It’s time to bust out the Ouija boards and ghoul costumes, because we’re officially in spooky season! Since this is the month we like to binge all of our favorite horror movies, you might be inspired to create one yourself. Here, we’ve assembled a list of advice from acclaimed horror filmmakers on how you can effectively scare audiences in your next project.
Use the genre to explore real issues.
“Since I decided to dedicate myself to the cinema, I was committed to making films that had social impact and significance. Talking about the recent history of my country and the wounds left by the war, which is unknown to almost everyone, was necessary. I was aware that Guatemalans do not want to address the issue of genocide, because it is a painful topic and because they want to deny the suffering of the native populace. Putting those two subjects together, it seemed to me that ‘La Llorona’ could be the perfect metaphor to talk about my country and to touch on a subject that everyone avoids.” —Jayro Bustamante (director of “La Llorona”)
“The thing that I am very humbled to have happen when I make something—which is something that was previously invisible or an experience that people have had that felt personal and unexplainable—[is when it] becomes something that there is now common language to discuss.” —Jane Schoenbrun (director of “I Saw the TV Glow”)
“I wanted to make a scary movie that was relatable and set in the real world. For me, there’s nothing scarier than someone watching something and thinking, That could actually happen to me.” —Dave Franco (director of “The Rental”)
“That’s what the best art does, it starts the conversation. What you may see in a scene or a line isn’t what I might see, but that conversation we have, that’s how we move forward. I don’t want to say you should censor yourselves, but the storyteller should be able to defend why a narrative needed to shift that way or should only be told this way. A lot of people have never had to defend [their choices] and it’s evident in which stories have gotten told.” —Misha Green (showrunner and director of “Lovecraft Country”)
Be secure in your vision.
“I think that as much as you have to always be open to the dialogue with your crew and with the people collaborating with you, you still have to never make any compromises as far as your vision is concerned.” —Julia Ducournau (director of “Titane”)
“Confidence is everything. It’s the confidence to keep going and make choices and dedicate yourself to why you really love what you do. Taking a chance is what it’s all about. It’s really a scary thing.” —John Krasinski (director and writer of “A Quiet Place”)
“I was anxious and nervous of this moment, because there was more falling onto me and I had more creative control. But I was ready for it; I wanted it. I was like, I’m gonna take every swing I can and push it as far as I can and see what I can get away with. And I’m laughing, because sometimes I’m like, I can’t believe I got away with all that.” —Justin Tipping (director of “Him”)
For cinematographers, collaborating with the actors helps the scares feel more natural.
“It’s about creating an atmosphere on set from day one so that when you do put the camera right up someone’s nostrils to get a particular angle, they feel that you’re doing it for a reason and that your creative intent is truthful and for the benefit of the movie. So they can relax knowing that we’re not trying to steal something from them or be untruthful about what’s going on. We want to have a real friendly relationship that’s based on trust. We’re working together.” —Toby Oliver (DP of “Get Out”)
“I work with actors in terms of helping them know where the best light is, and sometimes they can do me a favor and move a certain way that’s better for the camera. There is very much a collaborative sense of working together in order to make them look better. That’s how I think of our relationship: sharing my plan with them so they know, ‘This is what you’re going to do, so I will stand right there.’ ” —Pawel Pogorzelski (DP of “Midsommar”)
“You want to make things dark all the time to set the tone and the mood, but the producers want to see the actor’s faces and I think the audiences want to see them just enough so that they can convey these nuances and subtleties of their character and of their current emotion in the scene. But at the same time, we don’t want to take people out of the setting of the moodiness, for lack of a better word. So for me, it’s really important to see them on set early on and how they react in different lighting scenarios so that we can push it a little bit. I kind of always err on the side of making people look good, so when they’re not supposed to look good, I really have to force myself to do that lighting. Each person reacts differently in different light, so it’s important for me to understand that early on and try to set it up for each actor where they come across in a good light, no pun intended. But it also fits the tone of the story. And I sometimes get nervous about asking them to move or look a certain way, but I try to encourage them to understand that it’s in their best interest. And usually, they’re really receptive because I try to build that relationship early on.” —James Kniest (DP of “The Haunting of Bly Manor”)
“With the way [cinematographer Jarin Blaschke] and I work, the actors have to fold into the rhythm of the camera, which is kind of backward. But when we’re designing shots, the idea is to tell the story and to support the emotion of the character.” —Robert Eggers (director of “Nosferatu”)
Take it one step at a time.
“Be kind to yourself during the journey. I wish that I had been a little kinder and realized that there is knowledge to be gained at every single step of your journey… I find myself using things as a showrunner that I used in my life as a creative director and marketing executive.” —Little Marvin (creator of “Them”)
“Nowadays with the technology, you could shoot and edit and do really cool stuff on your iPhone. It’s really about learning how to tell stories and what puzzle pieces you need to tell the stories, and you can create those now with anything. There’s so many people out there with stories. You just have to reach out to younger filmmakers and collaborate and be self-motivated.” —James Kniest
