How to Craft a Suspenseful Horror Screenplay

Topics covered include:

• Metaphor can be visceral
• History of metaphor in horror
• Why write horror today?
• Discovering the core idea for your screenplay
• Finding your way into the story
• Translating our fears into horror
• Crafting the perfect logline

Topics covered include:

• Structure: plot vs story
• Writing a movie and not a script
• Finding your central argument
• Character moves story
• Wants versus needs
• Film plotting and beat sheets
• Building and breaking your characters
• Making a monster

Topics covered include:

• Writing with teeth
• Crafting terrors: what you show and what you don’t
• Surprise vs suspense or dread over jump scares
• Milking the tension
• Subjective POV and horror
• Location as character
• Building a horror world/set/atmosphere
• Family as hero
• Moving from beat sheet to outline
• Demonstration: building a suspenseful scene

Topics covered include:

• Screen horror highlighting real world horror
• Twisting the tropes
• Supernatural vs psychological horror
• The story without the horror
• Social justice and horror
• Indie horror, studio horror, TV horror
• The horror life - building a community
• “How to sell” your script
• Moving from outline to script
• Finishing, revising and sending the script
• Building a craft and a career
• Dennis’s quick tips

In Sundance Collab’s Live Online courses, participants attend live, virtual class sessions on the same day and time for a specified period. These sessions are led by an instructor and in some cases, supported by a team of advisors. In some courses, you are given assignments with submission deadlines to help you take the next step with your work. 

• Each week you will be able to attend live lectures via Zoom video and ask questions of your instructor.
• In some courses, you will receive individualized feedback from your course advisor on elements of your work.
• In some courses, you will have the opportunity to have a 1-on-1 session with your advisor. Depending on the course, this session may be included or may be purchased separately for an additional cost. Check the course description for specifics. 

All members of the Sundance Collab community are welcome to register for Sundance Collab courses. Please review the course description and any eligibility requirements to ensure the course is a good fit. If you have any questions about a course, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.

Note that space is limited. If the registration window is open, you will see a “Register” button on the course page. If there is an application, applications are considered as they are received and applicants are accepted on a rolling basis until the course is full or the deadline has passed, whichever comes first. 

We do not allow creative partners to do our live online courses as a team. However, both creators can individually register for the course.

Part of Sundance Collab's unique educational approach is to create a teaching team for every course. Each class is led by an instructor who may be accompanied by additional course advisors. This allows us to keep an intimate ratio of participants to advisors and to provide a diversity of voices and approaches to the course content.

We often offer a limited number of need-based, full or partial scholarships. Check the course description to see if that course currently has scholarships available. Scholarships are prioritized for one per person per year (from the date of issue). Scholarship applications are available up to one week before the registration deadline. To apply for a scholarship,complete the registration form by clicking the REGISTER button and selecting the option to apply for a scholarship, if available.

Applicants will be notified about their scholarship decision prior to the first day of the course. Due to the volume of applicants, we are not always able to provide a scholarship, but we may still offer a spot in the course. In this case, depending on the course, payment plans may be available and can be selected at checkout.

Yes, we offer two or three-part payment plans for Live Online courses, depending on the length of the course. In all cases, the first payment is due at the point of registration. The remaining payment(s) are spread out throughout the course term. For specific payment plan dates for a course, please reach out to our team at: collab_courses@sundance.org. 

Yes, you are welcome to take a live, online course even if you can’t make the live sessions. Recordings of each class session are available online by the following day so you can keep up with the course lectures. For courses that include a 1-on-1 session with an advisor or instructor, the meeting is scheduled according to your (and their) availability.

All sessions are recorded and usually made available within one business day. The videos will also contain the chat and transcript from the class session, viewable in the video playbar.

Participants will have access to the recordings for one year following the last class session.

All participants will receive a Certificate of Completion. The certificate will include the name associated with your Sundance Collab account.

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You can join a course via a computer or mobile device. All of our live, online courses are conducted via Zoom.

Download and set up the Zoom software (https://zoom.us/download) and make sure you have the latest update. Here are some great resources from Zoom’s Knowledge Base to take a deeper dive into using Zoom:

• Watch Zoom's Video Tutorials or review training materials on the Getting Started page
  
• Join a Live Training from Zoom
  

If you have any further questions, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.

Sundance Collab provides accommodations and support services to participants with disabilities. Please contact us at (435) 776-7790 or email us at accessibility@sundance.org to ask any questions or to discuss your specific needs after you have been accepted into the course.