Shaky Cams, Exploding Kids, and Creative Chaos: Why *V/H/S Halloween* Directors Reckon Found Footage is Still 'Hard AF'
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
The directors behind *V/H/S Halloween* dish on why found-footage horror remains "hard as f*** to shoot," revealing that creative constraints can be both a nightmare and a liberating force, much like the challenges faced by ambitious game developers.
Right, so I've been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared. You know that feeling when you're trying to make something groundbreaking with a shoestring budget, and half the time you're just praying the whole thing doesn't glitch out into an unplayable mess? That’s kind of the vibe I’m getting from the folks behind the latest *V/H/S* installment. They've been spilling the beans on why found-footage horror, that beloved, sometimes-maligned subgenre, is still "hard as f*** to shoot." And honestly, after hearing their take, I'm genuinely stoked to dig into the digital tea leaves of creative constraint and chaotic genius.
Full credit for the original insights and interview goes to Tasha Robinson over at Polygon (polygon.com), who sat down with the visionary (and delightfully exasperated) directors of *V/H/S Halloween*. We're just here to poke around the edges and see what gaming lessons we can glean from their tales of cinematic wizardry gone wonderfully wrong.
Now, for those of you who might've been AFK during the early 2000s, found-footage horror had a massive boom, thanks to *The Blair Witch Project* basically showing everyone how to make a blockbuster with a potato cam and a forest. But it didn't just fade; it evolved. We saw "screenlife" flicks, stylish new takes, and those dizzying one-take wonders taking over where the trusty shakycam once reigned supreme. The big exception, the real constant in this ever-shifting horror landscape, has been the *V/H/S* series. It’s like the elder god of anthology horror, keeping the found-footage dream alive through seven previous installments and now charging headfirst into its eighth, *V/H/S Halloween*.
This new entry, dropping in 2025 (yeah, a bit of a temporal glitch, but we'll roll with it), features five shorts, all wrapped up in a main story about a brutally disengaged scientist testing a diet cola that makes people explode in gloriously messy ways. Sounds like a bloody good time, eh?
At the film's premiere at Austin's Fantastic Fest, director Anna Zlokovic dropped the bombshell: found-footage is "hard as f*** to shoot." And her co-directors, bless 'em, cheered in agreement. Polygon then had a natter with them all, trying to get to the bottom of this universal difficulty. And honestly, it’s a brilliant peek behind the curtain.
**The Creative Straightjacket vs. The Open World**
Micheline Pitt, co-director of "Home Haunt," nailed one of the biggest challenges: the creative limitations. She reckons the hardest part is being confined by the need for everything to be motivated by the person holding the camera. It’s like designing a game where the player character *has* to record everything, and you can’t just cut to a cinematic when something cool happens. You’re stuck in that first-person perspective, even when your creative brain is screaming for an epic wide shot. "Having to stay in a box," as she put it. Fair dinkum, that’s a tough one.
But here’s where it gets interesting, like discovering a hidden cheat code. Alex Ross Perry, director of "Kidprint," actually *disagrees* vehemently. He found the restriction liberating! He loved the 360-degree open set feel, noting that in traditional filmmaking, blocking (where actors move) and coverage (where cameras are placed) are often at odds. In found footage, once you block the scene, you’ve essentially figured out your coverage. "You shoot the scene once, and that's it," he explained, "we don't have to get his line, his line, his line." It's like a perfectly choreographed in-game cutscene where the camera is always in the right place because it's *part* of the action. This single-take approach, where the camera follows the character’s movement, resonated with him. It’s a bit like a game dev embracing the limitations of an old engine and finding unexpected creative avenues within those boundaries.
**The Illusion of Reality: Keeping Players Immersed**
Anna Zlokovic circled back to a crucial point that any game developer will understand: suspension of disbelief. "Everything has to feel real," she stressed. "The sound has to feel like it's actually happening. The performances have to feel grounded." Imagine trying to sell an absurd premise in a game, but needing every pixel, every sound cue, every NPC interaction to be utterly convincing. It only takes one dodgy texture or a clunky animation to pull a player right out of the experience. Found footage lives or dies on that fragile illusion, and Zlokovic knows it. "You can lose people really at any moment. It just takes one f***-up."
Bryan M. Ferguson, director of "Diet Phantasma," agreed with Perry on the liberation of blocking but highlighted the nightmare of practical effects. "When you've got so many practical effects happening at one time, and trying to make sure you're panning onto it and not fucking up..." he lamented. This rings true for any game developer trying to choreograph complex physics interactions or elaborate scripted events. Getting all those moving parts to align perfectly, especially with tight deadlines (Ferguson only had three days for his segment!), sounds like a boss battle in itself.
R.H. Norman, also from "Home Haunt," chimed in on the challenge of finding rhythm when shooting mostly 'oners' (single, unbroken shots). Their approach was to simulate cuts by having a character turn the camera on and off. "You really have to live in the moment," he explained, highlighting the impossibility of editing around mistakes in post-production when you’re trying to maintain that seamless point-of-view. It’s like a speedrunner trying to execute a perfect segment – no room for error, because you don’t know where those cuts (or glitches) might betray the whole enterprise.
And then Zlokovic, with a knowing wink, quipped about trying to avoid hiding cuts with glitches. Norman’s response? "Actually, she's right. This is easy. Just glitch the s*** out of it." (Cue general laughter.) It's that wonderful chaotic optimism – if you can't beat the glitch, *become* the glitch.
**Why On Earth Are They Still Filming?!**
But perhaps the most profound challenge came from Paco Plaza, director of "Ut Supra Sic Infra": "making the audience believe the people operating the camera would continue, instead of running away." This is the ultimate meta-game challenge for found footage. Why is the player still holding the camera when a monster is spitting eyeballs (yes, that happens)? It's about player agency and logical motivation. Plaza’s brilliant observation is that the camera should always arrive *late* to whatever’s happening, just like in real life. If you hear a noise and pan to it, the source of the noise is probably already gone. That, he reckons, is the feeling of truth that’s crucial to preserve. You can't just have the monster conveniently posing for the camera.
**The Trophy Shelf: Proudest Shots**
Despite (or perhaps because of) the sheer difficulty, these directors are wizards, and they pulled off some truly astounding feats. Perry was chuffed with a shot of his character at a four-monitor editing deck, all running analog footage, calling it "the image I wanted out of this project." It sounds simple, but it took three days of planning! Pitt’s favorite was an "impossible shot" of a witch's flight, achieved in just two takes. Zlokovic nailed a complex, uninterrupted shot following girls through multiple rooms and down stairs into a 'poop room' (because horror, naturally). Ferguson beamed about the shot of a little boy exploding on glass – a last-minute miracle captured with only five minutes to spare. And Plaza, the legend, was giggling while shooting a boy vomiting up eyeballs, praising the actor’s skill.
So, what have we learned, mate? Found-footage horror, much like pioneering game development, isn't easy. It forces creators into constraints that can feel like a straightjacket one moment, and a liberating sandbox the next. It demands a level of immersion and believability that can be shattered by a single misstep. But within that brutal difficulty, within those tight deadlines and technical hurdles, there's a unique magic that only emerges when creators truly embrace the chaos. It’s a testament to how creative limitations often birth the most ingenious and memorable experiences, whether you’re making a terrifying film or a groundbreaking new game. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go see this eyeball-spitting wizardry for myself.
Tags: Horror, Filmmaking, Game Development, Creative Process, Indie Cinema
Original article: Polygon