Tips on producing a horror film

1. TIPS FOR PRODUCING A
HORROR FILM
By Francis Vaz, Finnian Hird and Daniel Shadwell

2. Pre production
• Creating ideas for a villain:
• Villains have been used to symbolize real world fears e.g. vampires stood in
for the horrors of HIV/AIDS in the 90’s
• Many movies have had success with hordes of villains such as zombies, and
unseen villains. For my film, I have decided to use an unseen villain, I feel this
allows me to produce a more creative script and also allow the audience to be
intrigued in the narrative, as they will be asking questions throughout.

3. Understanding conventional narratives of horror films
• Beginning: Open on a scary event. I have incorporated this as our film opens with the
group finding out about a murder in the town, in the haunted woods.
• The set-up: showing the characters and there idea. I have decided to start by
showing the characters straight away as there is a skype call where they are having a
normal conversation and showing their personality.
• The warning: the first clues that something is not right. In my film they camp out and
they start hearing strange noises outside the tent.
• The point of no return: something terrible happens that makes the characters aware
they are in a bad situation. In our film, the car goes missing and shadows start
appearing outside.
• The major set back: in our film, one of the characters goes missing and they can’t find
him. Something has abducted him.
• The climax: the characters look for him, however they find no luck.
• The resolution: left on a cliff hanger, on skype an unknown says that they have got
the character trapped and there is a link to his abduction.

4. Finding the creepy location
• Most horror films take place in very few locations, to let the audience get
‘comfortable’ in a location. In my film location was key. In our group, we planed
out where we are going to film carefully. Location research is crucial. We went
looking at a number of different locations and narrowed it down. Finally, we
have chosen to film in a house, and the haunted woods.

5. Recruiting a cast
• They don’t need to be experienced, but they do need to be willing to work. In
our group we came to the conclusion for the cast to be just us, we felt that
because it was our own project we would take the production more seriously,
and we would be willing to work longer in order to make it good.

6. Equipment list
• In our group we have been able to get two cameras. We are also incorporating
a vlog style experience into our film, so we will be using an iPhone 5s camera
for this.
• We have also decided to use tripods to get steadier shots and to make the
camera movements look more fluent and professional. Memory cards are
essential to us in order to save extra footage.

7. Filming our movie
• Horror is about fear of the unknown, this means that having an evil that is a
mystery, allowing each individual to fill in the gaps for themselves making it
unique to them. This should be a guiding principle for a horror film. From this I
have decided to keep the evil unknown and use mystery features such as
noises, voices without a face and shadows in my movie, as this will keep the
audience guessing.

8. Create a shot list before shooting
• A shot list is simple, and makes filming a whole lot easier. Structuring your
filming days allows us to get everything done more smoothly.

9. Review everything in advance
• Review the day's shot list, know in advance what we need to get, and what
you can skip if you run out of time.
• Rehearse with the actors. We should know what to do before the cameras
start filming.
• We need to review lighting and camera positions. No actor wants to sit around
while you fiddle with lights. We need them ready to save time. By doing this it
will allow you to have a successful shoot, and makes it more organised and
easier to get through.

10. Shoot extra atmospheric shots
• We should also return to the location without actors and shoot as much
footage as possible of the set. These shots are great ways to introduce a
scene, just like when a character walks into a room for the first time and we
"see" them exploring it through their eyes.

11. Making our special effects with care
• Little is better in this case. Be as minimalistic with the special effects, the
viewers imagination finds the scariest outcomes. Special effects can be costly
but we are trying to be realistic as possible to our low budget.