What are key aspects to involve in a Horror Screenplay and how do you write those tension building moments?
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Horror Genre
- Thread starter Wolverine237
- Start date
- Understand the basic horror trope sub-genres: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film#Sub-genres
- Learn what film/story products have been already done.
- Learn what you want to avoid doing.
- Determine what sub-genre you WANT to write and film.
- Determine the sub-genre you HAVE the budget/equipment/talent/location resources to film.
- Write accordingly.
- WRITE TO MAKE THE AUDIENCE CONNECT WITH YOU PROTAGONIST(S), otherwise they won't care when you scare, hurt, torture, or kill them.
Good luck
For the tenson do an old trick. Untill near the end do not show the killer. Show from the killers POV but not him.
For further reading: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HorrorTropes
Seconding rayw's advice. Study it all. Narrow down what you want to do. Study that more specifically. Find the structure with a sub-genre, and determine WHY each part is there. You can subvert and twist the genres and cliches (and you should), but push too far in the wrong direction and you'll end up too far from your intention.
Music analogy (because I like to do that), if your tropes and cliches are notes and instruments, and you want to write a heavy metal song, throwing in some jazzy notes and a trumpet can sometimes work, making it more interesting and stand out from the crowd. Too much though and you end up with a ska song, which your metal fans might not like, and it might be TOO metal for ska fans. Unless you're shooting for crossover to begin with, and then be aware that your audience is going to be very niche.
Analogy over now. While this doesn't answer your question so much, once you narrow down your focus into what KIND of horror movie you want to make, we can help you pick the genre apart!
Seconding rayw's advice. Study it all. Narrow down what you want to do. Study that more specifically. Find the structure with a sub-genre, and determine WHY each part is there. You can subvert and twist the genres and cliches (and you should), but push too far in the wrong direction and you'll end up too far from your intention.
Music analogy (because I like to do that), if your tropes and cliches are notes and instruments, and you want to write a heavy metal song, throwing in some jazzy notes and a trumpet can sometimes work, making it more interesting and stand out from the crowd. Too much though and you end up with a ska song, which your metal fans might not like, and it might be TOO metal for ska fans. Unless you're shooting for crossover to begin with, and then be aware that your audience is going to be very niche.
Analogy over now. While this doesn't answer your question so much, once you narrow down your focus into what KIND of horror movie you want to make, we can help you pick the genre apart!
Thanks all for the sound advice and the helpful links. Time to sit down in front of the foreboding blank page and construct a story. Thanks again!
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Horror is one of my favorite genres, but I think it's difficult to write. Ray gave you good advice. Your first step should definitely be to decide the tone, subgenre, etc. A lot of horror films have basic plots, so it's okay in my opinion if you don't have a super compelling story. The key is building tension and having characters the audience can relate to. Also, it's okay to have a message in a horror film, but don't drill it in the audience's head. For example, I saw a film called Megan is Missing today. Good film, but it would have been better if the director didn't over emphasize "be careful who you trust" as a theme. Kind of made the film feel like a combination after school special/torture porn film.
Don't do it.
You'll creatively constipate yourself at all inevitable log jams.
Stop.
Back up.
FIRST - Rough out or outline what you want to happen in the story and WHEN, in screen minutes, you want it to happen. "I want to be THIS far at THIS time."
SECOND - Begin filling in the blanks of how the characters got from A to B, B to C, etc.
THIRD - Sit back and really consider how the dance goes from front to back, look to what needs cutting out & what needs augmentation. Correct accordingly.
FOURTH - Start writing.
GL!
The story line I've decided on is very simple; a family is trapped inside their own home by some demon possessed inanimate objects which terrorize them until they can figure out how to stop them. Sounds stupid but I'm sort of leaning towards a thriller/comedic tone to the film.
Hey, also send a PM to this fella, Nick Soares: http://www.indietalk.com/member.php?u=25873
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1852265/
He's made a few horror movies and even has a nice ebook about how to do it.
He might have some practical ideas and considerations to optimize your project.
Screenplay writing is a lot like blueprint drafting: It's a lot easier and cheaper to move a few lines for walls on a computer or printout than in real life. Cheaper, too!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1852265/
He's made a few horror movies and even has a nice ebook about how to do it.
He might have some practical ideas and considerations to optimize your project.
Screenplay writing is a lot like blueprint drafting: It's a lot easier and cheaper to move a few lines for walls on a computer or printout than in real life. Cheaper, too!