https://youtu.be/_pdIRHq1BGc (1 minute scene) NO SPOILER AT ALL.
I started watching The Haunting Of Hill House for the first time yesterday and when I saw this scene i had to rewind and watch it again.
Without any information of specific dialogue about this you learn that the guy is estranged from his wife about something he did or said. And all of this is from the sub-text of camera work. The camera focus on his hand on the steering wheel with his alliance, the dialogue is about her waiting for him to say something specific…
If you compare this to almost any recent show (especially the Netflix one), the dialogue would probably sounds like :
– Hey wify, I know that we're not speaking right now because of [this thing he did] but…
When art start becoming about everyone instead of anyone we lost something..
by ao01_design
4 Comments
I have not seen this show but I love to hear examples of this story telling mechanic being executed well, I absolutely adore understated yet impactful scenes. Sometimes an expression or a beautiful peice of music/ cinematography can have more power than a flood of words ever could.
I remember reading how Netflix were starting to write their shows to better cater to those who would watch things in the background while cleaning or doom scrolling their phones, I cancelled my subscription that day lol.
I didn’t watch it but I recall some of the complaints with the final season of Stranger Things was random moments of the characters getting together to almost recap parts of the plot lol – so they did stay true to their word.
this scene is perfect example why flanagan’s work stands out so much. the tension in that car without saying anything directly about what happened between them – you just feel it through how they’re positioned, where camera looks, even the silence between words
most shows today would have character explaining everything like “as you know, three weeks ago when i said that horrible thing about your sister” but here you piece it together from body language and what they’re not saying. makes you actually engaged instead of being spoon-fed every detail
the alliance shot on steering wheel tells whole story without single word about their marriage problems
Firmly in my top 5 shows all time, and my favorite piece of horror media overall
Just the vocal tones of the characters in this scene say it all. Samantha Sloyan sounds done, as in “you know our marriage is dead, why are you even bothering?”