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Slow start horror, will it work?

thefilmgeek

thefilmgeek

The first act of my screenplay lasts roughly 25-28 pages. It isn't until then that the horror elements start to be introduced (aka, the Zombies).

It's a horror/thriller/tragic love story... (lol, I know)

I just don't know if waiting until the second act to introduce the real horror elements, the zombies and etc, will keep people watching through act 1. Act 1 is just setting up the protag and his love interest and building towards how the zombies finally arrive (however they aren't even MENTIONED in the least until page 28). Up until that it's just more character driven with plot and build up into the catalyst that throws the story into zombie world, yar!

Any thoughts on if this will flop, or if an audience will lose interest before page 28? (barring epic-level boring writing in act 1)
 
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"Well i have a question from everyone. Do you think in today's real world audience can wait for 28 to 30 minutes to get to know about protagonists and his life? "

No.

If there is 30 minutes of nothing but getting to know the protag happening I would start to get bored i'm sure. You can get to know the protagonist during the 'action' of the story. If the story's conflict isn't shown there is no energy behind it and you are just getting to know some guy with no reason behind it. That 30 mins to a lot of people will feel like an hour. People will be yelling "get on with it" at the screen.
 
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indietalk said:
You run the risk of someone believing it is a realistic drama and all of a sudden there are zombies, making it look a little silly, where if there were some sort of foreshadowing, this would not happen.
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I was going to make that point myself.

There's a lot of little things you can do that won't take the focus off your hope of not getting the zombies out there until a decent way through the script. Waiting a while to show the zombies is fine (and if done well, it could be really effective), but I think you may want to push back the first mention of the zombies a good few pages. And like I said, it could be a lot of little things. Someone could walk by a TV briefly mentioning it, for example, or your guy could be walking down the street and just happen to pass by someone with a bandage around their arm. You can be really casual about this, giving people an indication of trouble on the horizon (though what is it?! Dear God, what is it?! You know? ;)) while still focusing on what you want to focus on with your main characters.

I don't know if that makes any sense.
 
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I agree that you should let on that something might be amiss near the beginning, you don't announce it's zombies, just something small, so expectations are tempered.

I agree it helps to have some people you know to look it over and who aren't afraid to giving advice about changes(helps if you have both zombie and non zombie fans, get two perspectives).

IMO slow start horror can work if done well, you just have to keep the audience engaged and interested. A good start to the story can do that. :)

EDIT: As pointed out, Psycho is an excellent example. I think the first Alien is also a good example of slow build up-the movie goes a good amount of time before people start dying. It's getting the hook into the audience to make them care.
 
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Yeah drop hints about the zombies. Think of the Dawn of the Dead remake when she is in the hospital. The opening to that film is really good. Its not 30 mins long but you get a good grasp of the main character before you see any zombies but there are hints in the back ground all the time that she does not notice.
 
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Good thread! Thanks for starting this one 'thefilmgeek'

I'm having this exact same issue. No matter what I do I can't get what I think is plot point one/Act2 earlier than page 28 (of 100). And Honestly, I think it has to stay there. Maybe yours does, too? Fighting this for a couple weeks now.

I'm trying to 'decide' what my genre is or can lean more towards throughout my rewrites. Is it a love story? Is it a comedy/horror? Is it about big business muscling into a small town? Hopefully that will give me confidence in that what I really have on page 23 is the true plot point/Act 2. :huh: I'm so confused!! :P

I think we're getting some solid advice(if you don't mind me butting in) I'm liking the sublte foreshadowing. I'm going to make sure those elements are there and well-placed. I'm going to try to sneak a line I took out back in, maybe it wasn't too 'redundant' like I was thinking, might be more foreshadowing...hmm.

Good luck with yours, 'the filmgeek' and thanks to everyone for the input. Again.:yes:
:D
Margo
 
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well margo macabee as you said :
I'm having this exact same issue. No matter what I do I can't get what I think is plot point one/Act2 earlier than page 28 (of 100). And Honestly, I think it has to stay there. Maybe yours does, too? Fighting this for a couple weeks now.
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Well i read a simple rule on this site some where that finish the first draft. Then start cutting it out to make things better. It is better to write a 2 to 300 page script and then cutting it again and again to make it a better one and of 120 pages. Rather then thinking in the begining that how will i make it of 90 or 120 pages.

I dont remmebr who gave this advise. But it was something like that.

Regards
 
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TITLE: 28 Pages Later

It could work if you write it properly, just know you are most likely better off the less time you spend on exposition and more time you spend on story.

My question to you is: Why not include zombies in the 1st Act? There are plenty of ways to write this in; dramatic irony stands out as a technique to use. You can easily let the audience in on the impending zombie invasion without your characters knowing (the plot would not change). You could telegraph the zombies indirectly. For instance, you character is going through a scene and in the background, a newscast about some mysterious attacks happening can pique the curiosity of your audience.

Indietalk makes a good point, if you set up a love story for the whole 1st act without even suggesting zombies, then it might seem silly when the zombie apocalypse actually happens. Why? Because the first act, the first scene, the first image, needs to foreshadow some element of the theme of your film. This is essential to creating a cohesive film, a film that feels focused. Take 28 days later, the theme of being alone amongst the ghost remains of humanity permeates the first shots/scene/act as well as the rest of the film.

So what is your overall theme? What glues your film together? If you don't know, then major rewrites are probably necessary when you do figure it out, no matter how you first envisioned it.
 
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Someone may have already mentioned this movie but The Descent is a great example of a horror movie that's slow to get started with the actual horror. This is a good reference in my opinion for someone trying to use good writing before the big scare. Neil Marshall is a very talented writer and it might be helpful to watch interviews with him on youtube.
 
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That's true, I loved that movie. The buildup definitely helped that movie, but it was scary even before the monsters started to pop up (claustorphobic people beware).

But that went from the first act about a group of friends having fun then going in the cave, getting trapped in the cave.. you can see where this is going. The sequences are tied together and more unified than a movie where a boy sees a girl, and wants to get her, then zombies attack. In this case, zombies are so untied to the first act that you can't have a buildup quite as beautiful as The Descent. The first act in that movie is clearly building up to the question, "whats inside that cave" whereas a love story is unrelated to zombies.

Shaun of the dead doesn't introduce zombies right off the bat... but pretty much every other joke is about the impending zombie invasion in the first act.
 
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The DESCENT is actually a good film to take a look at for this reason because the antagonistic force is definitely glimpsed at before you actually KNOW what the hell's going on inside that cave system.

The glimpse doesn't have to be an actual SHOWING or REVEALING of the antagonistic force... Rather, you simply hint that there is SOMETHING going on.

Hinting at something going on, if done correctly, is going to keep our interest until you hit us with the actual antagonist or antagonistic force.

filmy
 
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MacV said:
...

Shaun of the dead doesn't introduce zombies right off the bat... but pretty much every other joke is about the impending zombie invasion in the first act.
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Shaun of the Dead did it for me with the title alone. You know it's about Zombies (title derived from Dawn of the Dead) and that it's probably a spoof / parody. I knew exactly what to expect and wasn't disappointed.
 
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You can do whatever you want. Look at Hostel. That movie was soo slow in the beginnning but it built tension and was well made so it worked. If it's written well then people will watch it.
 
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Act 1 introduces the conflict.
Act 2 the conflict and escalation of the conflict (the meat of the story)
Act 3 resolves the conflict.

The story can't start until there is conflict.

Grab 5 zombie films and note how they start.

- Bill
 
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wcmartell said:
Act 1 introduces the conflict.
Act 2 the conflict and escalation of the conflict (the meat of the story)
Act 3 resolves the conflict.

The story can't start until there is conflict.

Grab 5 zombie films and note how they start.

- Bill
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Thats the hollywood, way, movies dont have to be made like that.:)
 
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Well who really gives a shit about that? You can tell a story in whatever structure you want as long as it works. Just do whatever you feel is right and don't listen to nay sayers like wcmartell especially when he tries to convince you to be like most zombies films. Do it however you think will work best for the story.
 
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Weaponx said:
Well who really gives a shit about that? You can tell a story in whatever structure you want as long as it works. Just do whatever you feel is right and don't listen to nay sayers like wcmartell especially when he tries to convince you to just be like most zombie films. Do it however you think will work best for the story.
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That's true. You can learn from screenwriters who have had 19 screenplays produced, or not. It's your choice!
 
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Weaponx said:
Well who really gives a shit about that?
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I do.

If screenwriting is your hobby I see no reason not to just
write what you feel. If your goal as a screenwriter is to sell,
the naysayers like Bill (and every reader, agent, develop
exec and producer) offer the correct advice.

Sometimes it's good to listen to established, produced writers.
Every once in a while they actually know a little something.
 
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That is exactly what I originally said. If the way he wants to tell it will benefit his story then that is the way he should tell it no matter how much harder it will be complete or how other people say it should be done. Ultimately the screenplay written will be for his benefit only and as long as he is happy with the story he has created then all of our opinions don't matter.

And What George Santayana said about fashion is also true of filmmaking.

Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit.
 
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