Quicksand Fans

Hi Everyone,

As a lover of the damsel-in-distress theme, it is the drama of a damsel sinking that interests me (could you have guessed that from all the scenes I've shot over the years?!).

One aspect of the "drama" leading up to the desperate sinking situation, is whether the danger is even visible to the woman; is the quicksand covered by, say, leaves; or is the top layer dry, masking the wet danger beneath. Personally, this adds to the enjoyment of the scene for me - a simple trail, a straight forward walk through the woods - everything looks peaceful and safe...then that fateful step...the earth is not as firm as she thought...a danger she did not see.

I'd like to hear what other thinks about "covered quicksand" and how it either adds to or may detract from the sinking situation for a dramatic scene.

Michael

I love the idea of the quicksand being hidden. The extra element of surprise would make a scene more fun.

I'm not that sure about it. When you do that in the wrong location it looks more like in these cheap telenovelas/soaps when the victim is running through the perfectly dry forest just to hit a patch of bottomless mud. Huh??
When you have the right location (shore of a lake?, hiking path through the bog?) and manage to conceal the real depth of that little Muddy patch, then it would look fine.

MichaelL_Photo wrote:Hi Everyone,

As a lover of the damsel-in-distress theme, it is the drama of a damsel sinking that interests me (could you have guessed that from all the scenes I've shot over the years?!).

One aspect of the "drama" leading up to the desperate sinking situation, is whether the danger is even visible to the woman; is the quicksand covered by, say, leaves; or is the top layer dry, masking the wet danger beneath. Personally, this adds to the enjoyment of the scene for me - a simple trail, a straight forward walk through the woods - everything looks peaceful and safe...then that fateful step...the earth is not as firm as she thought...a danger she did not see.

I'd like to hear what other thinks about "covered quicksand" and how it either adds to or may detract from the sinking situation for a dramatic scene.

Michael

You hit upon one of my fav set ups! I would love to see more of the hidden trap aspect of qs or bog scenes.

I have a real split personality about this.

As a producer, I am inherently against introducing leaves or other camouflage elements to the areas. It's a purity issue (just how do you fish those buggers out afterwards?).

But from a fantasy point of view, I very much enjoy the idea of hidden mire. In fact one of my favorite personal fantasies is a gal (or two or three) traversing a large muddy and/or watery area, knowing that any step might send them to their doom.

The reason this is all interesting is that I have finally let myself be won over by a couple shooting comrades, and I have shot a couple scenes with leafy areas. Old dog, new trick. Hehe

As a producer I am not in favor of attempting to cover the mud surface with anything that will be hard to remove. It damages the pit itself, in my opinion. What I do favor is a story line in which the principal character does not see the mud. To me it is not necessary for the mud itself to be hidden - the point is the character does not see it. She might be distracted, going too fast, or whatever.

I am also in favor of scenes in which the principal character DOES see the quicksand (or perhaps just suspects its presence), tries to move around it, but gets caught. If she knows or suspects it is there then there can be a period of sustained tension.

If I my interject, I find both Studio 588 and MPV have already achieved this effect without adding leaves, etc. I'm thinking specifically of your peat pits.

I'd have to think of specific examples, but I've found in many cases the peat has been blending in nicely with the ground cover. This is either through improving set design, or sometimes the way the top dries out works to keep it hidden - likely a happy coincidence, but it works for me - yet it stays mushy underneath to trap the unwary.

I like Fred's points too, that the character does not see it because of being distracted, going too fast, or whatever. My favorite of these is the Prison Without Walls scenes, as an example. I'm with Fred here, too, in which the principal character knows about the quicksand being nearby, but topples in/gets stuck anyway while trying to avoid it.

I like the idea of stealth quicksand (as in, it's hidden, or at least not obvious it's there), but not by leaves. That actually detracts from it for me. But when someone steps into it because they couldn't see it because it blends in with the rest of the ground, them's my jams.

Ace wrote:I like the idea of stealth quicksand (as in, it's hidden, or at least not obvious it's there), but not by leaves. That actually detracts from it for me. But when someone steps into it because they couldn't see it because it blends in with the rest of the ground, them's my jams.

I think that's the general idea. Hiding the quicksand in plain sight is kind of a neglected "holy grail" of scenes. Maybe leaves aren't the best solution but a large area where you can't tell how deep anything is from the top. Think like "The Dawn's are Quiet Here" or the Grimpen mire from "Hound of the Baskervilles". That really requires a natural area but that's not easy because it obviously has to be the perfect natural area. Then you get into issues of logistics, weather, safety and all that stuff. The solution is out there. Somebody just has to find it.

Interesting idea. I'm keen to see what this will look like.

bogbud wrote:victim is running through the perfectly dry forest just to hit a patch of bottomless mud.

Actually that sounds great to me I tend to struggle with suspension of disbelief when there is a large expanse of mud right in front of someone and they continue to slog through when they could have very easily just walked around.

I guess it'll depend on the execution of the idea. When will we see these leafy pits Dave, in either video or photo form so we can get an idea?