The most unsettling moment in a horror film often arrives before the audience sees anything at all. A frame holds a little too long. A shadow leaves something unresolved. A story gives us a reason to fear what comes next.
This Halloween, explore how those choices work with StudentFilmmakers Academy. A live workshop with storyboard artist Anthony Sturmas and two on-demand courses with cinematographer Christopher Baffa, ASC, and playwright Neal Bell bring together three perspectives on the craft of horror: planning the image, shaping the light, and building the story.
One live workshop. Two on-demand courses. All included with Academy membership.
LIVE ONLINE · OCTOBER 30, 2026
Halloween Horror: Storyboarding + AI with Anthony Sturmas
Make them feel the fear before the scare.
Before a scene reaches the set, a storyboard can establish where the camera belongs, what the viewer sees, and when a reveal lands. Anthony Sturmas brings more than 24 years of professional storyboarding experience to that process, with work for film productions and commercial clients including Nickelodeon and Toyota.
His live workshop explores how composition, camera angles, lighting, and pacing build suspense. It also considers how storyboard thinking can guide AI-assisted imagery—giving visual experimentation a clearer cinematic purpose.
Don’t just prompt AI. Direct it. For filmmakers developing a horror sequence, this is an opportunity to connect the idea on the page with the choices inside the frame.
Friday, October 30, 2026
9 AM Pacific / 12 PM Eastern
Approximately 75 minutes · Live Q&A · Replay for on-demand viewing
Included with an active StudentFilmmakers Academy membership.
ON-DEMAND COURSE · CINEMATOGRAPHY
Horror Cinematography with Christopher Baffa, ASC
Learn how American Horror Story creates fear.
Light can reveal a threat—or make its absence more disturbing. Christopher Baffa, ASC, the cinematographer behind the American Horror Story pilot, examines how visual storytelling creates that tension. His credits also include Glee, Nip/Tuck, and Krypton.
Drawing on classic horror films and his own work, Baffa explores lighting, shadows, framing, and the timing of a reveal. The course offers a way to think about what a frightening scene needs the audience to see, and what it needs them to imagine.
67-minute video lesson + course quiz · Watch on demand
ON-DEMAND COURSE · HORROR STORYTELLING
Mastering Storytelling in Horror Filmmaking with Neal Bell
Great horror begins with a great story.
A jump scare may deliver a moment of surprise. The fears beneath it can give a film its lasting impact. Obie and Edgar Award-winning playwright Neal Bell, author of How to Write a Horror Movie, explores horror’s relationship with psychological tension, cultural anxieties, and social and political ideas.
For filmmakers and screenwriters, that perspective opens a deeper question: what is the story really asking its audience to confront? Bell’s course looks beyond the mechanics of the scare to the ideas that help horror resonate.
64-minute video lesson + course quiz · Watch on demand
CHARTER MEMBER RATES
One Live Workshop. Two Courses. One Membership.
From Film School to Film Set. Learn from Master Filmmakers Beyond the Classroom.
Get unlimited access to StudentFilmmakers Academy lessons, content, and community resources, including the live workshop, both featured courses, and Academy downloads.
$15/month or $150/year
Save $30 with an annual membership.
Become a Charter Member and lock in your rate. Your membership will continue to renew at your original price for as long as you keep it active, even if prices increase for new members.
Already an Academy member? Sign in and explore the courses.
