Which is the better genre for a new filmmaker - horror or drama?

Kid_Filmmaker

Kid_Filmmaker

Active member
I'm just curious - which would be a better and more successful genre for a beginning, new filmmaker? Horror or drama?
 
RatLabProductions said:
Go with what you are passionate about because without passion for the genre you will never make it through the grind of a film.
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Well to be honest, I had this idea, this drama idea that I was really passionate about doing about homelessness and giving up faith in God. It was like a modern day remake of the story of Job - only twisted a little different and I chose that plot because it's a story that I was going through for a year up until August (my dad and I) and a person here said the idea was the one to go with because it's the one I'm most passionate about and would work the most successful because I'm passionate about it - but then I told this guy (who's never worked in the industry a day in his life, he's just a teacher) about the story and he said the story idea wouldn't work, it's not a good idea and sounds like something from the LMN channel than something that would be on the big screen and that truly discouraged me because I put a LOT of passion, heart and real tears and sadness into this story because what happened to the characters in the story happened to me and my dad in real life and besides God's Not Dead did well at the theaters and that was a film about God - is that story that's meant for LMN? I don't think so. Anyway, so that was what left me asking this question that I did because I started second guessing myself like, "did I choose the right genre?" and deep down, I feel I really did but that guy's comments just really discouraged me....
 
If your dilemma is choosing between a Christian movie and a horror movie, that makes me wonder.

I like the idea of your Christian story. But as others have said, go with your passion. If the Christian movie IS your passion, then run with it.
 
Kid_Filmmaker said:
...but then I told this guy (who's never worked in the industry a day in his life, he's just a teacher) about the story and he said the story idea wouldn't work, it's not a good idea and sounds like something from the LMN channel....
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First of all, there's money to be made making movies for LMN. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Second, never let one person's opinion deter you. As you yourself have pointed out, "God's Not Dead" made good money. So did "Fireproof". Both of those might have been panned by this same teacher as, in his/her opinion, sounding like LMN movies.

If you try, you will find plenty of people enthusiastic and supportive over your Christian movie idea -- they are the people who LOVE a good Christian movie. Many of them would hate a horror movie story. You will also find plenty of folks who don't like your idea at all -- they may be people who LOVE zombie movies or graphic horror or comic book hero movies or action/adventure.

The important thing is whether YOU love the story and have faith in it. If you do, then run with it.
 
David W. Richardson said:
If your dilemma is choosing between a Christian movie and a horror movie, that makes me wonder.

I like the idea of your Christian story. But as others have said, go with your passion. If the Christian movie IS your passion, then run with it.
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Lol, well I know that horror is more popular with movie goers and it's one I'm deeply familiar with but I feel like it's been done so many times - the horror genre and the horror film, but my film isn't so much a christian movie as it is a film that is just based around a christian biblical story but it tells of how God - contrary to popular belief, doesn't always answer prayers and how being a christian isn't always colored roses as christian films portray it to be and how people thinks that it is and this story raises the possibility that possibly - God exists but just doesn't care about the suffering of human kind....I feel passionate about that story because what happened in the story is what my dad and I went through and it's how I feel about God and religion but I wouldn't call my film a christian film because from the way the story ends, it's kind of anti-christian....But I want to make sure if I do the film, it won't be one that ends up in a video store. I want this film to do as well as other films of that type of setup - i.e- God's Not Dead, COG with actor Jon Groff, are the two I can really think of at the moment. Anyway, I came to a confusion about which genre to do after someone said my drama story idea wasn't a good one and it left me second guessing myself....
 
David W. Richardson said:
First of all, there's money to be made making movies for LMN. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Second, never let one person's opinion deter you. As you yourself have pointed out, "God's Not Dead" made good money. So did "Fireproof". Both of those might have been panned by this same teacher as, in his/her opinion, sounding like LMN movies.

If you try, you will find plenty of people enthusiastic and supportive over your Christian movie idea -- they are the people who LOVE a good Christian movie. Many of them would hate a horror movie story. You will also find plenty of folks who don't like your idea at all -- they may be people who LOVE zombie movies or graphic horror or comic book hero movies or action/adventure.

The important thing is whether YOU love the story and have faith in it. If you do, then run with it.
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Thank you, that helps a lot. It helps give me a bit of encouragement. Thank you :smile:
 
Kid_Filmmaker said:
I want this film to do as well as other films of that type of setup - i.e- God's Not Dead, COG with actor Jon Groff, are the two I can really think of at the moment. Anyway, I came to a confusion about which genre to do after someone said my drama story idea wasn't a good one and it left me second guessing myself....
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There is an unfortunate fact of 'movie' life... sometimes lightening only strikes once... The dislike for 'sequels' is based on the fact that movies that follow often are not as successful than the first that in some way caught the viewing public's mind, and dollars.

The production company that produce "God is Not Dead"(2014), has been producing 'christian' content for some number of years, and which has been successful in their market. GIND is perhaps one of the few that has gotten wider marketing and distribution that the others.

There was another 'faith' based film, and I believe one of the members here had something do with it, "Grace Unplugged"(2013).

I've not had the time to watch either of these films, but they are out there... the 'problem' for you, presumably an unknown filmmaker is that these films were made by 'made' people in the business...

There's a member here who has made several movies based on 'end times' themes. These have not made buckets of money, but he continues to work on more, money and time permitting.

My recommendation for most people is scale back to what you can actually accomplish, and go do it... that means for most people here 'short subject' films... some of which may mature into full length features, but for the resources and skill levels short films are in my opinion the best way to get started, and practice skill such as writing, managing a production, dealing with 'talent', and getting venues for viewing (aka distribution)...
 
Well I have done short films, I don't want to do anymore short films, I want to make this into a feature film, and it's not like I don't have the experience, I've been to film school and I've done shorts. I mean making a film is not rocket science, if someone as weird and as kooky as Quentin Tarantino can do it - without ever going to film school and just by studying filmmaking via books and videos....why should it be so hard for me or anyone else? Hmm, did I just answer my own question in this post? lol
 
Forget about trying to blindly pick which genre is best to shoot.

Instead write for what you have access to, write within your means.

I see so many posts about, how do I make an apartment building look like a space craft, or how do I safely blow up a car, or how do I light an entire forest with a single LED light.

If you only have access to 4 good actors, 3 locations, and a budget os $12K, then write for that rather than against it.


All the Best!

Dave
 
Kid_Filmmaker said:
Well I have done short films, I don't want to do anymore short films, I want to make this into a feature film, and it's not like I don't have the experience, I've been to film school and I've done shorts. I mean making a film is not rocket science, if someone as weird and as kooky as Quentin Tarantino can do it - without ever going to film school and just by studying filmmaking via books and videos....why should it be so hard for me or anyone else? Hmm, did I just answer my own question in this post? lol
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I have to admit, I thought the same way when I tackled my first feature -- the romantic ghost story 'Afterlife'.

I had done 3 short dramatic films before that, two of which were about 30 minutes long. Each of those was shot in 3 days on a budget of around $1000 apiece.

I thought to myself, "If I can do a 30 minute film in 3 days for $1000, then I should be able to do a 90 minute film in 9 days for $3000." I can't tell you how dead wrong I was!

After almost a year of filming on random days and weekends, whenever the cast and crew was available, I got 95% of the movie shot, but it cost me around $10,000 -- which is still pretty great considering the production value. But it's now going on 12 years later, and the movie never got finished.

On my short films, we just basically threw some lights up and started shooting. On 'Afterlife' I actually had a director whose main job in the industry is gaffer. So the lighting looks REALLY good, and that makes a HUGE difference -- but good lighting also takes a LOT of time. And time is money. So we didn't get nearly as many pages shot in a day, but the result looks far better than those shorts I did.

Don't underestimate how hard it is to do a feature. It can be a real beast!

For whatever it's worth, here is one of the scenes from 'Afterlife' -- http://vimeo.com/91927936
 
So should I just give up and just stick to doing short films for the rest of my life because doing a feature film for a new filmmaker is damn near impossible?
 
Kid_Filmmaker said:
So should I just give up and just stick to doing short films for the rest of my life because doing a feature film for a new filmmaker is damn near impossible?
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No. You should be the producer on your feature, and learn how to be a good director before you try to direct a feature. You will learn a LOT from an experienced director as you make your first feature.

Too many people tend to look at their first feature as an 'all eggs in one basket' kind of a thing. They think they're going to hit it big and make a name for themselves right off the bat. Does that ever happen? Sure......once in awhile. For most of us, it's a long process to achieve success.

You face a lot of challenges with your first film, like everyone does. Frankly, the odds of you getting distribution and making a profit on it are slim. You need to plan long-term. Use this as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

Look at the career of Alex Kendrick. He started out with a little indie Christian feature called 'Flywheel'. Not a great movie, technically or otherwise, but he got it done on a budget of just $20,000. I doubt the movie made much money. It went direct to DVD. But it helped him gain experience and make connections so that his next feature -- "Facing The Giants" -- could do better. It had a $100,000 budget and was a big improvement over "Flywheel". It got theatrical release and grossed about $10 million. His next feature -- "Fireproof" -- did very well, and had a budget of $500,000. It grossed over $33 million at the box office. That was followed by "Courageous", with a $2 million budget and a $34 million theatrical gross.

Your first feature is your first step on the ladder. Take your time, keep it simple, and learn from it.
 
Indeed.

All it will take is meticulous planning to be sure you finish it and don't lose critical resources along the way.

I've seen many an indie feature get completed on a weekend shoot only schedule. The people involved have to be dedicated to completing it though otherwise you risk losing folks along the way.

And, yeah, it's a process. Very few first features is a "Home Run" even Tarantino has one that hasn't seen the light of day...but it taught him a lot and got him on the patch.

-M
 
What you are most passionate about is the default answer. Everything is a longshot. Both Horror and Christian are niche audiences, and even though Horror may have a larger niche, what matters most is finding the audience that matches your story. And there is no reason why you can't have a Christian Horror film that targets both audiences. The best thing to do is look at successful movies in whatever genre you are making and try to figure out why the work and see how you might apply those elements to your script/film.

PS: Drama is the default for every genre. A horror movie is also a drama (or should be). A movie like STAKELAND is better than most of the FIND dramas I see at screenings (never to be seen again).

Bill
 
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The genre is less important than the script. Make whichever genre you can get a good script for. Bad script = bad film. If you want to make a feature film you better have a script you are excited and driven by. Why commit at least a year of your life to producing a film that doesn't excite you? And if you are not excited by it no one else will be. Get your hands on a great script in either or any genre that you can afford to produce and excites you. Start from there.
 
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