Lighting Techniques In Horror Films

Crafting together a memorable horror movie that stands the test of time is a feat not many directors can pull off.

Lighting techniques in horror films.

Unlike many other genres that rely more heavily on other elements dialogue plot points etc great horror films are all about style. Making a scary movie actually scary can be a serious challenge but filmmakers have found ways to communicate danger fear and other horrible emotions onto the screen visually by turning certain cinematographic techniques into horror conventions. The common theme among all different lighting methods is that they all obscure or distort reality in some way. It adds the feeling of immediate danger and it s even more highlighted if you pair it with another saturated color.

These are often used in horror and sci fi films. These five cinematography tips will make just about any horror film more stylized and effective. It seems in the past decade we ve gotten some pretty lazy ineffective horror films to be released that never make a lasting impression. But remember they cut the light output by 50.

This type of lighting has been used in horror movies and video games a lot. To achieve this kind of lighting add highly saturated red gels to your lights. Unlike acting where there s a fine line between a great performance and overacting horror film lighting is always expected to be over the top so let s get started. Nosferatu 1922 features arguable the most famous silhouette in horror film history.

You not only get to learn about lighting techniques that are commonly used in horror. These lighting techniques are a great place to start. Film language and techniques. Horror is a very specific genre that calls for some unique lighting techniques.

Keep these classic techniques in mind before you set out to make the next great horror film. Horror films are all about tone texture and mood. At the end of the day all of these lighting techniques are just a way of manipulating shadows and in his very insightful blog post brogan o callaghan explains the horror filmmaker s purpose for doing so.