What you really want to do is to create your own techniques. Most techniques now are cliched, for they have been used in many movies. You want to show something new.

Of course you want to create tension, You want to create as much tension as you can. To make it scary, you must find the weak point in the audience, and stab at it. For example: In Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes" was pretty frightening. Most of the reason was because the antagonists attempted to steal and kill and family's young baby. The audience's weak point is the baby. They would hate to see the baby be killed, and the audience would becaome extremely sad. At the end of "The Hills Have Eyes" the baby was saved. Through the whole movie, the audience is scared for the baby. They want the baby to make it through.

Like most horror movies, it is a good thing to leave an open ended or cliffhanger ending. This makes the audience still scared, even after the movie had ended.

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When the script writing is done, the work has just begun. When the filming is done, the work has just begun. When post-production is done, the work has just begun. When the distribution is done, you decide if the work is done.

Actually, I'd say there are three big issues with a horror movie:

1. Create sympathetic victims.
2. Give them a reason to stay in a dangerous situation.
3. Explain why they don't just call the cops on their cellphones.

Those are the three biggest flaws I see with the typical low-budget horror movie.

Yes, I also see that. There is nothing worse than the audience finding a solution to the delama 3 seconds after it happens. I have seen some horrors where this happened. It did not give me the feeling of fright because I knew they could have done something.

For every action you write in your screenplay, you must always say to yourself "why". Why is the character doing what they're doing? Could they have done something else? It is always good to ask yourself these questions during writing.

I agree with MarkG.

But also, try not to make it seem to awckward in the explaination of why they can't call the cops on their cell phones. Like having the character just saying "We can't call for help 'cause all our cell phones have no battery in 'em." Try to slide it into the film. Like having them recieve no service on their cell phones, or having one of the main characters drop their phones while running from something.

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear. I just hope you understand what I am saying.

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When the script writing is done, the work has just begun. When the filming is done, the work has just begun. When post-production is done, the work has just begun. When the distribution is done, you decide if the work is done.

i would take it a step further on the cell phone issue...i mean, how many times have you seen a movie and the chatacter drops their phone or they dont have a signal and you think...oh that figures, i knew that would happen...Just be very creative, when you get a good idea marinate on it for a minute and then take it a step farther.

If you go for a horror-comedy I would suggest the cliches are your friend. That is where a lot of humor can come from. What people expect can be powerful stuff. You can work it for horror as well but its not as easy.

Another angle with the cell phones is to have one character call the cops, screwing around. Naturally that unsympathetic character is the first to go but he's already ensured the local small town cops don't believe/trust/like our victims. After that you can build tension as the characters try to call police farther afield and convince them. maybe even calling a random number in the phone book hoping to convince that person to make the police call for them. You can make the cell phone deal an entire subplot and if they figure out how to work it it saves them.

Perhaps they finally call the White House and rant in terror and frustration and a little bit later the Secret Service is on scene to investigate, getting killed or saving the day, or both depending upon how you want to end your flick. Nothing better than a false rescue to release tension and then rachette it up again.

That is a trick you need to learn to really make a good horror movie. You must release tension once in a while, with humor, a spring-loaded cat, or false lead. Then you increase it again when the audience feels safer.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

?:0?Important element of any cinematic horror is a lighting style. It is the Mood that contributes to visual perception of the story line.
Characteristic features of Nuar Style is a Low Key lighting style with Narrow lighting setup where you keep your ambiance level Low and Keying from exagerated off cam positions.
jotes

?url?Lightextreme.com?/url?

"Its about Light"

I just want to address Mark G's point: "Give them a reason to stay in a dangerous situation." There is an amazing and simple solution to this problem, which is to always give the audience exactly what they expect, TO A POINT.

In horror movies, you're always watching and saying "what the hell, why don't they just run out the front door and leave the damn house?" When those kinds of qustions arise, where the solution seems obvious, MAKE THE CHARACTERS DO IT. Have them take the obvious course of action, but then twist it around again right away. So your characters all agree that staying in a scary house with an axe murderer is just plain dumb, and they all run out the front door, but then we see that the tires on their car have all been slashed etc. etc.

Or the cell phone example. When it seems obvious that they should just call the cops already, make them do it. While she's dialing, or waiting for someone to pick up on the other end, maybe there's a distraction that makes her drop the phone and go check something out. Maybe no one picks up on the other end for some reason.

Anyway, point being, whenever the audience KNOWS what the characters OUGHT to do in a given situation (because they will ALWAYS know), as a writer your best bet is to satisfy them by giving in to their expectation. That way they can never find fault with your character's reasoning.

In addition, always make the characters DO something ACTIVE to satisfy that expectation. You don't want a scene where a character says "Hey let's just run out of the house!" And another character says "We can't because xyz!" You don't want people EXPLAINING the reasons why they can't escape from danger-- you want them to actually TRY it, and then fail. This is suspense. This is action. This is drama. This is why it's a MOVIE, not a BOOK.

I agree with Hal Rankin but would add an additional level. If you can somehow get the audience one step ahead of the characters, and they are doing the smart thing, the payoff of a reversal can be magnified.

I'm thinking of Silence of the Lambs when Lector escapes. They set it up so the audience figured out he was ontop of the elevator before the characters did. Suspense. Then release of suspence as the Swat guys figure it out and react accordingly. Then a growing creepiness and shock when we realize he's in the ambulance.

The fact that the characters did not act like damn fools is what makes this sequence so perfect.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA