David Sandberg’s “Lights Out” is based on his 2013 short of the same name. A compelling analysis of how Sandberg remakes the short almost shot for shot at the beginning of the feature-length movie.
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Transcript provided by Youtube:
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if you stay for the credits after
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lights-out this weekend you might see a
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line that reads based on the short film
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by David F Sandberg back in 2013 the
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lights out director made a short under
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the same name with the same concept a
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much more strip back version of the
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central conceit the short is an
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interesting touchstone for the tricks
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and scares to come in the future
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especially as Sandberg recreates the
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short for the opening sequence to
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introduce the viewer to the mechanics of
00:27
the film here’s a comparison showing
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just how close the two scenes aren’t
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seeing the feature is almost
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shot-for-shot remake of the original
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short including the use of the original
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actress a lot of Austin Sandburg milks
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the tension in the scene by always
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cutting to lada before she turns the
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light back up leaving the monster unseen
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for a moment in the dark this time
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Sandberg doesn’t cut away and we see a
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lot of test the light twice more timing
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is very slightly different but the
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jump-scare comes at the same time in
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both versions the two films diverged
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after this point lot of Austin is the
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main character in the short but in the
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future she’s just a co-worker the main
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character’s dad and after the opening
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she doesn’t show up at all for the rest
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of the movie other elements from the
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short do show up later in the film body
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uses duct tape to keep the light switch
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on which is employed not just in the
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feature is the main image for the
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posters and marketing materials Sam Burt
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also uses a flickering light to pad
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tension
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happens several times over the course of
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the film apart from these similarities
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and the one scene film really only uses
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the shortest jumping-off point Sandberg
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and a screenwriter clearly saw the value
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in the scene which allows the audience
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to figure out how the monster works at
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the same time as Lata
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they introduced the film style to see
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what other tricks amber has up his
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sleeve you’ll have to see lights out
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when it hits theaters this Friday July
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22nd
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This post was previously published on Youtube.
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Photo credit: Screenshot from video