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."
================
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.