How to Write a Horror Movie

Great horror movies are substantial works of art that go beyond jump-scares to confront society’s most intractable problems – like racism, in the brilliant Get Out. In “How To Write A Horror Movie”, students will study genre classics, while writing weekly short scenes – to be read aloud in class – that address basic elements of screenplay-writing, the mid-semester goal being the script for a short horror film. Students will also keep a journal of story ideas, one of which they’ll develop in the second half of the semester as a feature-length screenplay, completing a rough draft of at least 80 pages, with successive portions of these scripts to be discussed in class. Instructor: Professor Neal Bell.