The Filmmaker's Book of the Dead: How to Make Your Own Heart-Racing Horror Movie

by Danny Draven

In The Filmmaker's Necronomicon, or book of the dead, award-winning director Danny Draven unlocks the crypt and shows you how to translate your idea into a successful movie that gives your audience nightmares. Budget need not be a the real-world advice and experience from the author--plus a host of horror directors, producers, writers, cast, and crew--offer a variety of tips, short-cuts, and ideas for producing a quality movie on the cheap.

It all starts with the story. You'll learn the storytelling elements that make a horror movie truly frightening to the audience, then master the process of making a horror film from concept to completion, avoiding the pitfalls along the way. This full-color, highly illustrated book also shows you the production techniques that add to the chill factor, including camera techniques, properly showcasing your star (the monster), creating atmosphere through music, adding tension through editing, and more.

Distribution and marketing are covered in depth, so you can get your movie out there once you've made it.

The book includes access to over an hour of video. Get inspiration and ideas
* A 20 Minute behind-the scenes featurette from Danny Draven's new 2009 award winning film GHOST MONTH, coming soon from Lions Gate Entertainment.
* A 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette from Danny Draven's film CRYPTZ
* A 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette from Danny Draven's film DEATHBED
* A 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette from Danny Draven's film DARKWALKER
* The Danny Draven Trailer Reel -- Trailers for all 6 feature films
* Horror Script Samples (PDF files) -- Ghost Month and Cryptz

* Write, produce, and distribute your own low-budget but high-quality horror film
* Includes an hour of behind-the-scenes video footage and movie trailers!
* Understand the horror genre, its conventions and expectations, so you can make a truly frightening movie

Genres: Nonfiction

328 pages, Paperback

First published December 22, 2009

Reviews

[Horror DNA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Danny Draven started out working for filmmaker Charles Band at Full Moon Pictures. Ten years of low budget horror films led him to create his own production company, Darkworld Pictures, and allowed him to realize a dream of shooting Ghost Month, a feature on 35mm film. During the course of this production, Draven began assembling information acquired over the years to create a “How to” guide for low-budget filmmakers. What followed is the exhaustive and comprehensive book The Filmmaker's Book of the Dead, filled with detailed information that explains the procedure of creating a horror film from pre-production all the way through to release.

You can read ZigZag's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.

[yuzzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

EH NOT BAD tho i would like more tips instead of making big deals out of movies that are already made.

[Alfred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for first time film makers

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

En "The Filmmaker's Book of the Dead: How to Make Your Own Heart-Racing Horror Movie" Draven nos muestra con un conjunto de Tips técnicos, entrevistas y anécdotas cómo poder realizar nuestra película de terror de forma independiente.

Por realizar me refiero a todo el proceso, desde la preproducción hasta la distribución y venta, por eso "The Filmmaker's Book of the Dead: How to Make Your Own Heart-Racing Horror Movie" es una colección invaluable de conocimiento para el cineasta independiente.

Las secciones dedicadas a entrevistas nos plantean un resumen del capítulo que acabamos de leer e igualmente proporcionan información sobre profesionales del área, desde el punto de vista independiente.

Es un libro lleno de recomendaciones desde software de edición hasta ejemplos de contratos (aplicacbles en EEUU, no se en otros países).

Despues de leer un poco de teoría como el "Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need" y "Successful Television Writing", "The Filmmaker's Book of the Dead: How to Make Your Own Heart-Racing Horror Movie" ayudará a tener un panorama general sobre el proceso de hacer una película.

Lo recomiendo ampliamente.

[Seth Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is wonderful and makes great use of current technology. Many books that I've read on film-making are written by old school professionals who do not discuss the advantages or capabilities of digital film-making. Danny Draven also gives a very in depth look at every aspect of the film-making process, from pre-production all the way through to post-production and avenues of distribution. Scattered throughout the book are interviews with people who have made a living through independent horror films, both in front of and behind the camera. So this is a great book for anyone who is interested in trying to create a horror film, it makes you realize just how much work goes into a project.

[William Prystauk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is wonderful, methodical and well thought out. Most important, it's an eye-opener for those who want to make their own horror movie. The only problem I had with the book is though Draven is meticulous, missing words and bad grammar got by him on many occasions. Furthermore, he would go in depth about many things, but never gave a solid definition for a "screener" for example. However, this is really wonderful and highly recommended for those wanting to take the movie making plunge.