Sunday, August 22, 2010

Breaking Into The Business With Horror Movies

By Adriana Noton

As odd as it always seems, most people just love to sit together in a darkened theater, or in a darkened living room, getting scared witless by watching horror movies. The psychology of this trait is still a bit confusing, so that does not have to be deal with in depth here. But people sure do like scary movies, do they not?

Maybe it is the adrenaline rush when the scary monster jumps onto the screen. Maybe it is the fact that folks can allow themselves to get frightened knowing all along that it is all make believe. Certainly it is the opportunity for a date to get closer together and maybe squeeze hands. Yeah, scary movies are fun indeed.

But while they were screaming and jumping around like little kids in the dark, did they ever think about who is behind those films? What kinds of jobs could someone get that allowed them to make one of those films? Then instead of being just another geek at the film festival, they could have their own booth and be taking it to the bank by selling scary movies and memorabilia.

They know that there is money to be made scaring the pants off of people. So do the directors and producers of such fare. So how could a person actually make a living doing the same thing themselves? To begin, they could try for a job on a set. The thing about many scary movies is that they are on such a low budget that they are an easy way to get an entry-level film gig.

Perhaps a makeup artist could use some help with all of that fake blood getting splashed all over the set. At the very least they will need someone to help clean it up. And those makeup people need a break too, so if that is what you are into, think about doing ghouls, ghosts, and creepy things. Many very famous makeup artists started out doing cheap B-films in their hungrier days.

And writing a fright fest is possibly one of the easiest screenplays that can be done. When it comes right down to it, they are by and large formulaic, so a writer can copy the formula without plagiarizing another piece of work. And who knows? Some low budget independent horror films have gone on to be come huge franchises over time.

If there is acting involved, the same principle applies. If one can scream while being eaten by a zombie, they could be in the cast. The initial roles, like in all genres, will be miniscule, but it is a start. Building a reel and a reputation are vital in this business, and going with the fright fest has been a great launching pad for many big names.

So instead of paying the hard earned cash out of pocket to get scared by someone else, why not think about using some of that cash to do the scaring professionally? Many good, respectable careers have been started on the low budget B-film horror circuit. It is safe to say that others could, too, and could actually make a living with horror movies. - 40732

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