Art & horror

What silent horror can teach a video essayist about showing the scare

For Silent Movie Day, a practical visual storytelling exercise: build tension through framing, gesture, contrast, and timing before adding a soundtrack.

Whimsical Woes editorial · September 28, 2026

A horror image should have something to do before the soundtrack tells us how to feel. Silent horror is useful practice for that problem because it makes you attend to bodies, frames, and duration. It does not mean music is cheating, or that silent films historically played without accompaniment. It means the image deserves its own rehearsal.

September 29 is Silent Movie Day, an annual celebration and preservation initiative. With it approaching, this is a good editorial excuse to spend time with an older visual language before planning an autumn horror video. This is a calendar-based choice, not a claim that silent horror is surging in search. The exercises below are original suggestions for drawing, short films, and video essays; they are not historical rules attributed to silent filmmakers.

Begin with a question the frame can answer

Instead of starting with a scary sound, write one concrete question: is someone else in this room? Draw three rectangles and answer it differently in each. The first might leave a tall strip of empty space behind the figure. The second might partially block that strip with a door. The third might show an object whose position makes the space harder to understand.

Keep the drawing rough. At this stage, careful rendering can hide a weak arrangement beneath attractive marks. Ask another person where they looked first and what they thought might happen. If they never noticed the area carrying the uncertainty, change the large shapes before adding a face in the shadows. You are testing attention, not administering a bravery exam.

Let a body disagree with its surroundings

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari provides a useful starting point for thinking about a performer as part of a graphic composition. Its emphatic sets invite equally deliberate attention to silhouette. For your own exercise, place the same simple figure in three postures beside a doorway: upright and centered, bent toward it, and turned away while one hand remains near the opening.

Those are invented poses, not descriptions of three specific shots. The aim is to discover what posture can imply without a caption. Concern, attraction, and reluctance should not all require a different monster. Try changing the distance between the hand and the door by a small amount. A gesture can hold a decision that dialogue would otherwise explain too quickly.

Separate visibility from certainty

Making a picture darker is an easy way to remove information, but it can also remove the reason to care. A clearly visible shape whose purpose is uncertain may be more engaging than a black rectangle. Keep enough contrast for the viewer to locate the problem. Then decide what remains unresolved: scale, direction, identity, or the relationship between two things.

For a drawing, make two versions of the same scene using only black and white. In one, conceal the subject. In the other, show the subject and conceal what it is looking at. Compare the questions each version creates. Neither is automatically better. The exercise is successful when you can explain why you chose one, rather than calling both atmospheric and moving on.

Give the viewer time to make the wrong prediction

A still image asks the viewer to decide how long to look. A video controls that duration. Try holding an unchanged frame for two different lengths, then cutting to the same second frame. Notice whether the extra time creates scrutiny, boredom, or a strong expectation that the cut interrupts. Do not assume slower means scarier. Duration needs a task.

For a video essay, this makes a useful demonstration with your own drawings. Show the short version, invite the viewer to predict the next image, then show the longer one. Discuss the change in expectation. You have supplied evidence for your argument instead of merely placing spooky footage under a confident voiceover. Be clear that your constructed example illustrates a possibility, not a universal law of audience response.

Put sound back in deliberately

Now add one sound and ask what it changes. A sound can identify a source, move attention outside the frame, or complicate a movement we can already see. If it only announces that the drawing is supposed to be scary, try removing it again. Conversely, do not force the picture to carry information that sound could communicate elegantly. The point of the silent pass is to strengthen collaboration between image and audio.

When choosing an old film for comparison, check which restoration and score you are watching. Kino Lorber’s Caligari listing identifies a specific accompaniment; that matters when discussing rhythm. A useful essay names the version and distinguishes observations from interpretation. Finish with a specific question for the viewer: which change made you look somewhere different? That answer will teach you more about your work than a row of generic skull emojis.

Questions from the crypt

Were silent horror movies actually shown in silence?

Silent film does not mean every exhibition lacked music. Accompaniment varies across presentations; identify the score or version when discussing what you watched.

Do I need animation software for this exercise?

No. Three rough drawings and a way to show them in sequence are enough. You can test framing and expectation before making a finished video.

How can I make a video essay more than a plot summary?

Choose a specific visual question, show a concrete example, and compare alternative interpretations or your own variations. Explain what the example supports and where the argument has limits.

Does this require making every shot dark?

No. Clear silhouettes and readable spaces can support uncertainty. Decide which information to withhold rather than reducing visibility everywhere.