David F Sandberg Before He Smashed Hollywood
David F Sandberg Before He Smashed Hollywood
You may know David F Sandberg from some of those big Hollywood DC movies such as Shazam and Shazam 2. But this handsome gent actually blew minds years earlier with his Hollywood horror hits, Annabelle Creation and Lights Out.
But how’d he even manage to land those big paying Hollywood jobs?
Well, it all goes back to Sandberg's earlier days of living in Sweden with his wife Lotta Lotsen, who’s also an fantastic actress. Together in their apartment, they’d make a bunch of short horror films together on a non-existent budget. Lotsen would act in them and Sandberg would shoot and edit them.
Lights Out was one of these short films, and went super-viral. That’s when horror maestro James Wann steps in.
After viewing the short on YouTube he loved it so much that he contacted David to ask if he’d like to travel to Hollywood and turn his short film into a full feature-length movie. And we’re glad he did, because it’s brilliant.
Below is a compilation of Sandberg and Lotsen’s horror shorts, crafted together on a zero budget, within the confines of their small apartment, relying solely on each other’s talents.
Cam Closer
Nearly 10 years ago Sandberg released this corker of a short that’s garnered just over 3.4m views.
With clever editing methods, we are given access to Lotsen's character's point of view as she sees something through the phone camera, but not in the real world.
The evil ghost entity in it also sports some cool effects too - something that inspired the look of the ghost in Lights Out.
Cam Closer II
OK, so I cheated a bit here. This is after he made it, but 10 years after Cam Closer, and post-several Hollywood movies, Sandberg and Lotsen created the sequel - and boy was this terrifying.
The idea is the same as the last installment: Lotsen can only perceive the ghosts on the phone screen, which is linked to multiple gadgets, but this time the terror is amplified.
Adding in some creepy-looking perspective shots, like looking down the stairs into darkness, always invokes deep fear. Like when you turn the lights off in your house to go to bed and end up running as fast as you can up the stairs.
Pictured
One of my favourites of Sandberg and Lotsen’s. This has an almost J-horror aspect to it, along with some really cool photoshopping techniques.
As the terror builds and the image changes, Lotsen’s character is toyed with by the evil entity leading up to its torturous finale.
This fantastic short is the best one for building suspense to a horrifying, climatic finish.
Not So Fast
This 2 minute short feels like one of those nightmares you can’t seem to wake up from.
Lotsen’s character runs down a corridor that seems to extend the closer she gets to the exit. As a master of Blender, the opensource 3D creation suite software, Sandberg makes great use of some fantastic special effects, utilising another one of his many talents.
Coffer
Another brilliant and unique short. Lotsen’s character finds a chest with a bottomless pit. But when it starts to shake and open all by itself, she wonders what horrifying entity lives within its depths.
More great use of mood lighting and a fantastic, but also hilarious Making-Of video to accompany it, which just shows how talented Sandberg really is with a camera and editing software.
Attic Panic
This was actually one of the first short horror films I saw of Sandbergs after Lights Out.
Making great use of environmental space, this horror takes some tropes from classic Hollywood horror movies, including another fantastic piece of Blender action when the lights in the ceiling start to rotate and break.
With Lotsen’s brilliant acting, we see her expression of absolute terror as the entity closes in on her.
Closet Space
This time around, Sandberg throws some comedy in the mix, showing his brilliant and quirky sense of humour. He also makes a debut appearance as himself in this one too!
This is the least scariest of his horror shorts, but offers a really humorous finish with some clever shooting tricks.
Try and spot the Lights Out Easter Egg in it too!
Shadowed
They always say that lighting is key in every horror movie. And it’s true - especially in this short.
Not sure about some of you, but have you ever tried shooting a short film in low light? It’s so damn hard! Trust me, I tried with A Comfortable Grave. This one takes it to new heights though.
Using only a flashlight, and some more mastering of Blender, Sandberg delivers a fantastic short with some old-school horror and great special effects.
Not Alone In Here
This is Sandberg and Lotsen’s longest short horror film and was made during Covid lockdown (and post smashing Hollywood). He’d even completed a bunch of Hollywood movies by this point too, so he’s maxed out his leveling up abilities here.
This short has it all - A great story, superb acting, multiple locations, brilliant lighting, awesome editing, more dialogue than usual and a terrifying evil entity with a climatic ending - with a dash of humor sprinkled throughout.
Lights Out
OK so this is the OG of short horror films.
It’s super simple, with a fantastic concept and great visual and shooting style.
This short inspired me to create my own horror, A Comfortable Grave, which runs with similar principles - A 90 second horror with tension throughout and a scary ending.
Lights Out is definitely a must-see if you haven’t already, but the fact that it’s now got over 17M views and counting, probably means you’ve already seen it. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go and watch it again.
The fact that Sandberg and Lotsen still make horror shorts on Youtube, even though he's a Hollywood director, just shows how much of a movie-making-horror badass he really is.
He inspired me to make my first short horror (mentioned above for the third time), which I entered into an Annabelle Creation horror contest and won a Runners-Up award.
But I’m sure he will continue to inspire and make Hollywood movies so give his stuff a watch if you haven’t already, or follow him on YouTube by searching for his downright hilarious handle of @Ponysmasher.
You know we’re massive fans of short horror, so hang on to your butts for another article coming next week called ‘8 Short Horrors to Keep You up at Night’ written by Ed Shackleton.
