I’m in the U.S. right now for work and for writing breaks I’m doing a lot of what I miss the most about living in the States—watching movies! I love going to see a new movie in the theater and I can’t do that living in Saudi Arabia. So this week my mom and I went to see “The Conjuring.”
I loved it! Now, keep in mind that I love scary movies and the hubby hates them so I’ll take any chance to see a scary movie that I can get. With that being said, there is a lot that writers and creative people in general can learn from “The Conjuring.”
The age-old decorating and style tip, less is more is often true. Over the past several years I’ve felt that horror movies have become graphically gory for the sake of blood and guts. To me this is no different than an author writing a sex scene just for the sake of a sex scene and not for the justified reason of furthering the plot. Blood and guts DOES NOT equate scary!
“The Conjuring” (as did “Insidious”) returned to a more classic horror film approach. Many of the effects could be easily duplicated and the thrill came in the form of the build up, camera angles, and acting. The film’s success should prove the importance and still relevance of “old school” thrill tactics.
So what can we creative people take away from this? While stuck on a manuscript tonight I noticed how I was over thinking the scene and using more words when less worked best. I was trying to overwork the scene. “The Conjuring” is simple. It’s just what it needed to be and that added to the horror and thrills. One of my favorite scenes was when NOTHING happened. The film’s simple approach to build up is brilliant and successful, that should lead many to question overly worked tactics in the bag of creative tools.
Have you seen “The Conjuring?” What did you think?
Natalie C. Markey 