Whether you are creating a scary atmosphere for a movie, theater play or haunted house, there are a few special lighting techniques that are helpful for building suspense. Horror movies and spooky attractions often utilize various flashing, pulsing or dim lighting methods to create deep shadows and disorientate the viewer.
Black Light
Black lights are special bulbs or lamps designed to emit ultra violet light that the human eye can barely see, according to the University of Illinois Department of Physics. While these lights don't add very much visible light to brighten a room, some ultra violet reactive materials or paints will glow white or a pale shade of green or yellow when exposed. Black lights are an easy way to create a ghostly apparition in a room by flooding the area with ultra violent light, then slowly moving a wispy UV reactive figure across the scene. The dim, violet color of the light a black light does emit can be disorientating or create strange looking shadows that add to the spooky atmosphere.
Strobe Lights
Bright, repetitive flashing is the most common mode of lighting offered by a strobe light. If no other lighting is used, the constant change between bright light and total darkness will confuse visitors of a haunted house or viewers of a horror movie say the experts at Animated Lighting. Taking advantage of their distracted state is easy and allows for a bigger reaction to a quick moving prop or sudden appearance of a startling character. The confusion of watching a scene or standing in a room with a strobe light flashing also allows for mimed violent acts to look more realistic.
Flickering Light Bulbs
Constant flickering of the light bulbs in a room creates the feeling of a ghost or an electrical disturbance, according to the Yard Haunters website. Lighting controllers are easily installed to vary the electricity run to lamps and light fixtures, creating a random pattern of flickering and dimming. Sound reactive devices can also be used to control the effect based on the wail of a ghost or the footsteps of visitors. Specialty light bulbs designed to flicker randomly can also be found, but they can blow in the middle of a movie scene or haunted house tour and usually have a very short service life.
Lightning Flashes
As the thunder of a spooky storm rolls in, lightning should also flash. But creating the right split-second flash of bright light can be trickier than you think, especially when you want to align it perfectly with a sound effect. Wolfstone's Haunted Halloween website says that there are a number of sound-reactive lightning lighting effect controllers available that trigger a short, bright flash when a specific sound is heard. Some models feature direct wiring to prevent laughter or other sounds from setting off the flash. Anyone who is comfortable with electrical wiring and working with circuit boards can also create their own lightning controller.
Horror Movie Makeup Tips
While cosmetic makeup is used to enhance natural beauty, horror movie makeup is used to enhance the scary factor of a character in a movie. This type of makeup plays a crucial role in the cinematic need for a character to look mysterious, scary, gory or shocking. It is essential to have horror movie characters look either horrifying or victimized. Whether using regular makeup or layering and blending materials to complete a special effect, it should look convincing on screen.
Regular Makeup
It is not just the creepy or monstrous characters that need the right makeup for a horror movie. Even the regular makeup of human characters should emphasize a fearful feeling in their faces.
Whether these human characters look hurt or wounded on screen, a makeup artist always takes into consideration how to make a character look more scared and stressed out by adding such elements as wrinkles, eyebags, and pale face and lips to other tense and traumatic signs on the face.
Prosthetic Makeup
Prosthetic makeup showcases an out-of-the-ordinary look to a character through such processes as prosthetic sculpting, molding, plastering or casting. These techniques allow the creation of monsters with faces that can react to the environment like any normal human being can -- except that they look much more frightening than a human face.
Prosthetic makeup is widely used in such characters as zombies, mutated humans, ghosts and otherworldly creatures. When using prosthetic effects, apart from making it look scary on camera, it is important to use the necessary precautions for the safety and protection of the actor's face and body. Materials used for prosthetics may not always be convenient for an actor, but they should always be safe for the eyes, skin and other parts of the body.
Makeup for Lighting and Camera
While horror movie makeup generally looks creepy when seen in person, there are times that the makeup looks fake in reality but very sinister on camera. It is always the priority that a horror movie makeup looks its best when using production lights. It should look most horrifying when it registers on the camera.
Test shoots are always necessary to make sure the makeup looks good on screen. Sometimes, the makeup may look fine off-cam, but it needs to be exaggerated more after seeing how it looks on a test shoot. The makeup should ultimately favor the film's lighting and how the camera captures the image with it.
Makeup Continuity
Since horror makeup is generally more demanding in terms of details, makeup continuity is a very important factor when shooting. The makeup for a particular scene should look exactly the same for the scene following it or it should logically change as time passes in the story.
For instance, for a wounded character with a bleeding face, the makeup should show the same area for the wound as the story progresses. At the same time, the blood coming from the wound should logically dry up in time.
Regular Makeup
It is not just the creepy or monstrous characters that need the right makeup for a horror movie. Even the regular makeup of human characters should emphasize a fearful feeling in their faces.
Whether these human characters look hurt or wounded on screen, a makeup artist always takes into consideration how to make a character look more scared and stressed out by adding such elements as wrinkles, eyebags, and pale face and lips to other tense and traumatic signs on the face.
Prosthetic Makeup
Prosthetic makeup showcases an out-of-the-ordinary look to a character through such processes as prosthetic sculpting, molding, plastering or casting. These techniques allow the creation of monsters with faces that can react to the environment like any normal human being can -- except that they look much more frightening than a human face.
Prosthetic makeup is widely used in such characters as zombies, mutated humans, ghosts and otherworldly creatures. When using prosthetic effects, apart from making it look scary on camera, it is important to use the necessary precautions for the safety and protection of the actor's face and body. Materials used for prosthetics may not always be convenient for an actor, but they should always be safe for the eyes, skin and other parts of the body.
Makeup for Lighting and Camera
While horror movie makeup generally looks creepy when seen in person, there are times that the makeup looks fake in reality but very sinister on camera. It is always the priority that a horror movie makeup looks its best when using production lights. It should look most horrifying when it registers on the camera.
Test shoots are always necessary to make sure the makeup looks good on screen. Sometimes, the makeup may look fine off-cam, but it needs to be exaggerated more after seeing how it looks on a test shoot. The makeup should ultimately favor the film's lighting and how the camera captures the image with it.
Makeup Continuity
Since horror makeup is generally more demanding in terms of details, makeup continuity is a very important factor when shooting. The makeup for a particular scene should look exactly the same for the scene following it or it should logically change as time passes in the story.
For instance, for a wounded character with a bleeding face, the makeup should show the same area for the wound as the story progresses. At the same time, the blood coming from the wound should logically dry up in time.
How to Appreciate Horror Rock and Roll
One of the fastest growing genres in music is horror rock. If you are
not familiar with it, just imagine a horror movie put to rock and roll
music. The lyrics are often smart, witty and catchy and the music runs
the gamut of 50s influences to heavy metal. Horror rock bands can be
found in virtually every country on the planet. From New Zealand to
Australia to the United States, bands are exploring creative avenues
where things that go bump in the night are a song waiting to happen.
Instructions
Instructions
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Appreciate horror rock history. When most people first hear horror rock, they can often dismiss it as a fad, but in truth, horror rock has been around for over 50 years! Classic rock acts like Alice Cooper and Kiss touched on the darker side of life in many of their songs, some of which are actually revered as some of rock's greatest songs. But it was not until a band out of Lodi, New Jersey was formed that horror rock began its rise to prominence. That band was named the Misfits.
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If you listed the number of bands who have been influenced by the Misfits on a sheet of paper, you will discover that you could easily fill an entire notebook. Best-selling bands like Metallica, My Chemical Romance and many others all claim the Misfits as major influences. Many newer bands have even adopted the trademark sound and look of the godfathers of horror rock.
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Listen to the melodies and rhythms that hearken back to the 50s. Doo-wop style choruses, richly layered songs and drive-in movie lyrics are combined to form the foundation of horror rock and roll. Newer bands like Calabrese and Zombeast, both out of Arizona, create intense, guitar-driven hard rock while instilling their music with catchy choruses and melodies.
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Listening to horror rock is like "watching" a three-minute horror movie. Many of the songs are written in story-form, so you actually get a beginning, middle and end. In addition, many horror rock songs are very ironic, unpredictable and some are even quite funny.
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Find bands that play under the horror rock genre label. While many bands fall under the "horror rock" label, there are in fact a wide range of musical styles represented. For instance, England's Zombina and the Skeletones offer up bubble gum pop with a nice dash of punk. Creature Feature, a musically diverse duo, instill their keyboard-rich songs with a tongue-in-cheek groove similar to Danny Elfman's compositions. Meanwhile, other bands like Australia's Zombie Ghost Train and America's The Brides bring a very wide range of musical styles to the genre.
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Simply put, if you enjoy good old-fashioned rock and roll, and can overlook lyrics about the dead rising from the grave, or a vampire lurking in the shadows, or a creature from the swamp surfacing to terrorize, then there is no reason why you wouldn't absolutely love horror rock!
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How to Light a Horror Photo Shoot
Think of that horrible image that makes the hairs at the back of your
neck stand up. You may have seen it for the first time in childhood,
but it has stayed with you all these years. That image that makes you
sleep with the light on was created using specific lighting. Effective
lighting is essential to creating a truly terrifying photo, and it may
be as simple as lighting a candle or waiting for dusk.
Instructions
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Research horror images from film and photography. You have different options for lighting, and it is important to develop a layout before purchasing expensive equipment you may not need. Natural lighting may be used effectively or using just one light source can create a horrifying image. You may want to add color; a greenish or reddish cast to the photo may add an intensity to the shot.
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Choose the strongest option. Horror photography has intensity. The lighting may be simple, but it is specific. One Fresnel light positioned on the floor and pointing toward a model's face can create frightening dramatic shadows, the same effect used when someone holds a flashlight underneath her chin while telling a ghost story. The name Fresnel is referring to the lens inside the light, which has rings that focus the light toward the center of the lens. If your layout calls for something more eerie and less striking you may consider waiting for dusk and using the natural shadows created in an angular room as the sun is setting. Keep the lights in the room off and place your model, or object, in a beam of light.
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Add color to your lighting design. Gels can be purchased inexpensively to cover any sort of lighting instrument. An array of colors are available for gels. Green is a good horror option as it gives a sickly glow to human skin tone. Red, the color of blood, can add a urgency to the horror in your photo. Stay away from blues as they have a calming effect on the psyche.
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Add practicals to your shot. Practicals are light sources that are placed on set in a scene. A practical can be something like a candle, a lamp or Christmas lights. A cleverly placed candle can add interesting shadows to your shot. A lamp with very low lighting may help balance the shot and give off an eerie glow that will give the viewer goose bumps.
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