stills from the first day of filming

 Here are some stills from the dream sequence... I'll break them down for you (what they mean, the supplies used, and my thought processes)

This is the first scene in the dream sequence. It hints at the causes of Claire's nightmares, which are generational and a result of unresolved family trauma. The old images seen are from the 1940s. Sara and I sorted through old family photos and procured these. The floral background that the candles and photos are resting on is an old scarf with floral details. I thought the combination of these three things would be visually appealing, foreshadow Claire's fate, and hint at a backstory.

While I was filming this and watching over the footage I was so disturbed (how did I even come up with this???) I talked to Sara about using hair in one of the shots for the dream sequence. She had cut her own hair over a year ago and for some reason she kept it (lucky for me!) In this shot, Claire slowly pulls hair out of her mouth. The harsh green lighting was inspired by Suspiria (1977).

Now this is where the fake blood came in handy! For mise-en-scene I chose to line the walls and floors with plastic drop cloth that I bought at Home Depot for $3 a roll. In my head I wanted to film this scene in a sterile lab-like environment, but with Covid-19 restrictions I knew I had to improvise. Nevertheless, I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out.