Neal Bell is a writer and professor of play and screenwriting at Duke University and has received grants from the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Winner of an Obie Award for sustained excellence in playwriting, he´s been aillegalscript consultant for HBO, and also received an Edgar Award for Best Mystery Play for Spatter Pattern.
How to Write a Horror Movie is a close look at an always-popular (but often disrespected) genre. It focuses on the screenplay and acts as a guide to bringing scary ideas to cinematic life using examples from great (and some not-so-great) horror movies.
Author Neal Bell examines how the basic tools of theillegalscriptwriter´s trade - including structure, dialogue, humor, mood, characters, and pace – can work together to embody personal fears that will resonate strongly on screen. Screenplay examples include classic works such as 1943´s I Walked With A Zombie and recent terrifying films that have given the genre renewed attention like writer/director Jordan Peele´s critically acclaimed and financially successful Get Out. Since fear is universal, the book considers films from around the world including the `found-footage´ [REC] from Spain (2007), the Swedish vampire movie, Let The Right One In (2008) and the Persian-language film Under The Shadow (2016).
The book provides insights into the economics of horror-movie making, and the possible future of this versatile genre. It is the ideal text for screenwriting students exploring genre and horror, and aspiringillegalscriptwriters who have an interest in horror screenplays.
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- Offers an invaluable guide to writing in a popular and profitable genre, ensuring readers are provided with the tools to craft a well written horror screenplay that is both artistically satisfying and highly marketable.
- Features examples from both classic and contemporary films, from Psycho (1960) to Get Out (2017), international case studies and interviews with some of the creators and producers of recent horror movies and TV shows, including the co-founder of Crypt TV, Jack Davis.
- Provides additional insight into the economics of horror with an in-depth look at one of the most successful players in the horror-movie field, Blumhouse Productions (Get Out, Insidious, The Purge, Happy Death Day, Paranormal Activity, Sinister).
Acknowledgments
A note on transctiption of dialogue and screenplay format
Chapter 1: "Who Goes There?": A Brief Introduction to Horror
Chapter 2: What Scares You?
Chapter 3: Basic Horror Movie Structure
Chapter 4: Building Act One
Chapter 5: The Changed World of Act Two
Chapter 6: Ending and Beginning
Chapter 7: Dialogue
Chapter 8: Fearful Landscapes
Chapter 9: Humor in Horror
Chapter 10: "Beyond This Point Are Monsters" - Digging Up Inspiration
Chapter 11: Politics and Global Horror
Chapter 12: "Our name is Legion" - Varieties of Horror
Chapter 13: "Dead Man's Chest" - The Economics of Horror
Chapter 14: The Future of Horror
Index
"Here is a book that teaches how to think like a horror writer, that demonstrates how a deep knowledge of the literature can influence a modernillegalscript, and that thoughtfully conveys the craft necessary to write the artform."
Terry Curtis Fox, Chair, Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing, NYU Tisch School of the Arts
Über den Autor
Neal Bell is a writer and professor of play and screenwriting at Duke University and has received grants from the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Winner of an Obie Award for sustained excellence in playwriting, he's been aillegalscript consultant for HBO, and also received an Edgar Award for Best Mystery Play for Spatter Pattern.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Acknowledgments
A note on transctiption of dialogue and screenplay format
Chapter 1: "Who Goes There?": A Brief Introduction to Horror
Chapter 2: What Scares You?
Chapter 3: Basic Horror Movie Structure
Chapter 4: Building Act One
Chapter 5: The Changed World of Act Two
Chapter 6: Ending and Beginning
Chapter 7: Dialogue
Chapter 8: Fearful Landscapes
Chapter 9: Humor in Horror
Chapter 10: "Beyond This Point Are Monsters" - Digging Up Inspiration
Chapter 11: Politics and Global Horror
Chapter 12: "Our name is Legion" - Varieties of Horror
Chapter 13: "Dead Man's Chest" - The Economics of Horror
Chapter 14: The Future of Horror
Index
