Shooting concluded today on the third Penny Dreadful animation ‘The Screaming skull‘.
The filming concluded at Poltimore house, wherein additional sequences were shot for the films finale. The director, Ashley Thorpe had this to say :
“Its interesting now that primary photography is complete to see how the film has developed. Initially ‘Screaming skull’ was conceived as something relatively simple; it was ‘a guy comes home from the war sick and tired of bullshit, tries to get rid of the skull (wondering why no-one else has ever done it before) and discovers that the skull is as much a part of the house as he is’. It was a pretty straight gothic retelling of the myths, but throughout the shoot other thematic elements rose from the source material that captured my interest and have perhaps revealed why I was drawn to the tales in the first place. First and foremost the aspect of burying memory, literally in this case the skull being a symbol of guilt and suppression. This theme is now represented in numerous visual ways; from the 1st World war trench flashbacks to the surreal images of the finale… Family and ancestral anxieties are the other theme that leapt at me; not family as blessing, but family as burden; the investment of fears as opposed to hopes…a family curse wherein the family IS the curse. This of course is Poe territory and like the House of Usher this family tree is rooted in sour earth … “
“And the skull…symbol of our family…of our legacy. When I look at it I grow afraid. Truly afraid. But not of ghosts. I fear that the deepest parts of our hearts are inherited, and our family’s heart may be a heart of darkness.” – The Screaming skull.
With photography concluded (and animation due for completion mid September), sound mixing and score construction will commence towards the end of September with long time collaborator Mick Grierson.