After resolving the lighting issues, filming for the movie continued, and they soon reached a key foreshadowing scene in Dead Silence.
Jamie and his stepmother went to meet Jamie's father. While this seemed like an ordinary scene, it required special attention to the audio to plant a subtle clue.
"For the next segment, I want Jamie's father's first line of dialogue to be heard from the direction of his stepmother," Edward called for a cut and explained his intention.
"I understand. Is this to hint at the fact that Jamie's father is actually a puppet?" Diantha asked excitedly. Having read the script, she grasped the significance of Edward's arrangement.
"Yes, exactly. So, Jamie, during the next take, when he speaks, I need you to glance at your stepmother," Edward directed, carefully outlining the details. The stepmother was actually performing ventriloquism here.
To make the plot twist truly impactful, subtle foreshadowing needed to be scattered throughout the film, making the eventual revelation both shocking and plausible. Edward planned to use small, deliberate details to hint at the truth: Jamie's father was long dead.
Jamie's father wore an oxygen mask when he spoke, so his voice sounded a little strange, so Jamie didn't realize that when his father spoke, it was actually his stepmother who was speaking through ventriloquism.
Edward also added a subtle auditory clue: after the stepmother removed Jamie's father's oxygen mask, a faint sound could be heard, as if something was scraping against flesh. This detail served as another hint about the father's true state.
Viewers likely wouldn't notice this at first, which was Edward's goal. If the audience figured out the twist about Jamie's father and stepmother too early, it would diminish the intended sense of horror.
Initially, Dead Silence played out like a conventional horror film. However, the twist at the end revealed that Jamie had been ensnared in Mary Shaw's trap from the very beginning. His struggles were futile, carried out under the watchful eye of an unrelenting evil spirit.
This sense of inevitable doom heightened the film's horror.
However, this particular scene consumed much of Edward's time, and almost the entire day was spent on it.
The reason?
"Miss Diantha, are you not skilled at handling puppets?" Edward asked, half-amused and half-exasperated. He hadn't expected that Diantha would struggle with manipulating the intricately crafted puppet of Jamie's father.
To ensure authenticity, Edward had opted not to use a human actor but instead commissioned a life-sized puppet. The puppet was hyper-realistic, complete with internal organs, and was indistinguishable from a real person. To enhance the eerie atmosphere, Edward had the back of the puppet split slightly open.
Because it was, in fact, a puppet, achieving realistic movements required skilled manipulation.
Initially, Edward had planned for a professional puppeteer to handle it remotely, but Diantha wanted to try it herself. Edward didn't mind; after all, the earlier filming had gone smoothly, and having Diantha operate the puppet could add an extra layer of authenticity.
Unexpectedly, Diantha struggled to master the technique, even after numerous attempts.
"It's my fault," Diantha admitted, her face slightly flushed. Manipulating a puppet, as it turned out, was a skill in its own right. Despite her efforts, she hadn't quite figured it out.
"But this time, I'll get it right. please wait a moment," she said confidently, releasing her Gardevoir. Edward paused, stunned for a moment after seeing it, realizing what Diantha intended.
Wasn't this a bit excessive?
"My Gardevoir can use its Psychic abilities to control the puppet seamlessly," Diantha explained. Edward, seeing her determination, allowed her to proceed.
To his surprise, Diantha's Gardevoir handled the puppet flawlessly. Even though Diantha's manipulation was still a bit clumsy, she was able to complete the whole scene effortlessly with the help of Gardevoir.
With this attempt, the scene was finally completed.
As evening fell, Edward decided to push ahead and film the remaining scenes for the day. Diantha's stepmother scenes mainly involved feeding Jamie's father, having conversations, taking phone calls, and eventually revealing the twist.
Filming progressed slowly, with Edward repeating several takes to perfect the shots. By the time they finished the dinner scene, it was time to call it a day.
Edward wasn't expecting to wrap everything up in one day. Even with the help of Pokémon, some scenes required meticulous work. For instance, the sequence where Mary Shaw emerges from the puppet's face could be achieved effortlessly with a Ghost-type Pokémon, eliminating the need for special effects.
However, it would take several days to shoot all these scenes. The speed was faster today because Diantha and the others have very good acting skills and can often get the scenes right in one take.
"The editing and dubbing work have to keep up with the pace. I want to finish the filming of Dead Silence as soon as possible." Edward talked to Deck beside him while watching the employees packing up their things.
The nature of this employee's job, Deck is quite special. He does everything and is somewhat like an assistant.
"Okay, boss." Deck agreed decisively, while Edward was thinking about the plot to be filmed in the next few days.
Compared to other movies, a horror film like Dead Silence with a small crew does not take a long time to shoot. In the previous life, Saw directed by James Wan only took 18 days to shoot. If the actors' acting skills are good and the special effects and props can keep up, a low-budget horror film can be successfully shot in about half a month.
Edward estimated that finishing Dead Silence wouldn't take more than two weeks, given the straightforward nature of a small-scale horror film.
In fact, Dead Silence might be completed even faster, as key special effects could be performed by Ghost Pokémon. Edward only needed to shoot the necessary scenes and have Ghost Pokémon execute the effects directly.
In Hoenn, specialized companies collaborated with Pokémon for film production and special effects. Edward planned to contact one of them once filming was done.
(End of Chapter)