Thriller and Horror Movies

​For this project you will write and produce a thriller or horror movie. Use this guide as a checklist to make sure you incorporate the mandatory requirements.
 
Watch your favorite thriller and horror movies, exemplary student-produced movies, or other videos you enjoy in order to get ideas and inspiration. Your films can be modeled after those or it can be a totally different format as long as you get approval first
Pre-Production / Brainstorming:
  • Think about fear. What scares you? What scares other people? Tap into fears everyone has.
  • Plan how to thrill the audience psychologically.​​
  • Imagination is more powerful than actually showing the villain or revealing the scary character.
  • Challenge yourself to never show the scary character at all. 
  • Don't show actual violence, just elude to it. (Think Psycho Shower scene...)
  • Silhouettes, shadows, and other lighting tricks can really scare the audience. Try to utilize them.
  • No dialogue unless it is easy to record the audio.
  • You will edit all of your sound effects and music in post-production, but start thinking about the power of sound in horror movies. Music and sound effects make up 50% of the suspense and the story.
  • Try to plan your film so that you can film entirely at school during class time so you don't have homework. If you absolutely have to film at night or off-campus, you must plan to use all in-class time efficiently and be responsible for finishing up outside of school promptly.​
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  • One of the most famous scenes in thriller/horror history leaves most of the fear up to the imagination of the viewer.
  • The villain's face is never shown.
  • The knife is never shown piercing the body.
  • The music is only one, repeating note - a high-pitched stringed-instrument note.
  • There are several quick cuts (edited shots, not knife cuts)
Production / Filming:
  • Best shots and angles for horror are:
    • A lot of ​Extreme Close Ups (emotions)
    • Dutch Angles
    • Long Shot
    • Zolly (very challenging, but works extremely well if you can pull it off)
    • Camera doesn't always have to be on the tripod. Carry the tripod and allow teeny tiny shake to make it more realistic and to create tension
  • Utilize the "Jump Scare": something scary randomly appears out of nowhere, out of place. In editing, add a swell of sound or a few loud notes to intensify the fear during the "Jump Scare".
  • Utilize the "Reveal Scare" (very similar to "Jump Scare"): A steady stream of suspense occurs then suddenly the scary image appears out of nowhere. Or the extreme opposite, the reveal occurs after boring or mundane activity.
  • Actors must show intense emotion in facial expressions and body language.
  • Dark lighting is good for horror, but challenging on our budget, so be very careful.
  • Remember: don't actually show the violence or the scary characters, just elude to them.
Post-Production / Audio Editing:
  • Audio is just as important as your scary character. 
  • Watch other horror films for inspiration.
  • Sometimes, only one or two notes can elicit intense fear. Think about Jaws or Psycho...
  • Can give scary jolts.
  • Can totally shift your movie from mood to mood, creating an emotional roller coaster.
  • Add great sound for your "Jump Scares". 
  • High pitched string instruments work well, so use them.


​Post-Production / Video Editing:
  • Quick cuts, jump cuts: switching back and forth abruptly and often to create tension and suspense
  • Distract with other random shots to startle people even more
  • Show very short glimpses of stuff that are hard to see
Mandatory Requirements:
  • ​Disclaimer shown at beginning:
    • ​This movie is fictional. No one was harmed. It's just for entertainment. Please enjoy.
  • Create a clever production or film studio name. Follow capitalization rules.
  • Create a clever title for your movie. Follow capitalization rules.
  • Use the perfect font and text size, and display the title in a creative way at the beginning.
  • Establishing Shot, Extreme Close-ups, Dutch Angles
  • ​Jump Scares / Reveal Scares
  • Keep it short. 3-4 minutes is the ideal length.
  • Ending credits (with or without the creative title, it's up to you).
  • "Fade to color" transition at beginning and end