Director Andres Esparza utilized everything from cornstarch to food coloring to emphasize the horror in his short film “452.”
The third-year English student drew inspiration from horror films like “Hereditary” and “A Quiet Place” to create “452,” which will be finished the first week of November. “452” follows two men trapped underground, unsure of their surroundings. Rolland, the protagonist, wakes up unable to talk and must navigate an unclear but dangerous situation while learning how to communicate nonverbally. The film combines music, lighting, makeup and the actors’ expressions to set a sense of dread and discomfort among the audience members, Esparza said.
“If you don’t have a voice, what can you still do with yourself? If they take away your voice, what do you still have?” Esparza said. “When you’re brought into (this) world and you don’t know anything about it, you’re going to want to ask a lot of questions, you’re going to want to get told things, and you can’t.”
Actor Emonjay Brown said his character Rolland quickly learns to rely on physical cues and humming sounds to get the attention of Tony, who is also trapped. Brown said at one point, he physically detains Tony, played by Jerimiah Sims, to a wall to get his attention. To heighten their expressions of terror, Brown and Sims both use the technique of drawing on past frightening experiences. Sims said thinking about his fear of masks helps create a terrified state of mind, while Brown channels a recurring nightmare he had as a child in which he was trapped in an empty room with a swinging light while an unknown figure observed him. Additionally, Brown draws upon his experience with sleep paralysis. By reliving their own fears, the actors can better portray realistic expressions of terror, Sims said.
While Brown’s childhood nightmare eerily mirrors the plot of “452,” Esparza said the film’s score will focus on the juxtaposition between silence and noise. Similar to the frightening silence in “A Quiet Place,” Esparza said he wants the audience to be distrustful of both heightened music and deafening silence.
The silence will be interrupted by everyday noises such as breathing and footsteps. Esparza said the noises create the illusion that Tony and Rolland might not be alone, as the audience will not be able to discern how many people might be in the vicinity. Inspired by the score of “Hereditary,” Esparza said “452” will feature similar techniques.
“Even in moments of silence, you feel naked. … And then when it’s a loud noise, you feel just the same,” Esparza said. “We’re going to use it to play with your emotions so you don’t really know (whether to) trust when it’s silent or (to) trust when it’s noisier.”
On the visual side, Esparza said he chose to hang LED lights and flashlights from the ceiling instead of using normal incandescent lighting. As a result, the random lights create a haphazard and disjointed light pattern.
To further increase fear in the audience, the film will include several bloody wounds created with cornstarch, food dye and latex. Esparza said one effect will feature split skin and gunky blood. By using latex, the wounds appear shredded and more like internal elements rather than pure blood. With all of these components in tow, the short film aims to create a maximum feeling of terror within the five-minute time frame.
“To actually have an enjoyable experience as you watch something, you shouldn’t have everything given to you on a silver platter,” Esparza said. “So if the main character can’t ask these world-answering questions, then the audience feels a little more uncomfortable … and that adds to the more frightening aspect of the film.”