The sixth episode of Haunting of Hill House is a remarkable cinematic feat, designed to look like one long shot that weaves and winds its way through the episode. Now, Mike Flanagan, the show’s writer and director, has broken down how it came together.
In a long, fascinating Twitter thread, Flanagan talks about the episode from conception to production. According to him, an episode shot like this was a part of the series from the pitch itself, and the script includes much of the camera flourishes in it. But the most fun part of this thread is describing the logistics necessary to make it all happen—which required a lot of actors running from place to place, and more than a little luck.
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about ep 106 of @haunting . Netflix released an awesome little BTS video, but for those that want more information, here’s a little thread: Episode 6 was part of the very first pitch for the show, promising an episode that would look like one shot.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
Most of the camera choreography was actually included in the script itself, which meant that the draft for ep 6 was a really tough read with “camera pivots left/tracks right down left aisle, keeping Steven in MS profile” breaking up the dialog.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
Production was shut down, rehearsals for ep 6 began March 6th, 2018. We rehearsed daily with our second team stand-ins, who performed the entire episode as actors as we learned the camera, lighting, and acting choreography. They were HEROES and made the whole thing possible.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
So the ep is 53:38. About 51:00 is comprised of 5 shots.
Shot 1: 14:19
Shot 2: 7:25
Shot 3: 17:19
Shot 4: 6:13
Shot 5: 5:31It was the hardest thing most of us have ever done, and the result of the combined efforts of hundreds of people. Mad respect for the cast & crew.
— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) November 4, 2018
The subsequent thread is, uh, very long, so I’m not going to quote the whole thing here. But it’s worth checking out if you’re interested in cinematography or good horror.
Haunting of Hill House is available to stream on Netflix now. Here’s what we thought of it.