Eerie lighting. A creepy hallway. And lots and lots of blood.

Ask any genre filmmaker and they’ll tell you, those are three of the key ingredients that go into the making of any good horror movie.

But how does one go about achieving those big screen ends with limited means? Just ask Christian Vetrone, Julian Vetrone and Michael Alexander Uccello ­– a trio of Toronto Film School alumni who founded Metal Monster Productions after graduating from the Film Production program in 2018.

Known for their expressive and imaginative filmmaking skills, the creative threesome recently created a series of How I Made This videos to give students at their alma mater an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look into the making of their films.

How I Made This Scary Hallway with Christian Vetrone

As Metal Monster’s resident Production Designer, Christian Vetrone takes us backstage during preparations for the shooting of his recent short film, The Door Down the Hall.

“For the story of the film, the main character, Paige, is curious to see what secrets are being locked up behind the door down the hall from where she sleeps,” Vetrone explained.

“Unfortunately, the hallway outside her room where I was actually planning on shooting in was not big enough for the part and didn’t work with the story properly. So, instead I wanted to put my passion for art directing to the test and build the hall exactly the way I wanted.”

Learn the step-by-step process Vetrone followed to transform a run-of-the-mill, institutional-looking hallway into the creepy hallway of all your worst nightmares – from renting out an abandoned rehabilitation facility and installing a drywall façade, to adding some paint, lamps locks and other finishing touches, here:

How I Made This DIY Blood with Julian Vetrone

Julian Vetrone offers up a complete guide to making loads of realistic-looking blood using just four ingredients: water, powdered sugar, chocolate powder and red food colouring.

“It’s very, very simple and easy to make,” said Vetrone, a self-described writer, director and editor.

“I’d say the thing I really like about this blood is that, besides the fact that I can make a ton of it with literally no money, is that it’s 100 per cent edible, so it’s 100 per cent safe for your actors and you can use it for mouth blood and stuff like that.”

Check out all of Vetrone’s blood-making tips and tricks here:

How I Capture Moody Lighting with Michael Alexander Uccello

Writer, director and producer Michael Alexander Uccello shares some lighting tips from behind the scenes of his latest short, The Man Who Became Everything.

“In this particular scene, we’re trying to create this eerie, multi-self contemplation of ideas with the main character, Jordan Cole, as he narrates and hypothesizes the inter-dimensional being which has consumed the entire human race,” Uccello explained.

“There’s something outside he cannot comprehend, and with our lighting, maybe, too, we can suggest that he cannot comprehend something inside.”

See the overview of Uccello’s lighting set up, as he strived to maximize the film’s “visual information” in the subtext of the main character here: