This week on the channel +139K views this week

Doug Jones narrates Film Riot's practical-effects ghost story

Ryan Connolly pairs Last Light with a breakdown of DIY lighting, creature hands and a demanding VFX shot.

Channel:

Film Riot Story of October 18, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.

Making Horror With Practical Filmmaking Tricks

The making-of drew more viewers. Film Riot's two-upload week paired a supernatural short with the workshop lesson behind it, and "Making Horror With Practical Filmmaking Tricks" has reached roughly 33,000 views, finding a larger opening-day audience than the film itself.

The project is "Last Light | A Halloween Short Story (Narrated by Doug Jones)." Jones, known for creature performances including the amphibian man in The Shape of Water, supplies the narration. Emily Connolly plays "Her," with Justin Robinson and Rene Gomez as "The Coroners." Ryan Connolly wrote, shot, directed and edited the short, while Josh Connolly handled producing and production management. Govee supplied the lights featured in the film.

Friday's breakdown turns that finished atmosphere into a series of filmmaking problems: DIY lighting, illuminating houses, building a light tunnel, creature hands and the hardest visual-effects shot. It closes with a section on loving the process, a detail viewers have picked up on. Comments discuss the pleasure of solving problems and collaborating, while others request a fuller explanation of the trickier effects shots. Jones's involvement has prompted several double takes, too.

The two new uploads account for the strongest daily momentum among Film Riot's videos, followed by July's "What's the Point of Shooting Anamorphic?" Across the channel, daily viewing is about two and a half times its usual pace, though subscribers were unchanged over the week. Fellow filmmaking channel Full Time Filmmaker had a slightly smaller weekly view gain and is currently viewing more slowly than usual. For Film Riot, the fresh activity centers on showing both the illusion and the work that makes it possible.

Published on Trari

Where next?

Also in Art, crafts, magic and photographyVideo taking off 5x its usual first dayDenis reveals the props behind his Halloween knife tricksA split knife and a duplicate blade turn two apparent injuries into quick magic reveals.Channel: DENIS MAGIC SHOW · Story of October 24, 2026

A different discovery todayVideo people are talking about 11x its usual commentsZelenskyy tells Steven Bartlett why he needed "ammunition, not a ride"In a nearly two-hour conversation, Ukraine's president moves from sleepless nights and grieving parents to Bucha, Paddington Bear and the morning the invasion …Channel: The Diary Of A CEO · Story of October 24, 2026

What viewers say

The section about loving the process, you said it all perfectly. It's why we do this.
@jayanthonyolsonSee it on YouTube
Love a Film Riot breakdown/tutorial. Takes me right back to the old YT filmmaking days.
@ChrisTomlinsonMontroseSee it on YouTube
Would be wonderful to see a VFX breakdown of those tricker shots, tracking and everything with all those challenging variables involved!
@sebastianholmes1753See it on YouTube

6 more comments

Great video! It makes me wonder what motivates people to make films with AI. For me, so much of the joy of filmmaking comes from solving problems, discovering great locations, collaborating with cool people, and being proud of the final product. I guess I really value the whole process just as much as the result.
@benediktmeyerSee it on YouTube
Doug Jones! I’ve had the privilege of meeting him at a convention awhile ago and he absolutely is the sweetest person ever.

That’s so awesome you got to work with him on this project.
@davidkomaiSee it on YouTube
When I first seen the short then seen Doug Jones I was like hahahaha they got somebody named Doug Jones. And now I find out it is THE Doug Jones. That's insane. Oh and loved the short by the way. Kind of reminded me of the Campfire Tales short stories.
@FlyingBanana78See it on YouTube
Felt good to finally be disclaimered, was about time. And what a great BTS-video, fun to see how you did things, lights, and Doug Jones doing the voice - that's why I loved the narrator so much, those poetic words in the dialogue came out so nicely. Great work on this one for sure and I loved both the short itself and the BTS. Thanks Film Riot! Cheers from Scandinavia.
@pixel325See it on YouTube
Always inspired by you guys! Really enjoyed the short and I’m excited to get into this video
@stephenpep.mp4See it on YouTube
Awesome BTS for an awesome short. Great job everyone!
@dslynxSee it on YouTube