doing quality work today you should pick up a copy of my film making manual On Low Budget Film Making available at itunes and in paperback at Amazon. The links are below.   At amazon click here.

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The Fan Horror Film

  The Fan Horror Film You learn by doing. Film making is that simple. You learn by making one. All the tutorials on earth do not make up for being on a movie set. I realize that there is a lot of pressure when it comes to making a horror movie. Coming up with a story and then a script can be overwhelming to the beginner. Perhaps the best way to start is to start filmmaking with something familiar. Why not do a fan film. Many of us started off by shooting short films based upon our favorite movies.
The most obvious question about fan films is can you legally use someone else’s characters and situations in your movie? The answer is yes, as long as you do not try to profit from it. You can not sell a fan film. You are making it for the love of the game. You have to offer them for free. This is not the worst thing when starting out. Not having to make money takes the pressure off. You get to learn film making wile shooting your film and you get your name out there as a film maker. Some of these fan films have become franchises of their own. Are you familiar with the movie Scream. The movie inside a movie called Stab has become a long running and popular online franchise. Pick a horror movie and there is a fan film connected to it. In the world of scifi there is an industry built around the Star Wars universe. Along with a growing number of films based upon the Dark Knight universe. There are so many movies and series that are ripe for fan films. Do Supernatural or Grim. Take a comedy and turn it into a horror film. The sky is the limit and the characters are already there.

Horror Basics, Part 1

Horror Basics, Part 1

There are some horror movie basics that need to be looked at even if you do not plan to use them in your horror film. I am not the biggest fan of bloodshed and violence in my films. I do not love horror movies like the Saw sequels or Hostel, but I do love bloody violence in movies like Hobo With A Shotgun and the new Evil Dead.

What I am saying is that blood should be part of your film, but do not make it the point of your film. You are a movie maker. Let’s make it sound more impressive. You are a motion picture director and or producer. Always keep in mind that if they do not like your story and your characters they will watch it once and not bother to tell anyone about it unless adding the word sucked when describing your movie.
Let’s make sure that your digital feature film is something more than a connection of one bloody scene after another. Horror movie making is as much about what you don’t see as what you do.

 Okay here is a tutorial on a basic effect that many of you may use in your low budget horror movie.


Next up is a look at something you need to focus on during every single scene. Lighting. If they cannot see it, and there have been many horror movies during your life as a viewer where this has come up, they will not like it. A movie where the action is too dark is one that will be dismissed. I have to ask you, why would you want to spend money shooting a scene only to find out in post that it is unuseable. It is so dark that you do not know where to place the sound effects. Learn how to light.


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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.

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    Good luck, see you guys soon.