Reviews - Films

Epic Music in Horror Films

Dun dun duuuuuuun!

Today I want to talk to you about one of the most epic tools in a horror film and/or game makers tool kit. 

I am of course talking about sound design. 

Sound is essential to building tension, suspense and anxiety as well as signalling to you that you can breathe for a moment and when you should be wary. While all sound design is essential to managing this control of tension, I want to focus on Music today (though there will be a bonus video at the end of this blog re other kinds of sound). 

As I said, music is intrinsic to horror films, music invokes emotions, something movies and games use to their advantage. Music is an amazing communication tool, telling you want to think and feel without saying a word. A great way to ‘tell’ without ‘telling’. 

Composures are magicians. 

Think back to jaws as a good example, you hear that tiny clip of music, and you know to get the hell out of the water. Or the sharp violin screech in Psycho. All of these sounds resonate with us in a way that words sometimes struggle to. 

Today I want to share with you my top five favourite horror soundtracks. 

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Horror Writing

Horror Writing: Found Footage in Books

I finished reading a book last Friday.

Today I am writing to you to talk about a grief that I know all too well, I devour my books pretty quickly.

My coping mechanism for dealing with finishing a book is to start another one. So, on Saturday, I went to the bookshop and bought myself another book (completely ignoring the pile of unread books on my bookcase).

This new book has a gimmick I quite enjoy and one I don’t see that often.

That being that the story isn’t told via a flowing narrative, instead, the story is told through a combination of journal entries, WhatsApp screen grabs, newspaper articles and interview transcripts. It’s the book version of found footage.

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Horror Writing

Writing Horror: Found Footage

I found some horrors!

Today I am writing to you about one of the many subgenres of horror.

Found Footage.

This particular subgenre is a bit like marmite, you either love it or you hate it. Rarely have I come across a subgenre that invokes such polarising viewpoints.  I find it very interesting that something so straightforward as a filming technique has become such a staple in the genre. So thought it might be worth an explore.

What is Found Footage?

Generally, this is a film subgenre, although it is extremely popular in the horror genre, more so than other genres. It’s a style of presenting a story, whereby all or part of the story is told through supposedly ‘real’ footage that has been found by a third party and prepared for mass consumption, usually as a way to ‘expose the truth’.

Usually found footage is seen in films, the camera being held by one of the characters experiencing the story. It can be a group on holiday, a news team, surveillance footage or a go pro situation. As a result, the camera work is usually a bit on the shaky side.

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Classic Horror, Famous Horror Writers

Horror Writers: Bram Stoker

The children of the night

Today I am writing to you to talk about Masters of genre.

Masters have been around since the genre first came to be, there are those from the past who made the genre what it is today and there are those today taking us down new winding roads to dark and creepy places.

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