How to Go About Horror Film Making at the UI

Horror is one of the most popular movie genres, and it’s easy to see why. The genre offers filmmakers a chance to experiment with visual effects and revive folklore storytelling devices. It also provides a way for filmmakers to manipulate audiences’ reactions, from the classic jump scare to mounting suspense.

Horror film making can be a challenging endeavor, but it’s also a highly rewarding experience. The process involves several steps, including conception, pre production, shoot and post production. The horror movie genre allows for a broad range of themes and plotlines, from realistic stories about serial killers to fanciful settings populated by monsters.

According to UI professor Andrew Owens, who studies horror films and their effect on audiences, the genre can be used to explore many different ideas. It can be a tool for social commentary, as seen in Jordan Peele’s Get Out, which addressed racism as its central theme. It can be a way to explore our own fears, as seen in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead. And it can also be a way to challenge our perceptions of reality, as seen in the splatter genre.

A successful horror movie requires a compelling storyline and terrifying visuals. However, it’s essential to remember that the audience isn’t just looking for jump scares. They want to be engaged with the characters and invested in the outcome of the film. To achieve this, it’s important to create a well-rounded story with interesting character development and well-paced scenes.

Special effects can make or break a horror film, so it’s important to take the time to plan them out. The last thing you want is for them to look cheap or fake, which will instantly detract from the overall impact of the movie. It’s also important to use sound design in a horror film, as the sound of footsteps, creaking doors and other noises can help to build suspense.

Another key element to horror movie making is believable dialogue. The words that a character says can reveal so much about them, so it’s important to take the extra time to ensure that their speech sounds natural. Try reading your dialogue out loud to yourself or asking some friends if it sounds authentic. If it doesn’t, go back and rewrite it to make sure that it’s consistent with the character.

Finally, a good horror movie should have an exciting climax. This is the moment where everything that the protagonists have been working towards comes together in a heart-racing finale. It’s the culmination of all the blood, sweat and tears that the characters have been putting in to avoid the villain, and it should leave the audience feeling satisfied and scared.

So, if you’re ready to test your mettle as a filmmaker, the horror genre is a great place to start. With careful planning and some clever camera tricks, you can make a film that will really scare the pants off of your audience!