Flood of blood

Started by Fernando, April 23, 2003, 10:36:12 PM

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Fernando

I found this interesting comment by Larry Smith about the famous
blood elevator scene:

"We had to fill up the elevator, which was built as a separate set, with huge quantities of blood, or something that simulated blood. we looked at the liquid, tested it, and Stanley said, 'It's great; it's going to work. But the color's not real.' We even considered using real animal blood. But Stanley, being the great animal lover he was, couldn't bring himself to do that, and rightly so. There was a whole saga about what we would use, but oddly enough, it was one of the shorter scenes in the movie to actually shoot. We put two cameras side by side in a waterproof housing in the middle of the floor, and Stanley and I stood at the back of the set. I remember jokingly saying to him, 'Is this safe here?' Because the set was about 50, 60 feet long by 10, 12 feet high. And he said, 'What do you mean?' I said, 'Well, when all that liquid comes out of the lift, it could submerge us; we could drown.' He was always very quick to cotton to safety, and we got up on a table, which was kind of ridiculous, because
we were much higher that it was ever going to get. The blood came out with a force that was quite incredible, and all the movement of furniture that you see in that scene actually happened. we didn't do more than two, three takes. Which for Stanley was quite conservative."
- Larry Smith, gaffer The Shining. (Premiere, aug-99)

On the same issue Danny Lloyd told the following story:

"Stanley had a really good way of speaking to me: 'Okay, Danny, this is what we need you to do, and we want you to look really scared.' When they did tell me why I was sceaming or why I was scared, they were delicate about it. It wouldn't be, 'Think of the most horrible...' He put it on a level that a kid could understand, and he didn't bark orders. For Halloween, or maybe for his birthday, I dressed up like Stanley, with a beard and glasses."
- Danny Lloyd.

Gold Trumpet

Nice story. It always nice when you feel Stanley if being brought back through printed word as he was reacting and acting to a situation. I use to hunt all these little moments out years back when I was young because I wanted to get a feel for how it was like to be Stanley.

Also, don't tell the title of this thread to Wes Craven. These kinds of titles inspire him to make the films he does.

~rougerum