Editing is where a bunch of random footage becomes a bunch of scary moments, and the best way to learn is from the masters. One suggestion is to take notes not only of what happens, but the minute it happens on. When do scares occur? How far apart are they? How do editors build up to a scary moment to make it even scarier? You'll notice that most scary movies, especially famous ones like The Shining, Aliens, and The Exorcist, take their time between scares. They build up tension until it is almost unbearable, then hit you with the scariest scene they can dream up. " Scaring someone is all about anticipation. The feeling of fear disappears once the bad guy jumps out or we see the horrible act unless the moment has been built up effectively. Linger on characters as they walk through the creepy hallway. Use long-takes (single camera angles held without cutting) to show someone creeping up on an unsuspecting character. Resist the urge to cut right to the scary moments -- having build-up will make it them all the scarier. Editing is when dramatic irony becomes your best friend. Dramatic irony is when the audience knows something that the character doesn't. We might see the outline of the killer, but the characters can't. The longer we sit with this knowledge, wishing the character would run, the more fearful we become. The final scene of The Silence of the Lambs, where the night vision goggles tell us our heroine is being stalked, is nearly unbearable-- in the best way possible. The end of a good build-up of suspense is an energetic release of energy. This is when the killer strikes, taking our breath away. Long takes build suspense, but quick, frantic cuts can make the audience gasp and scream, unable to believe the horror that they've seen. This release of energy relieves tension but also puts the audience on their toes, allowing you to start building the suspense again shortly after. This give and take is what makes up the rhythm of a good horror movie, and is the essence of good editing. Sound design is absolutely crucial to movie-making, especially in horror movies. The best sound design, however, is often unnoticed -- it simply fits into the fold of the movie. This is doubly true of horror movies, where sound is the perfect way to put people on edge. The leaves rustling in the background, the creaking floor, the tinkling of single piano keys in an "empty" room, these things fill us with terror because we don't know what is making the sound. Do not skimp on sound design and effects -- they are essential for scares.  This includes music as well, which is usually minimalistic and eerie. If you cannot record the music yourself, be sure to use "royalty free music," which can be found online and is free to use in a movie without worrying about lawsuits. When possible, try and make the sound effects yourself. Take a portable microphone and record the sounds yourself, layering them into your movie, for uniquely creepy effects. A jump scare is when you cut to a shot, usually with a sound effect, so quickly that the audience is startled. Oftentimes something jumps out at the characters They are considered cheap by many audiences because it is not the kind of scare that lasts for very long. It feels manipulative because anyone can surprise you by suddenly blasting a sound effect and cutting rapidly. That said, 2-3 jump scares keeps the audience on its feet, especially if they come after a strong, atmospheric build-up.  Many modern directors are using "fake" jump scares by having the jump come from something innocuous, like a cat or friend knocking on the door. Even more directors are using anticipation instead of a scare. They build the expectation that something will jump out at us, but the nothing does. You're lead into a feeling of complacency, making the next scare twice as powerful (though not a horror movie, see "Ex Machina for an example).  Watch Insidious for a master-class in suspenseful, well-designed jump scares. Remember however, that effects like explosions and fire can look tacky and out of place in a horror film, so stick to color correction and grading, compositing or ambient effects such as fog or dust particles. You can use free programs, like DaVinci Resolve, or Adobe After Effects. Color grading is when you make the whole film have a similar color pallet. For horror, this usually means darkening shots and adding blue or green color effects to give the film a moody, scary feel.

Summary: Watch and takes notes on every horror movie you can get your hands on. Linger in scary scenes before showing the big "moment. Build dramatic irony in your scenes. Use quick cuts and scenes to build excitement and confusion. Use sound effects to build tension subtly. Use "jump scares," but only sparingly. Correct the color and add any special effects last.


Inkscape is a free, open-source vector editing program that is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. You can download it from inkscape.org. Inkscape includes a bitmap tracing tool that will attempt to automatically convert your raster image into a vector. Click "File" → "Open" and browse for the bitmap image that you want to convert into a vector. Simple images and logos are best suited for this process. You'll have a difficult time getting adequate results when attempting to auto-trace a photograph. After loading the bitmap, you'll need to click it to select it on the canvas. Once you have the bitmap selected, you can open the auto-tracing tool. Click "Path" → "Trace Bitmap", or press ⇧ Shift+Alt+B. There are three different modes available for creating a single path. The "path" is the line tracing of your image. Selecting each one will update the Live Preview, allowing you to get a feel for what they do.  These three options will help you to create a basic outline which you can then manually edit yourself. Use the "Threshold" options to adjust how the scan is processed. For the "Brightness cutoff", a threshold of 0.0 will be black, while a threshold of 1.0 will be white. For the "Edge detection", the threshold is the same and determines whether the pixel will be counted as part of the border or not. Increase the number of scans to increase the number of colors that appear. This can be an inaccurate tool, and may not be able to provide good results for complex images. Once you're happy with the results, click OK to apply them to the image. Click "Path" → "Simplify" or press Ctrl+L to reduce the number of nodes. This will result in a lower-quality image, but the end result will be much easier to edit. This is located in the toolbox on the left side of the screen. You can also press F2. This will allow you to select and move nodes to edit the image. For detailed instructions on editing nodes in Inkscape, see this article. You can use the tools in the left toolbar to create shapes and lines. Use these to touch-up or replace parts of the trace that didn't turn out right. Once you've created a shape or line, you can use the nodes to adjust the curve and shape of the object. Click the "Convert selected object to path" button (⇧ Shift+Ctrl+C) to edit the nodes shapes that you've created. Once you are satisfied with your new vector art, you can save it as a vector image. Click "File" → "Save As" and choose one of the vector file formats from the drop-down menu. SVG is one of the most common vector formats.
Summary: Download and install Inkscape. Open the bitmap image in Inkscape. Select the image. Open the tracer. Select the path mode. Select the "Colors" option if you are trying to create an exact copy of a simple image. Optimize the paths once you're finished. Click the "Edit paths by nodes" button. Add your own lines. Save the file.