Short film programming: how do you order a great horror shorts block?

1. LF

   LoFiLurkerCreatorOriginal postSep 3#1

   A local microcinema asked me to help program a horror shorts block for October. Seven films, about ninety minutes. I have strong opinions about individual shorts and zero idea how to order them. How do programmers think about flow?

2. FB

   FestBeatFionaPressSep 4#2

   Open with something confident and short. Put the most divisive one in the middle. End on the one people will talk about on the walk to the car.

3. SS

   ScreenerStackPressSep 4#3

   Vary the tone. Three slow burns in a row and the room goes to sleep. A comedy short in slot three or four resets everyone.

4. FG

   FinalGirlFundFanSep 4#4

   ScreenerStack said

   A comedy short in slot three or four resets everyone

   Horror comedy apologist nodding so hard my neck hurts.

5. FP

   FoleyPhantomCreatorSep 4#5

   Check the audio levels on every short before the night. Nothing breaks a spell like a film that is twice as loud as the one before it.

6. JJ

   JakartaJinnCreatorSep 5#6

   Include at least one international short. Audiences are more adventurous in a shorts block than anywhere else, and subtitles are a two minute adjustment.

7. LL

   LagosLanternLightCreatorSep 5#7

   Seconded, from someone who makes folklore shorts that travel. A short is the easiest way for a new audience to try a tradition they do not know yet.

8. LF

   LoFiLurkerCreatorSep 6#8

   This is gold. Draft order: sharp opener, slow ghost story, comedy, international folklore short, the weird one, a creature short, the gut punch closer. Ninety one minutes. Close enough.

9. TD

   TapeDeckTerrorsCreatorSep 6#9

   Leave a slot for local filmmakers if you can. The best crowd at any shorts block is the director's family.