VISUALS
On one hand, this is a film of wide-angle shots showing the labyrinthine and claustrophobic spaces of this institution as the great power that is always opressing the characters, where long-sequence shots and the value of silence play a key role in the aesthetic. On the other hand, the intimate scenes between the characters will be shot with long lenses, where the depth of field is minimal and the characters go in and out of focus, emphasizing the feeling of confinement, but also the proximity and intimacy, especially of both protagonists.
Light
The light will be expressive at all times and we will use chiaroscuro in a dramatic way in the interiors. With the aim of creating a dense and claustrophobic atmosphere, we will use smoke to reinforce the powerful halos of warm light that will enter through the windows and doors. In the exteriors, the dense fog of the Lima winter will be a visual tool to communicate the restlessness and heaviness that exists between the characters: fog as another form of imprisonment and suffocation.
Confinement
The framing will seek to show the characters being victims of the boarding school’s oppression. We will give priority to the perspective within the frame, with large spaces that give us the feeling of an endless labyrinth, of a confinement within the immense premises of the boarding school. Also, we will seek to position the characters enclosed between door or window frames, in an almost mathematical symmetry.
Darkness
The constant presence of the devil, which is the biggest fear in the religious world, will be represented through darkness. A deep pitch black will surround Ana when she feels the presence of the devil. It must be a darkness that stalks her and this will be reinforced with slight camera movements to generate tension towards that something that we cannot see but that we feel is there.
Water
We will use water as a symbol of love, honesty and freedom. Here, below the cliff where the boarding school is located, stands the ocean in all its vastness. It is a space that is rarely accessed by the characters, but it is precisely here where Ana and Rebecca are free and happy. It is through water, its transparency and sensuality, that the film guides us to the girls' true feelings, to that repressed desire to feel, to let go and to explode.
Color Palette
In the interiors, cold colors will prevail, and these will be cut by the warm light that comes from the sun outside. Blue, cerulean, cobalt, and bottle green colors will be used for the walls of the school, the nuns' habits and school uniforms. These will be contrasted by objects in brown tones, such as the wood of furniture or veneers.
Uniformity
A concept developed from the production design perspective is the repetition. The uniforms of the students will all be the same, the habits of the nuns, the identical folders, the beds in the dormitory, etc. There will be repetition and similarity. This will be a world where there is no room for individualism.
Aseptic
The boarding school will have an English appearance, in a neoclassical style. Here we will work on extremely clean, aseptic and sterile environments in the rooms, with smooth and immaculate walls and spaces without any texture. This neatness visually speaks to us of an excessive discipline and mania that will make certain places with agglomerated visuality stand out and generate a radical change in the plot, such as in the House of Minors or in the biology storage room, where the space will be a visual chaos.
Curtains
While almost everything in the film talks about confinement, uniformity and cleanliness, in the bedroom and bathroom there will be a visual space of permeability, texture and even eroticism. The curtains that will separate the beds will be transparent, revealing the feminine silhouettes among the sinuous shapes. The same could happen with the bathroom curtains, which would also have a certain transparency that will help create a situation of beauty and connection with the girls and their bodies.
Sound
We will emphasise the subjective sound with the intention of bringing us closer to the internal and personal world of our protagonist. To be with her feelings, her breathing, the beat of her heart, and thus communicate her internal drama. This film will sound like whispers, low-toned voices, secrets, like a mantra filled with religious fervor that surrounds the protagonist at all times.
