BloodPool Wants Short Films with Strong Characters

Located in Liverpool, UK, BloodPool will hold its debut screening this October 27th.

This is a shorts only festival. Altogether, ten shorts will be screened, to be followed by "interactive attractions" (e.g., a haunted house) and a party.

Festival director (and former film student) Junior Davies wants films that "grab your attention from the go, are unique, and hang on suspense leading to an unforeseeable scare. A horror filmmaker should have the skill to hang on a shot and build tension. This leads to your audience guessing what's going to happen. The more cine-literate audience might be more aware, but a great director can use this as a pre-jump to try and catch them out."

* Character Is King

"I think the biggest mistake filmmakers make with a short film is not developing a character," says Davies. "The more your audience feels for a character, the more they will be drawn in to what's about to happen."

Like almost all horror festivals, BloodPool accepts all subgenres, but "paranormal is a favorite of mine, being able to see how filmmakers use different camera tricks and effects to confuse and scare the audience. In our first year, we've accumulated a lot of killer based thrillers which is also scary, as it's more believable."

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For a behind-the-scenes look at horror film festivals and the festival directors who manage them, see Horror Film Festivals and Awards. This book also includes a directory of over 200 horror film festivals, and a list of festival award winners from dozens of festivals over several decades.