How to Make an Indie Horror Movie
 

OK friends the topic is very simple.Just share the ideas and all the stuff which you know to make aver low budget movie. Ideas related to lighting,makeup, and every othr thing.Please dont mention a good horror script

we all know this point


so come on and share your time, trcks and knowledge

previsualization is important. you waste as little time and money shooting as possible if you have a good idea of how the film will be edited and what will actually be on screen

From the hundreds of low/no-budget horror shorts I've seen, this point hasn't quite sunk in. Seriously. Write, then re-write, then rewrite. And then have a reading with your actors and rewrite it again to accomodate the actor's particular strengths and weaknesses.

I'm rewriting something DAILY right now to keep the actors happy.

But if you want tricks and tips go to www.indymogul.com they have tons of awesome tips and online tutorials for sfx.

thanks a lot for helping me out..............well sfx dont you think they will need a very hig pc for effects???

Nope - you just need to be creative. Either write around having to use fancy effects (IE - have stuff happen in another room), or just do it on the cheap - karo syrup is a wonderful thing.

rewriting is key - also storyboard your shots and make a tight schedule so that you optimize your shooting time (do NOT shoot linear - this will waste mucho time)

Thanks a lot...what about things like lighting and makeup?????


any suggestions?????

On a sort of related note, does anyone have tips on writing convincing dialogue (cough, cough Roderick). I'm working through a project right now and that seems to be the biggest problem for me.

looks like no one has the answer...........?

Having an ear for dialogue is a tricky thing.

I approach dialogue like improv acting. I create the characters and know them up and down. I make sure to write up extensive character biographies so that I know each character's favorite food, band, color, etc.

When you know your characters, you simply place them in a situation and allow them to speak through you.

Dialogue needs to sound conversational and natural, so read it aout loud as you write. If you sound clunky reading it, then you know it needs a tweak.

Good advice, I tried working through this script as a collaboration before but every single character sounded like a pretentious douche with a thing for olde English. Thats when I stopped letting my friend write the dialogue, they all sounded exactly like him.:D

well what about the phase of production phase.we are just talking about script and dilogue but how can we make a horror movie on set with low money???the production phase is more expensive and costly.so give tips related to that also

I'll give a few simple words of advice to all you future John Carpenters out there and I'm pretty sure it will likely be an unpopular suggestion:
Get out there and be a PA on a film.
If you look on craigslist in your area under gigs and then under crew, you will easily find listings there. Everybody wants to be a director and make movies and it's terrific that technology is reasonably priced to do so. However not everybody SHOULD make movies. It's like being the president of a company because your dad was the founder and you don't have a clue of how to manage things because you never bothered to work there. Yes, being a PA sucks most of the time since you're running around and assisting some department in setting up or tearing down. In all likelihood you're not going to get paid and at best you'll have your name listed in the credits of a finished movie. If you're lucky you might even score a free lunch on the deal. None of this sounds very appealing and I would know because I still do it every chance I get. Why ? Because I make movies. Why not get a free education along the way on someone else's set ? It's cheaper and easier in the long run to have experience in so many departments. Any problems you might face, you've learned how to take care of on someone else's movie before while they were paying for it. It's more efficient to be able to show someone once how you want something done rather than standing around clueless because you can't explain how it can be done.
The two things that can kill your film in production are 1) Not being prepared for eventual problems and 2) Not knowing how to solve unforeseeable problems. There will always be problems on set and people are going to look to you. I guarantee this. If you can't take care of the situation and say "ah, no big deal", your cast and crew (if you're lucky to have one) will most likely pick up that same attitude. If it's your film and you can't be bothered, why should they ? People will screw around, walk off, and do other things at this point, but it won't be your movie. Can you blame them ? You wouldn't enjoy wasting your time and now you're wasting theirs. How many of those people do you think are going to show up next weekend at that rate ? You now have no crew, no movie, and still have no idea what went wrong.
Do yourself a favor. Be a PA and learn the ropes a bit before declaring yourself a director. You can't do a good job if it's just handed to you. Look at George W. Bush and tell me I'm wrong :D
CK

thanks a lot sir for guiding us.......and telling us some usefull things

scripts
 

I like writing horror scripts but I lack the skills and funds to actually turn them into anything...any suggestions on where I could send my scripts? I'm not necessarily looking to make a profit, I just want my work to come alive.

try a horror screenplay competition. the winners often recieve cash or representation or production assistance. You can find a full list of competitions on moviebytes.com

L.A. Screamfest is a great one and was how I landed my first manager.

And you should want to make a profit - it's the professional way. Act like a pro and you'll be treated like a pro. Act like a dillitante and no one will talk to you. A fledgling screenwriter should recieve about 2% of a film's budget plus a piece of the back-end.


I am currently producing my own feature film and the first bit of business is to attache a star to the lead role and then take the packaged project to a foriegn sales agent. Certain stars will give you enough foreign pre-sale to fund the entire film. It's a great way to make a $1-2.5 Million film.

GIALLO was partially funded this way and the pre-sale was used as collateral on a bridge loan to finish financing - granted the budget was substantially higher than the business model I listed above, but we did have an Academy Award winner in it and a legend directing.

Roderick Usher
 

looks like we are going to get some preselling tips too from you.but what about people like me who live in Pakistan and dont have any STAR known at international level.if i am targeting the international market what should i do?? will a sales agent love to take my horror movie (finished product) if it has no known name but the screen play + script is saleable?

Thanks man, I appreciate the advice and help :)

Pakistan, huh?

That's a tough sell. If you have a (well-written) script and know how to direct, or know a director, I'd contact Omar Ali Khan, who's film Hell's Ground (Zibahkhana) was a real departure from most Pakistani film. Straight gorey horror with no musical numbers! You can probably get his contact info from the Pakistan Ministry of Culture.

Become his friend. Ask him if he needs a P.A. (production assistant) for anything. Learn from him, ask him to mentor you.

He got his film made with the assistance of Pete Tombs and Andy Starke from Mondo Macabro (mondmacabrodvd.com). They are a pair of globe-trotting cult film archeologists dedicated to bringing obscure cult cinema from odd markets to the west.

rodrik
 

can you explain me when you said

who are these people exactly? and what they do? so you have seen the movie hell's ground. well i was searching about it that why the movie didnt got any thatricla release??????secondly i was interested in knowing atleast how much revenue it generated?but even IMDB got failed to show me the result.can you tell me about that?

unluckily when the movie got released i was unaware about it and now searching for a DVD

I haven't seen the film yet, but you can order it from Mondo Macabro.
http://mondomacabrodvd.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Hells-Ground-A.../dp/B0016PDZGO

Omar met the guys from Mondo Macabro when he was publishing a horror fan 'zine called "The Scream" that he sold at his coffe shop/ice cream parlours

(The Hot Spot - you can find them in Islamabad, Lahore & Karachi - www.thehotspotonline.com)
Try meeting people on their website, you might be able to make a few connections with like-minded folk.

The Mondo Macabro guys interviewed him for TV show about south asain horror. Khan put together a proposal for a feature. Tombs and Starke helped put up the money. They are guys who release odd horror from around the world. there is a great article about the film and Mondo Macabro in last onth's Rue Morgue Magazine.

I have no idea how much the film made. It was a low-budget affair, so it shouldn't ahve to make too much money to turn a profit, but Khan isn't going to get rich off it.

thanks for the reply...
well its alittle surprizing .zombie genre is very ell known.more over that movie was selected for many festivals...dont know why it failed to attract any distributor? who could have made him rich !