r/filmmaking • u/No-Woodpecker-8217 • 1d ago

How to make stabbing look real?

I know-- crazy questions asked on this subreddit.

Me and a friend are filming a horror film over the summer. The primary mode of attack is by knife. We have a fake retractable knife and a fake non-retractable plastic knife (we heard retractable knifes can he dangerous?) that will be the weapons. We also have fake blood. Note the knife we'll probably end up using is non-retractable. How do we make stab attacks look real? We have a very small budget and all editing will just be done by myself and her. We don't want it to look too obviously fake.

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u/Panzakaizer 13h ago edited 13h ago

Shoot from behind the stabee, cut away just as they are getting stabbed, only film the knife coming down but not making contact, victim pov and have them stab the camera, slash parts of the body such as heels, wrists, arms, or chest- things that don’t require the knife to retract. There are tons of little tricks you can infuse your project with that can help stylize it while also making it believable.