Mike Flanagan, the writer and creator of 'The Haunting of Hill House', took to Twitter yesterday to offer followers of the show some fun trivia.
Flanagan gave viewers a behind the scenes insight into episode six of the series. He spoke about the difficulties of filming the episode. He also provided details of what went into its design.
Most of the camera choreography was actually included in the script itself, which meant that the draft for ep 6 was a really tough read with "camera pivots left/tracks right down left aisle, keeping Steven in MS profile" breaking up the dialog.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
The sets needed to include hiding places for crew & equipment, specific lighting rigs, and even a handmade elevator that would lower into place from the ceiling to bring a cameraman to the first floor for shot 4. We began doing weekly walk-throughs of the ep 6 immediately in prep
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
Production was shut down, rehearsals for ep 6 began March 6th, 2018. We rehearsed daily with our second team stand-ins, who performed the entire episode as actors as we learned the camera, lighting, and acting choreography. They were HEROES and made the whole thing possible.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
Massive rain FX were put in both stages, and specialty lights were brought in to create the lightning. The water would sometimes flood the sets, and the studio initially didn't want to pay for the extra "lightning" lights and proposed cutting the storms from the episode entirely.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
Rehearsals began in earnest. The actors would be on one stage, practicing the scene and the performance, while our camera operators worked on the other stage with second team to continue refining camera blocking and lighting cues.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
We finally began shooting on April 6, 2018. We shot in episode order, so the first shot was 14 pages in Shirley's funeral home. We did tech rehearsals in the morning, and finally just started shooting, in case we got lucky. We only had to get it right once.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
We also had to swap a dummy of Victoria Pedretti from the casket, and help young Violet McGraw climb inside and be still. We did this change while the siblings talked about Hugh flying in coach on the airplane.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
We began shooting the second shot the following day, which was seven pages long and took place in Hill House. Our initial worry about putting this much pressure on the youngest of the actors proved to be a non-issue, as they were knew their lines cold (and even the adults' lines)
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
The third segment was the most brutal. 18 pages, shot in the funeral home, and requiring thunderous emotion from the cast. They started seated, which meant we had to keep the camera on a peewee dolly to handle the height differences. We pushed a dolly through this entire shot.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
We went to lunch without getting a take, and the grips told me that the dolly had a big issue. The transmission chain was strained and close to breaking from the rigors of rehearsal. They figure we MIGHT have one more take before it could break. There wasn't a replacement dolly.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
The next day we did segment 4, which was our most difficult from a technical point of view. Lots of swaps, windows breaking, the elevator gag, etc. We ran this all day, the pressure was on Carla and Henry. Time and again we'd make it all the way to the elevator and mess up.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
We got the shot late afternoon after dozens of aborted attempts. Length: 6:13. The next day, we did the (relatively easy by comparison) 5th segment, which timed in at 5:31. Production was murder and almost killed us all, but it was the easiest edit of my life. Took 10 seconds.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
@netflix , @ParamountTV and @amblin rallied to give us what we needed to pull it off, even though it was a huge risk for them and there was no guarantee that it would work.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
On a final note, @k8siegel and I learned she was pregnant with our second child the night before we filmed segment 3. Made me really nervous every time I saw her fall down. Added a special layer of nerves to the stress of the ep
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
People were hidden in the scene. We had ghosts in makeup every morning waiting to be placed throughout the day. Sometimes the actors didn’t even notice them until after the first take.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
His comments follow the release of a Netflix featurette video which went behind-the-scenes of the episode.
You can read our review for 'The Haunting of Hill House' here.
Flanagan will next direct the sequel to 'The Shining.' It is titled 'Doctor Sleep.'