It’s no secret that I love found-footage movies and after recently seeing someone’s post online asking for advice on what to do and not to do and it started the octopus moving in my brain and I thought I’d add my three cents to the whole thing.
Here’s the thing, the beauty of found footage movies is that there are rules. It’s a rare genre/subgenre that has strict rules. Now, you can break the rules all you want, but if you want to fulfill what these movies are meant to be then you sorta have to adhere to them to varying degrees.
THIS IS FOUND FOOTAGE
What does that mean?
A found footage movie has to be FOUND FOOTAGE. It has to be footage that was made and then lost, abandoned, or discovered. The idea behind it all is that someone witnessed something they shouldn’t have and this is their footage.
OR
This is footage that was discovered by someone, ala security camera footage. The idea though is that this is not a traditionally filmed movie but one done either as raw video from someone’s camera/camera phone or a mounted camera.
OR
It’s part of a ‘mockumentary’ and then it can be heavily produced for much of the film so long as the heart of the film revolves around some sort of footage that was ‘found’. With a movie like POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES it’s about what the serial killer did but it uses their videos as the jumping-off point for the many talking heads.
NO MUSIC!
Unless it’s a mockumentary/pseudo-doc there shouldn’t be a music score. Any sound is the ambient sound you’d hear naturally. Music can be used but it has to be naturally part of the background. So if you’re making your movie and feel compelled to put your band’s song in it, or some creepy score…remember that it only works via the rules if it is part of the background noise of a scene.
NO DRAGGING OFF INTO THE DARKNESS
Can we just agree that this trope has been played to death?
It worked in some earlier movies but by now it’s just lazy. Don’t have someone drop the camera so that it shows them and have them dragged off to their doom.
PLEASE!
LESS IS MORE
The beauty of these films is that you don’t necessarily need trained actors, expensive sets, or elaborate special effects. If you have a compelling story and good actors that’s all you need.
There has to be danger, there has to be drama, and there has to be resolution of some sort. Some of the most effective found footage horror films out there are low-key and play on what we hear, glimpses of things, or the lore that’s created for the film. And if you feel the need to have a big effect then make sure you light it and shoot it in a way that complements it and doesn’t kill the vibe you were going for.
Don’t over light the creature to show off how cool YOU think it looks thereby showing too much and ruining the tone of the entire film.
STORY, STORY, STORY
Come up with a story. It can be simple so long as there’s something to it. Not – kids went into the woods and disappeared.
DUN-DUN-DUUUUUN.
WHY did they disappear?
WHO were they?
WHAT is in the woods to make them go there?
Minimalism is fine but you have to have a story, a FULL story with an ending, if you are going to engage the audience.
What scares you?
What can you do without pushing your skills/budget too far?
IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LIKE THE OTHERS
We have seen the haunted woods.
We have seen haunted houses.
Both are great but you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing.
It can be a different story and a different setting.
What does your story call for?
One of the most effective found footage movies I saw had two characters and essentially two locations.
It was a house and woods but it used what they had and both fit the film.
Dare to tell a different story.
Dare to make YOUR movie.
DON’T MAKE A CASH GRAB.
Here’s the thing, if you’re trying to be a cash grab you’re probably out of luck. Unless you strike space gold and get super lucky the odds are that you’ll make pennies on the dollar on a streaming platform. You’d need thousands of views to start making a little money.
Make the movie.
Release it.
Distribute it.
But don’t make it as a cynical cash grab because people like these movies and they are inexpensive to make.
If you do that then the audience will know it and they’ll spread the word.
Unless you’re so good people have to see the film or so bad they have to see it then just make your movie and see what happens.
SMART CHARACTERS
I get it, dumb folks are funny.
And it’s easier to write dumb characters than smart ones but if we care about your characters then we’ll care about what happens to them. Make them more than fodder.
Don’t make them caricatures or props.
Don’t use women as nudity fodder.
Care about your characters and we’ll care about them.
WALK IT THROUGH
The cool thing about found footage horror is you can walk the movie in real-time. You can see how things play out. You can plot camera movement and choreography in a way that is almost 1:1 how the film will look. You are doing a film in many ways that is exactly what it appears in that it’s not on sets necessarily or using green screens.
Use that to your advantage.
BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was so believable because the folks were exhausted and a little freaked out.
You can see that.
You can see how it would look and can work on making it suspenseful.
Do that.
FOLLOW THE RULES
Not just the rules of the subgenre but of your own film. If these people don’t have cell phones that work then stick to that.
If someone dies then show their grief and keep them grieving.
It’s your movie, your world, but you have to adhere to rules that make sense.
I hate movies where a character dies and we get two minutes of grief and then joy at the end of the film or a few moments later as if the dead person is forgotten.
Pain matters.
Fear matters.
Rules matter.
WHY ARE THEY FILMING?
Here’s a big one.
Give them a compelling reason to film and to keep filming.
With the way society is, it’s easier to do that now because people can wear cameras and people will shoot all manner of things.
Use that.
You have to have a reason for the footage to exist though and it has to make sense.
Not just…he filmed because he had to.
HUH?
BWP works because she was obsessed with the movie and a little crazy by the time things go off the rails. It’s not an easy out anymore though.
People need more of a reason for the footage to have been shot.
Make it seem logical. If you don’t then you’ll just pull the audience out of it and turn them off to what you’re trying to do.
USE JUMP SCARES SPARINGLY
They work, sure, but you have one big jump scare you get away with and then people tune them out.
Use it wisely.
HAVE FUN
More than anything, have fun. Odds are you are making this with friends or at least on a very limited budget and so while you want to make the best movie you can, you also want to have fun. Make something that scares you guys. Something heartfelt. Sincerity makes up for a LOT.
USE WHAT YOU HAVE
The beauty of found footage is that you can utilize things you have around you. So much of it plays on the fear of the unknown and unseen and it plays on our imagination. You can use sound, lighting, and acting to do the heavy lifting for you.
I am sure that if I thought about it I could come up with many more ‘rules’ but these feel like the big ones. The ones that matter. More than anything, make something you would want to see. Make something that speaks to you and for you. Make the best film you can and let it go into the world. People may love it or they may hate it but at least you made something you feel proud about and made in all sincerity. Something fun and sincere is what a lot of us are looking for and the rest just elevates it from there.
Read – So You Wanna Make a Found Footage Movie Part – 2
https://wordpress.com/post/spookychris.com/11471
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The Spooky World of Chris Ringler 