The Art of Liminal Spaces: Behind the Scenes of Backrooms
Exploring the Concept of Liminal Spaces
The film Backrooms, produced by indie heavyweight A24, dives into the realm of liminal spaces—those eerie transitional areas that evoke a sense of unease. Derived from a chilling creepypasta revolving around a hauntingly desolate yellow room, the film expands on the universe created by director Kane Parsons in a series of YouTube shorts, unearthing the discomfort embedded in everyday spaces.
A Film with an Architectural Heart
At the core of Backrooms lies the architecture of its universe, which serves as both a backdrop and a protagonist in its own right. The leading character, Clark—portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor—is an architect turned furniture salesman, navigating an unsettling world of beige carpets and fluorescent lights. Production designer Danny Vermette collaborated closely with Parsons, crafting a visual narrative that resonates particularly with audiences in design and architecture.
The Birth of an Intimidating Set
To bring the eerie vision of Backrooms to life, Vermette and his team constructed a mind-bending 30,000-square-foot set spread across four sound stages. The design mirrored the liminal aesthetic of empty hallways and askew rooms, creating an environment where traditional spatial logic is challenged. Doorways half-sewn into walls and slanted floors play into the film’s unsettling tone, emphasizing the uncanny nature of everyday spaces.
Practical Effects Over CGI
Unlike the purely computer-generated shorts that preceded it, Parsons was adamant about using physical sets and practical effects for the film. He utilized Blender, the same software that birthed his original shorts, to design intricate 3D models for set diagrams, lighting schemes, and camera movements. The collaboration began when Vermette reached out to Parsons to gauge the scale of sets to be constructed, leading to ambitious and innovative designs.
Interactive Environments
Vermette’s design philosophy leaned into encouraging actors to interact uncomfortably with their surroundings. Key scenes required building finite sets at elevations and angles designed for physical challenges—tight crevices to squeeze through, tunnels to crawl along. This approach not only heightened the film’s tension but also provided visceral realism to the performances.
Attention to Detail in Design
While the backrooms may appear deceptively simple, the meticulous attention to detail is undeniable. The lighting, wallpaper, and carpet were all carefully chosen to emulate the claustrophobic atmosphere of the original shorts. Vermette recounted the rigorous process of selecting 30 wallpaper and carpet combinations, ensuring they accurately captured the scale and tone necessary for on-screen authenticity.
Constructing an Uneasy Atmosphere
Beyond the backrooms, the film explores various other spaces that embody the more unnerving elements of liminal design. Clark’s workplace, the sprawling Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire, is characterized by a chaotic arrangement of furniture and slightly off-kilter decor, enhancing the character’s feeling of being lost. Vermette leveraged an awkward color palette to amplify Clark’s struggles, making the store itself a form of narrative expression.
Homage to the Past
Nods to architecture culture are woven into the narrative fabric of Backrooms. Vermette included technical drawings from his father-in-law, a local architect, displayed on Clark’s office walls, connecting the cinematic world back to the real architectural landscape of Vancouver.
Bringing the Vision to Life
Vermette and Parsons’ synergy resulted in a visionary set that not only captures the unsettling essence of the creepypasta but also reflects upon the evolution of architectural design. They both recognize how context shapes our perception of familiar environments; what was once merely a transition space can morph into something haunting and surreal.
Crafting a Cinematic Experience
Through its constructed environments, Backrooms invites viewers to question their relationship with space. The film ingeniously blurs the lines between the familiar and the unfamiliar, making each frame a testament to the potential of architecture to elicit fear and wonder.
The Intersection of Art and Emotion
Films like Backrooms exemplify how the intersection of architecture and storytelling can evoke powerful emotional responses, particularly among those in the design field. The experience is one of exploration and unease, asking audiences to confront their own perceptions of space—their own backrooms, if you will.
This structured exploration of Backrooms highlights the film’s intricate design process and its thematic depth, ensuring readers grasp the significance of liminal spaces within both cinematic and architectural contexts.