Haige visual photography

Last year, there was a very anticipated film called Scarlet Peak.

Scarlet Peak by Guillermo del toro, Scarlet Peak by model workers Tomson and Alice mia wasikowska.

But it's not suitable for children.

The film was released in North America a year ago, which combines psychological horror, Gothic horror and seductive romance. It is not only like a sitcom with strong psychological suggestion and absurd content, but also like an adult version of a surreal cruel fairy tale.

Its gorgeous star lineup is familiar to everyone, and the director gyro is also famous. Pacific Rim, Ghost Children's Home, Hellboy, etc. Are masterpieces that make people love and hate clearly. Because the taste is slightly heavier and the setting is hard, this kind of fun is not for everyone.

Pacific Rim was a box office success in China, but it was a fiasco in North America. Douban has a score of 1 10000 people, but it may not match the director himself. The film was nominated for the Palme d 'Or in Cannes, and won the Oscar for Best Makeup, Best Photography and Best Production Designer.

Gyro brother is crazy about Gothic romance. As an eccentric old boys who started from the post of special effects makeup, once she has determined what she likes, she will try her best to find the best.

His favorite predecessors, such as Wills O'Brien and Raymond Harrihausen, are all the same. This fanaticism and concentration have injected an indescribable vitality into his works, and anyone who is good at it can enjoy it in his heart.

In order to make satisfactory strange props, he is willing to pay half of his own money.

Rich, willful, not good?

In this way, every movie became his private playground. His home is gradually filled with props and gadgets with unexpectedly high prices. He named it "Desolate Villa", which has become a mysterious place where strange fans can't wait to rob.

A gathering of monsters dancing in bleak house

The most ambitious work of Gyro is Scarlet Peak, which we are going to discuss today, after the Maze of God. There are two brothers and sisters living in an old house in the wasteland, plotting to murder their lives by cheating marriage. Unexpectedly, the dead old friend lingered, and the captured newcomer saw through the secret and finally completed a tragic redemption.

The plot is simple and there are not many characters. However, due to the combination of some old-school pure emotions, some scary suspense tone, and some ethical relations on the edge of morality, its division and interest may still be uncomfortable.

However, the harsh word-of-mouth gained in the plot increasingly reflects its high-level aesthetic and industrial level of Excellence.

The intrigues and intrigues that are difficult to explain in real-time audio-visual language in the film are presented in the following set of artistic settings that reveal secrets in depth. What are the beauty, let me explain:

1. Ghosts in haunted houses, the peak of Gothic beauty, the void of vanity.

"Decline" is an extremely fascinating theme. The decline of the prosperous empire and the decline of the brilliant family all imply a kind of loneliness and curiosity aesthetics, which can make people fall into it and map it to their uncontrollable destiny, thus generating vibration and resonance.

The Al Daisy? Tower in the movie is the ultimate symbol of decline. Without its contrast, the emotional connection between Shakson Chastain and other characters, between people and ghosts, which is persistent and unwilling to dissipate, will not appear sentimental.

One of the two places where the story takes place in the book: Buffalo, USA.

Al Daisy? Mansion in the English countryside.

One is full of vigor and vitality, and the other is a glorious old age.

Every corner of the mansion reflects the bloody history of the Sharp family: like an old lady clinging to the only luxury jewelry left on her body, ignoring the dry tendons and looming corpse spots under her skin. The ceiling once covered with gold leaves, the huge and gorgeous fireplace, the ingenious wet murals and the magnificent cloister carvings are now just decorations in the cemetery.

Wet mural design of building

The book Scarlet Peak: Collection of Dark Art devotes a whole chapter to a detailed analysis of the design process of the scenery and dance beauty of Al Daisy? Mansion. There are many wonderful details, and if you pass by in the movie or don't expose them, you won't see them at all.

For example, the crew has prepared a set of seats of different sizes for the actors, and when it is necessary to highlight the majesty of the role, the trumpet is used; When they need to look weak and small, they need to be big ... so witty, why didn't I think of it when I took a selfie with Burger King?

The concept artist also designed the exclusive crest of the Sharp family for the mansion. This coat of arms, which looks like a skeleton from a distance, is actually a pen pointing to the theme of this tragic work.

"The preacher said, vanity, vanity. Everything is empty. " Rich or poor, isn't that what people do in the end?

On the cover, you can also feel the design of Jing Guan and the badge of the Sharp family.

This mansion in Al Daisy?, which is often overlooked by the audience, is undoubtedly the absolute protagonist of 1 in the director's mind.

But this coat of arms, which took a lot of thought, was almost forgotten by the crew ... Those movies won't tell you all the secrets. Only by opening the book can you see its texture folds at close range and really capture the artist's inspiration.

There are two elements on the cover: the family emblem and the Beijing crown.

2. "No matter how evil you do, people can understand and agree." I really agree with Shakson's setting.

Due to the limitation of film space, it is impossible for the crew to detail the life history of each character in the film one by one, and only give a series of tips through designed lines.

However, when designing these roles, the director made full preparations. He made a brief biography of Mia's amateur writer Edith, Edith's suitor Dr. Allen, Tomson's brother Thomas and Jessica Chastain's sister Lucille, which included all the twists and turns behind the characters. For example, the setting of Tomson Yipin is warm, and there is something that "no matter how evil you do, people can understand and agree".

Completely irrefutable

The episode is accompanied by biographies of four main characters in loose-leaf form to further explain the details of the film and their past experiences-why does the father dote on his daughter so much? How did she fall in love with horror writing? Why are doctors keen on psychological photos? How did the two brothers and sisters grow up in a twisted family environment and go to incest?

Hidden organs, biographies can be hidden in your pockets.

3. Speak in various colors, shapes, textures and light.

A mature film and television work often needs to be based on countless design ideas, and what the audience sees on the screen is only the tip of the iceberg in the creative process.

The value of the art collection is to provide more specific information for those who are interested in understanding the underwater part of this iceberg. We don't have to pause one by one with the remote control for the details that flashed in the film. We just need to open the set and have a good time.

Sharp Jiedi clothes styling design

For example, they use the image of butterfly to symbolize the initial fragility of the heroine Edith, and implant this image into her clothing modeling, patterns and even the surrounding environment decoration. With the development of the plot, Edith's clothes become thinner and thinner like the wings of a butterfly.

Idis clothes styling design

According to the characteristics of clothes, scenery and models, the Scarlet Peak suit has customized a variety of attachment inserts, such as the sketch book of fashion designer Kate Holly, which can be read separately.

There are some special gifts in the paper bag lined with the set, including four biographies of characters written by the director, a realistic antique letter, two silver photos of the protagonist, a booklet showing the gorgeous costume design of the protagonist, and a historical atlas of Al Daisy? Mansion.

For Scarlet Peak, a Gothic film that pays attention to artistic concepts, the disassembly of details is particularly important. Taking the costume design of the main characters as an example, the design ideas and symbolic significance are explained in detail in the set.

4. Then there is the contrarian installation props, a three-dimensional history of director failure.

Model of steam mining machine at the entrance of the building

The director's fascination with strange, exquisite and provocative devices and his off-line homework are all reflected in the film.

The immortal device in the Devil's Silver Claw, the weird smelly bomb in Ghost Children's Home, the dean's prosthetic leg in Hellboy, the exaggerated pistol in Hellboy and the fancy clockwork device on Karl ruprecht Karl Ruprecht Kroenen ... These objects are not only MacGuffin to promote the plot, but also pure functional props.

There are also two such devices in "Scarlet Peak", which is unmatched by others.

Automatic doll prop

One is to invent the steam mining machine and devote his life. The book is accompanied by its artistic concept design draft, modeling pictures, props stills and setting instructions. Another interesting device is the automatic doll he designed for his sister, which only appears in the studio scene of the movie. This prop is a genuine craftsman's work, and it is an automatic doll that can really operate and has about 40 juggling functions.

All this is for the romance of life, otherwise, for ghosts?

Yes, for this Gothic romantic film, the gloomy old house, the horrible ghost and the decadent beauty are just the skin of the world in the play. The purpose of investing heavily in fur is to present and interpret the core of the play: love, a morbid but pure love.

Butterfly Dream (1940)

During the period of 1940- 1948, gothic romantic films once became the mainstream film types in Hollywood, such as Butterfly Dream, The Mystery of the Boudoir and Under the Gaslight. Most of the protagonists in these films are young women, and the story begins with her marriage to an older man. Marriage allowed her to live in an ancient house, some of which were taboo. At the end of the play, young women will always uncover the secrets hidden in the deep house and redeem this tortured man with love.

From the psychological point of view, the secret of an ancient house often represents the repressed emotional experience of the heroine, and the moment when the secret is revealed represents the release of the repressed desire. The reason why this kind of movies became so popular after World War II is precisely because their plot structure and metaphors correspond to the general awakening of women's consciousness at that time.

When the director created Scarlet Peak, from the complexity of the scene, the exquisiteness of props to the star-studded casting, he closely matched the characteristics of this kind of film and tried to complete the romantic rebirth of Gothic style.

Today, with the trend of creating documentary horror movies with hand-held cameras and more and more brainless B films flooding the market, the unique splendor and exquisiteness of Gothic romance has become a rare and scarce thing.

The poignant love story in Scarlet Peak makes people think, at the same time, what is true love and what is Dr. Allen's longing for Edith? Did Edith and Thomas fall in love at first sight? Or the forbidden love between Sharp's brother and sister?

Ghost conceptual design

Maybe many people will enjoy the Scarlet Peak with the expectation of watching ghost movies. Ghost film, of course. The existence of ghosts not only affects the emotional trend in the film, but also is the focus of gyro art design.

Like The House of Ghost Children and The Maze of Pan Shen, the really scary monster in Scarlet Peak is not the so-called ghost. Because no matter how terrible they look, their nature is not really evil.

As the director said, "in all my stories, the real horror is always people." People's greed, selfishness and possessiveness are terrible things that can easily slide into the abyss of tragedy.

The last chapter of Scarlet Peak: Dark Art Collection will fully show the design and production process of ghosts around the director's ideas.

6. In a word, this is a high-standard production that even the president is selfish and surpasses the original.

280×230mm, 150g matt copper paper, 160 pages hardcover.

Speaking of which, I need to add some background information about this album. It comes from Insight Editions, a very famous publishing house in America. Insight Editions covers related books in the fields of entertainment, art and historical research, especially film and television art collections and game works. Many heavyweight IPS, such as Fire and Ice, Harry Potter series, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Assassin's Creed, etc. , are included in Insight Editions.

They also make peripheral derivatives, such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them's notebook, Harry Potter's pop-up book, and Marvel comics' copy prop books, which are very popular.

As we all know, art collection is a collection of various luxury configurations, with high cost and pricing. There must be a valid market reason to choose whether to go out or not.

The selection criteria of insight edition are nothing more than: setting a grand story, an empire of emotions and fantasies, brilliant people who can resonate, and various detailed practices that serve the above goals. With these, it will certainly become popular, and its artistic setting will become a work of art independent of the original text.

The editing of the art collection is exquisite and the printing quality is well-known. But if the king among them is the Scarlet Peak. The film itself is not a grand plot. On the contrary, because of its particularity and scarcity of aesthetic Goth, it can stand out and become the crown jewel of Insight Editions, and it is the first choice for institutions to export copyright and culture. The president of the club is also an old friend and fan of director Guillermo del toro, and a frequent visitor to Bleak House. Needless to say, I have devoted myself to this book.

The book contains a large number of exquisite concept maps and stills, which are printed in silver on a black background according to the original version, echoing the Gothic style of the film.

When Iris's partner Reading Library announced that the book would be launched soon, some readers of the original book pointed out that some pages with silver characters on the black background of the book would be stained with colored ink on the opposite page. The library printing department found such hidden trouble after research, so after many arguments, it adopted the treatment method of adding a layer of bright oil to the inner page to solve it. This also gives the black background, silver text and pictures a better visual layering.

In this way, our obsessive-compulsive disorder is more serious than the director, isn't it?