YouTube creator, Director, and Producer J. Horton is known for crossing genre boundaries with his creative takes on stories and for getting the most out of each and every scene. I was excited to sit down with him to talk about his latest feature, A Hard Place, which amps up the scares and the gore. We go over a lot of storytelling, like worldbuilding, character development, and tension, in our enlightening conversation. Let's dive into the interview. - YouTube www.youtube.com No Film School: Can you walk us through your creative process as a director? How do you begin to envision the world for a film like A Hard Place?J. Horton: Absolutely. When I’m approaching a project like A Hard Place, my creative process starts with grounding the chaos. A film like this, where you’ve got larger-than-life monsters, A LOT of CHARACTERS, and insane stakes, needs a world that feels real. So, step one is nailing down the tone. I ask myself: What’s the heartbeat of this story? For this movie, it is survival under the craziest, most relentless circumstances. That’s the backbone.From there, I dive into the setting. In A Hard Place, it is practically its own character. Whether it’s a snow-soaked landscape or a claustrophobic cave, the location should amplify the tension and push the characters to their limits. I also think a lot about texture—how the world feels. The grit under their nails, the sweat dripping down their faces, the sound of something massive breathing just out of...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Wednesday, 19 February