This use of anti-drama to increase drama is the same technique Francis Coppola and Mario Puzo use many times in the first Godfather film. For example, Clemenza takes a leak on the side of the road while a traitor is assassinated in the car. When it’s over, Clemenza orders the killer to “Leave the gun, take the cannoli.” Murder is part of this man’s everyday world, and he doesn’t think twice about it. That is far more horrifying than a hyper-realized mafia world which the audience can keep at a distance because it’s nothing like the world they live in. Similarly, in this world, horror is not something you see in a movie theater. It is part of these woods, part of three inexperienced kids getting lost in an indifferent nature, part of a two hundred year witch lore that may be silly superstition but may not. Of course, none of these anti-dramatic techniques would work if the writers didn’t have the dramatic story beats to play off of. That’s where their knowledge of the horror genre pays off. Horror is one of the most precise of all genres, and virtually every beat of the classic horror story is found here. The writers also know the basic story structure elements that go into building conflict.
These horror and story structure beats aren’t some formula that good writers avoid. They are the ingredients of a good story, the steps human beings take trying to solve a life problem.Ĭould there be more of these story elements in this film? Sure. For all the smart thinking that went into The Blair Witch Project, it is still missing a number of story techniques, especially in the area of plot.
But a $30,000 budget is a severe limitation, as anyone who has tried to make a low-budget film will attest. What can writers and directors learn from this film? First and foremost, learn the elements of structure and genre well enough that you can twist them in an original way. Second, if you want to make an independent film, figure out how to turn production weaknesses into story elements.
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