a $4M period film shouldn’t look like this

#RobertEggers #TheWitch #videoessay

The Witch (aka The VVitch), directed by Robert Eggers, is one of the most stunningly shot mid-budget indie films out there, as well as one of the most smartly-budgeted period horror movies. Today I'll talk about how Eggers and cinematographer Jarin Blashke balanced a very natural shooting and lighting style with savvy filmmaking tactics to keep costs down.

This is a redux of a video I released in April of 2022.

Written & Edited by Danny Boyd

[LvkeLavish]

“Compromising your vision is different from compromising to achieve your vision”. A great mantra to live by for artists.

[AgsmaJustAgsma]

I met one of the producers of The VVitch, Rodrigo Teixeira, last month, and he told me that he was at first hesitant with Robert Eggers' creative choices, but backed the project regardless.
After the movie was a success, he immediately went on board to produce The Lighthouse, where he actually fought tooth and nail against potential distributors to keep Eggers' vision intact, and he succeeded.

[MapleMilk]

"Scope requires money. Depth, only requires knowledge."
That is a great quote, oh my God.

[ArturoStojanoff]

My favorite thing about The VVitch was the accuracy of the period language, which he took from actual diaries from the time.
Edit: changed "accurateness" to "accuracy".

[vividwings]

As a historical costume nerd, I am ASTONISHED this film cost so little and looked so good. So many productions have far more unfocused, poorly researched costumes that cost far more. I don't generally expect historical accuracy from films/TV, nor do I think it's appropriate for all projects, but for this one, the details like the dimples in the fabric that show that the seam allowances were hand-sewn down on the inside are perfect for this one.

[btarczy]

Having watched the movie after Anya Taylor-Joy became a star and Eggers a big name at least in critic’s circles I never would have guessed the limits of its production. It’s a remarkable, hideously beautiful movie with an atmosphere that is one of its kind.

I‘m far from a horror fan and even I love it. There’s getting startled all the time and there’s feeling cold in summer while watching a horror movie.

[thewheezingdead]

The thing that has shocked me most is that The Room cost $6m.

[franzsperginand]

I just want to know how Eggers got such incredible performances from children, especially the 2 twins.

[sophiaisabelle]

A well-budgeted horror film consists of a competent film director, a generous amount of staff, and well-rounded actors who do the job well. We all know for a fact that a well written screenplay goes along with this. Not many horror films can achieve this, knowing how extremely rare this happens under a particular circumstance.

[MindiB]

The color palette of this film is remarkable, as is the lighting. In fact, the whole thing is visually brilliant. I really enjoyed your sharing some of the technical elements behind this achievement—I appreciate the choices more when I understand them better!

[Colemanbentz]

The Witch is the first English-language film that I needed subtitles for. One of the best timepiece movies out there. From the first 15 minutes of the film I felt this intense level of culture shock realizing how much language changes over time and it makes you feel like if you were transported to that time period you'd probably only understand half of what people are saying despite it still being English.

[isabellasantiago]

Another incredible detail is that Eggers researched for years to make the dialogue in the film historically accurate, he even used Elizabethan witch pamphlets

[CinemaStix]

This video is a redux of one of my very first videos on this channel. In light of it being October, the fact that there are quite a few more of you here than there were back then (yay), and, to be entirely frank, my long-needing to get a little ahead and not lose momentum, I thought it a good an opportunity as any to give The Witch another go. So, thank you for watching. And two weeks from, brand new video, on a movie I’ve been looking forward to talking about for AGES.
:)
-Danny

[griplimit]

As someone who’s lived in Massachusetts and New Hampshire my whole life it was very refreshing to see a good movie based on folk tales I’ve heard as a child about witches here. I remember being told not to go into the woods by myself as a young boy because a witch might take me away! So The VVitch struck a chord with me for sure.

[jimmerhardy]

Out of nowhere came this period masterpiece, on a shoestring budget. We need more of this not bloated carnival rides.

[Kelnx]

I had no idea the Witch was a low budget film. It was really incredible how it captured that period and those people and I had assumed that all would be expensive to recreate. I've seen a few fan films and indie films that reached this level of polish on probably far less of a budget, but nothing that evoked as much thought and emotion as the Witch.

[MysterySteve]

"Compromising your vision is not the same as compromising to achieve it" is now one of my favourite quotes

[TreyAtkinsR]

I just saw a theatrical rerelease of The Witch and it just amazes me that the film is as small as it is. It's a visually stunning gothic fairytale masterpiece.

[amanshandilya]

So I don’t know if you’ll see this or not, but there is an Indian film called “Tumbbad” it’s an amazing film made on a budget is about $600, 000. It is loosely based on the Indian mythology, .Amost every frame of the film is like a painting . It’s still baffles me how they were able to make that film because it contains a lot of VFX shots and the CGI stuff. It’s a product of pure passion.

[SuperMickyChow]

The VVitch will go down in history as a classic of the horror genre, purely because of Eggers' commitment to creating a truly original, atmospheric, immersive and richly detailed vision.