This entry is about the short film called Stranger Things.
One of the attractions at Universal Studios Singapore Halloween Horror Nights 8 involved traversing through the world of the hit Netflix series, Stranger Things. It involved walking through a haunted house maze that would feature many of the various nuances from the show. It also provides a resolution to the ending of the short film which I’m going to explain.
Our short film features a young boy named Cory who finds a polaroid camera in a trash can while playing on a swingset in a park. Cory tests out the camera on a few objects but finds the polaroids to be slightly distorted and askew from reality. Puzzled he takes the camera home and plays with it in his bedroom right before he’s about to sleep. As he takes another picture in his bedroom, he discovers a dark figure in the distance on the polaroid. Curious, he takes another picture and the figure appears to be closer. He continues the process until dropping the last polaroid under his bed out of fear. After picking up the polaroid, he notices that the figure is gone, and relaxes on his bed. A creature then begins to push itself from outside of his wall behind him, being none other than The Demogorgon itself! A final polaroid is taken showing Cory mid-scream as The Demogorgon prepares to consume him.This short film was shot in a small community in Bangkok called Muang Ek where we filmed both the park and house scenes. The house itself was rented out by its owner for the purpose of film productions and is quite well known amongst film circles. Multiple commercials, along with Thai dramas have been filmed specifically in that home. We received permission to film in the community park after making a small donation that would be used for its maintenance.Muang Ek in itself was an interesting area as it had been severely damaged by floods in 2011. The flooding was so bad that the waters had actually risen and enveloped the first floor of all of the buildings n the community.
Our art team had a fun time on our production set, as in lieu of this being based on Stranger Things, everything needed to have the 80s vibe that the show is famous for.The actors that were cast to play Corey were an extremely talented bunch. Like Pontianak, there weren’t any speaking roles so it was imperative that they could nail down a range of different emotions such as the childlike curiosity of finding the polaroid camera, the confusion of seeing the distorted polaroids, the anxiety from the approach of the dark figure, and finally the end scream as The Demogorgon approached. Leonardo Zundo landed the role as the creative team believed he truly looked the part to play the role of Corey.
In the end, the short film wasn’t used for the attraction as apparently Netflix changed its mind about the usage of their IP.
