McKittrick:Wewentthrougha lotofteacups.
Smith:Ontheday,Catherinewentona search
andI thinkshepulledit outofa cabinetinthe
house.It waspoetic,ina way.
McKittrick:It camedowntohowthecup
sounded.Thatwasgoingtobetheiconicthing,
andweknewit.
GregoryPlotkin(editor):WhenI sawthedailies
I immediatelycalledthesoundmixerandsaid,“I
needyoutogoinandshootaudiooftheteacup.”
Hehadtogoinona Saturday,butI said,“You
gottashootit intheroom.”Regardlessof
whetheryousawthecupornot,I thoughtit was
reallyimportantfortheaudiencetohearit,to
knowthatshewasthepuppetmaster,pullinghis
strings,slowlypullinghimintotheweb.
McKittrick:It hadtosoundscary,butalso
numbing.It’sa sinister,repetitious,scrapystir.
Oliver:Whenwewereshootingthatscene,to
buildupthetension,westartedwitheyelines
a bitwider.Bytheend,theeyelineis almost
directlydownthebarrelofthecamera.I don’t
knowif thatwaspartoftheplaninJordan’s
mind.Butluckilywedidbecauseit became
thaticonicshotwherehe’sgotthetearsand
he’sstaringstraightatthecamerabeforehe
dropsdownintotheSunkenPlace.
Plotkin:Theyonlydidtwotakesofit.Daniel
nailedit onbothtakes.
Smith:WeshottheSunkenPlaceitselfonthe
lastdayofphotography.It mightevenhavebeen
thefinalthingwedid.
Peele:Theshotshadtobepulledoffperfectlyfor
it nottoendupfeelinglikesomekindofcorny
greenscreenthing.It wasnerve-wrackingand
I knewtherewerea lotofwaystogetit wrong.
Sowewereverymeticulous.
Oliver:I mentioned to Jordan something we
coulduse:thedry-for-wettechnique.Youshoot
underwaterscenesona drystage,because
it’ssomuchcheaperandeasier.It involves
suspendingona wire,andshootingata higher
frame-ratetocreatea senseoffloating.Daniel’s
clotheswerechosenpartlyfortheSunkenPlace.
Hissweatshirtwouldfloparoundinthewind
wecreatetoselltheidea.
Peele:Danielwasveryintunewithwhatwe
neededtoget.It wastoughforhim.Wehadhim
essentiallyhangingfromwiresalldaylong,
whichendsupbeingveryphysicallydemanding.
Plotkin:Westartedwiththesesimplevisual
effectsintheAvid,whereI wouldshrinkDaniel’s
imageintheframeandmakehimsmallerand
smallerandsmalleragainstthishuge,dark
backdrop.Assoonaswedidthat,wefoundthe
keytothescene.Heneededtofeelsmallandcut
offinthisvastplace.
McKittrick:Evenaswemovedintopost,Jordan
wasspecificabouthowmanygranulesfloat
throughtheair.I remembersittingina VFX
sessionwithhimgoing,“Iwanttogetridofthat
granuleandthatgranule.”Thereareliterally
hundredsofgranules!ButI understandit.
It’sthesinglemostimportant,iconic visual
representation of thefilm.•••
Plotkin:PeoplewanttotalkabouttheSunken
Placeallthetime.I’mveryproudofit.
Peele:[Thesequence’sculturalimpact]was
veryvalidatingasanartist.It hitmelikea ton
ofbrickswhenit hitme.Asanartist,whenyou
haveanemotionalandintellectualreactionto
something,toanidea—if youtranslateit right,
theaudiencewilltoo.
Smith:The reaction was visceral in the theatre.I sawit inSarasota,Florida,andI’llneverforget
theclustersofpeopletalkingandarguingthat
I sawasI cameout.I thought,“OhmyGod.”
Oliver:ThefirsttimeI sawit withanaudience
wasatthisspecialsecretscreeningatSundance.
I hadseenthemoviebefore,atthelab.Butwas
thefirsttimewitha packedhouse,andpeople
wereyellingandscreaming.Therewasa massive
response,a realbuzz.It wasa rare,excitingthrill.
McKittrick:Youcouldfeelit intheroom.People
werejustshocked.They’dneverseena movielike
this.What’sfunnyis thatpeoplewantto
understandit.“Whatdoesit mean?Howdoes
thatreflectonmylife?”That’sthebestpart,that
it startsa conversationaboutwherewearetoday.
Peele:Therearemanydifferentsocial
phenomenonsthattheSunkenPlacerepresents,
butinthemomentI wasthinkingaboutpeople
whohadbeenlockedawayforhavingsomeweed.
AndI wasa weedmonster!There’sa cultural
epidemicofblackmenbeingtakenandlocked
awayindarkplaces,wherewedon’thaveto
acknowledgeorthinkaboutthem.Realising
thatwasthefirsttimeI realisedthepotential
importanceofthispieceofexpression.
Oliver:Somanypeoplehavea connectiontothe
movie—allthememesandeverythingelse,it’s
reallyquiteastonishing.Withalltherestrictions
thatcomewithbeinga prettylow-budgetmovie,
youhavetodistillwhat’sreallyimportant.You
don’thavemoneyforfluff.
Peele:Youwanttobeabletolistentowhatyour
mind,bodyandsoularetellingyouenoughto
havea catharsisthatyoucanthentranslateinto
screen.I leftrealisingthat,if I’mwriting
somethingandI don’tgettoa placeas
transformativeasI didwhenwritingtheSunken
Place, then I’d better figure out howto.