With Stranger Things renewed for a fourth season recently and Halloween in a few days, it’s the perfect time for us to talk about acting for the horror genre.
There is a distinct difference between, horror, action and suspense though a good horror project will invoke all 3 but at different times. Knowing the difference between the 3 emotions will enable you to supercharge your performance.
However, not knowing and accurately calling on the right emotions at the right time is what makes a horror performance turn into a comical one.
While, the job a director is typically to keep you on track and guide you on thing like this, you can’t rely on them for such subtleties as this.
It takes a world class director to be able to provide adequate direction on the differences.
It’s such a popular genre and there are tons of opportunities available, especially if you are still a bit new to the industry.
Whether you are new to the industry or if you have been trying to make a name for yourself for a few years, but are not seeing the kind of progress you want to be experiencing, the horror genre can change that for your quickly.
Here’s why...
There are tons and tons of opportunities for you to get your foot in the door on a wide range of projects, regardless of your resume.
When you consider the number of small budget films that end up being blockbusters, this is the perfect genre for you to start in.
The reason is that horror appeals to our most basic human instincts. When done well, projects can be completed very inexpensively and have a huge upside, so studios are much quicker to greenlight the projects.
There is a fine line between a good horror project and one that turns out being cheesy and comical. It comes down to the 3 elements I mentioned a moment ago.
For example (Stranger Things Season 2 Spoiler Alert!), when Bob is attacked and ultimately eaten by the Demogorgon, what emotion should the audience feel?
What emotions should your character feel as an onlooker in this scene?
The audience should feel sadness and disgust, most of which is accomplished through making the scene quite graphic. However, Bob’s facial expression plays a big role as well and you, as the actor need to be aware of that.
If you were playing Bob, would your expression be one of helplessness or horror? Would a tear stream down your cheek just before dying?
That depends on what you want the audience to feel from you.
In this case, when we want the audience to feel saddened and disgusted, so helplessness would be the most impactful way to go. Pun intended!
Let’s switch gears and talk about being an onlooker in this scene.
While the backstory and your relationship to the character that was just eaten by a pack of interdimensional monsters would impact your character decisions, let’s keep things simple.
Let’s only go so far as to say that the victim, Bob is a good guy, well liked and was a reluctant participant in the fiasco that led to his untimely death.
What emotions would your character display?
Would you be scared? Disgusted? Regardless of what comes in next in the script, there is a beat that shows your reaction in the scene, and that will either shatter the fourth wall and make the scene unbelievable or even comical.
Or, it can take the audience further into the story.
Before we walk through the scene, take just a moment and think about what emotions you think you would pull for your character.
Really take a minute or two and walk through it.
Now, after you have done the exercise, let’s walk through the scene together and let’s see how things play out.
You are trying to escape from a pack of interdimensional monsters and you just witnessed one of your friends be eaten alive.
Are you horrified, shocked, disgusted, saddened?
Like I mentioned a moment ago, some of this will depend on your backstory and relationship with the character, so for simplicity we’ll say you are just friends whose relationship extends no further than trying to escape the creatures together.
Which brings me to this point, yor are actively trying to escape from the creatures which you know will kill you if they catch you, so displaying shock in this case would break the 4th wall instantly.
You know the outcome and you knew of the possibility from the beginning of the scene, so shock should not be in your emotional mix.
Would your character be saddened what just happened?
Not at this point.
In the immediate aftermath, your character would be focused on staying alive. It’s too soon to feel sad.
The creatures are still close by, so shedding a tear would lead to the audience to a WTF moment and again break the 4th wall.
Having your character break down in tears would turn the scene into a cheesy and comical one, because it wouldn’t make sense.
Maybe it would, once your character has some distance from the creatures and has a minute to think about what just happened.
In that case, putting sadness into the emotional mix would be appropriate.
The dominant emotion in the immediate aftermath would be horror. Of course the subject matter, would have you pepper in a few other emotional layers such as disgust for what you just witnessed, but let’s keep it at the dominant level for the sake of simplicity.
See, once you identify the dominant emotion, you can then start making your character choices and determine what to do with your eyes, mouth, breath, vocal tonality, etc.
Working your way through a scene like this is how top actors measure whether they are going overboard with a character and when they need to push things further and how.
Relying on the director will only lead you so far. Going the extra mile pays off exponentially.
It’s easy to read through a scene and make character choices in your head or even playing the scene out with a few friends.
To become a world class actor and have a career that exceeds even your wildest expectations, requires that you go beyond what everyone else does and do exercises like this one.
You can even do this to prepare for your next audition.
If you don’t have anything coming up soon, then check this out.
It’s a tool I created to help actors like you that are committed to their careers and need a boost to help them be more visible to the industry.
That’s what Boost My Star is all about. I want to help you become the best actor you can be and give you the tools, strategies and anything else you need to be successful as an actor.
So, feel free to get in touch anytime.
I’m always happy help in anyway I can. Whether that means giving you some insight on character choices or by helping you be more visible to industry decision makers.
I’ll do what I can, because my goal is to...
See you at the top,
Scott