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A Look at Making Good Horror with Limited Resources

What makes a good horror film? There is a lot that goes into answering this question, but often it comes back to one factor: less is more. By using limited resources and instead tapping into the audience’s senses while building suspense, a horror film can terrify viewers in ways that do not require a large budget. That was the subject of Horror on a Budget: How Fear Beats Money Every Time with Veronica Craven at BayCon 42.

Horror on a Budget: How Fear Beats Money Every Time took place at BayCon 42 on Saturday, July 4, starting at 12:30 PM on the Chaos Stage. Hosted by Veronica Craven, this was a look at how indie horror films do a better job at creating unforgettable moments of terror than their big budget counterparts.

Meet Veronica Craven

Veronica Craven is an award winning producer with over 20 years of experience in the film and TV industry. She is currently the Festival Director for Out of the Cellar and a Course Producer and Digital Media Specialist at Leland Stanford Jr. University.

Horror on a Budget

The structure of the presentation was that Veronica Craven would present a clip from a film and how it tapped into a topic. Once the clip was played, she would explain how the scene was able to tap into the viewers’ senses and create the moment despite being crafted on limited resources. Techniques highlighted in the presentation focused on sound design, utilizing the filming location, and not trying to show too much but leaving it to the audience’s imagination to fill in the blanks.

Films presented during the panel ranged from modern titles like Longlegs to classics like The Blair Witch Project and The Evil Dead. However, it was not always limited to horror films, as examples from non-horror films were brought in, particularly the tension sound creates in Das Boot.

The panel ended with a Q&A session as the audience got the chance to ask their questions about making horror on a budget.

Highlights of BayCon 42

Horror on a Budget: How Fear Beats Money Every Time was one of the many panels organized for the event that gave guests an insight from an industry professional. There were many other panels and events to check out during BayCon 42. The convention took place from July 3rd to July 6th at the Santa Clara Marriott.

This special report is part of 8Bit/Digi‘s coverage of BayCon 42 / Westercon 78. If you attended the event, please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Disclaimer: BayCon provided me with a pass for the weekend.

8Bit/Digi is a news outlet that provides insight into the Bay Area Science Fiction fandom community.