MovieChat Forums > The Conjuring 2 (2016) Discussion > What's the deal with the MANSION that th...

What's the deal with the MANSION that they live in !

posted 8 years ago by BadAids
19 replies | jump to latest

Really enjoyed the first film, not so much a fan of this. First thing that stood out to me was that all the exterior shots where of a house in a council estate in merry ol'England and then when they filmed the interior, the house turns into a flippin mansion! Lived in plenty of two/three bedroom houses, none of them had massive fuc*ing sitting rooms and huge hallways. Maybe they were just part of the Order of the Phoenix 😀

'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

[–] iheartnormi 8 years ago

At first I thought she lived in like a row house or townhouse , but the exterior shots other house are big. I think it is believe that the size of the house fits the exterior. The only large part was the living room, the hallway was exaggerated for film purposes. The kids still shared a room. But, the house was falling apart. It needed major work.

[–] BadAids 8 years ago

The ENTIRE house was exaggerated for film purposes, I understand that. I disagree that the exterior matched the interior, anyone that has lived in a similar house would comprehend how small those houses are. Just look at the documentaries about the Enfield Haunting to see my point.

'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

[–] iheartnormi 8 years ago

Yeah I need to watch the documentaries.

[–] BadAids 8 years ago

here ya go, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvraq3KfP6w

'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

[–] raf-33 8 years ago

The ENTIRE house was exaggerated for film purposes, I understand that.

Clearly you didn't or you would not have started this thread.

Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived. -Isaac Asimov

[–] BadAids 8 years ago

Taking the sentence out of context there buddy, cheers for the input though, interesting stuff.

'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

[–] russell_anam 8 years ago

It's actually written somewhere that the studio shots of the interior is roughly 5 times the size of the house shown in exterior shots.

[–] lilmarkuk 8 years ago

they do this a lot, for instance when they made freddy vs Jason I was on set at the fake crystal lake and the out buildings and I call them shacks were tiny as hell on the outside, the inside shots filmed on a big sound stage, BUT on film the outside of them looked bigger than they really was

same with the houses on coronation street here in the uk you can visit the outside set and they look tiny but obv when you go to the inside sets they look way bigger

[–] kaskait 8 years ago

I agree the house was way larger than a family shown could afford, government help or not.

But there could be two reasons for this distortion.

One - Simple, practical need. They needed space for their cameras. So the sets were built accordingly.

Two - The more likely is that it disturbs the viewer on a psychological level. Stanley Kubrick played the same trick in The Shining and Roman Polanski did it in Rosemary's Baby. The fact that the sets could not fit the actual house, that there were rooms which could not possibly exist is a way to mess with our heads. Whether or not we are aware of it, the mismatches add to our unease.

[–] BadAids 8 years ago

Well Kubrick was working with a hotel and Polanski had an apartment block but I get your point. I think what I am trying to say is that, I would have aimed for to a grittier and more claustrophobic horror (maybe along the lines of The Babadook)not just the same set with a different exterior.

'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

[–] Lisasimpsonfan 8 years ago

The mother said her ex bought the furniture with the house when Ed asked where the chair came from. So maybe they were flush when he was around and now are going to have to move to government housing. I am not 100% how council housing works because it seems like every movie/tv show that take place in the UK the people live in that type of housing unless they are upper middle class.

[–] Fattycakes 8 years ago

I've actually been in council houses that are bigger. They tend to be older sandstone buildings however. I'll never forget because my parents had a 5 bedroom home in an upmarket area which was reasonably big but when i went into their council house i was blown away as it was 3 floors and the rooms were huge.

I also tried to buy a 3 bedroom ex-council house that someone had previously bought and was selling. It was far bigger than anything else in the area for that price.

So there are actually council houses that big. Just the interior did not seem to match that of the exterior one pictured as one like that tends to not be so big.

[–] johnpaultisi 8 years ago

If they filmed it actual size, the camera would be crammed in every actors face and you wouldn't see anything chin down. Seriously? Who cares? Better not watch Spice World! The interior of the bus is the size of a luxury condo! You might have a coronary.

[–] lilmarkuk 8 years ago

being from the UK its clear the set designers were American lol, for a start in the UK specially in that time period we DID NOT have lamps and floor lamps controller by the light switches on the wall lol this did not happen anywhere, switches on walls are for ceiling lights only lamps and floor lamps were ever only plugged into the mains sockets at the bottom of the walls in certain parts of the room controlled only by the switch on the wall socket and the switch on the lamp itself

this is how I knew this was done by americans, they try to make things seem English like the digestive biscuits on the plate and the UK plug sockets but the rest was NAFF, the outside set of the garden was too fake and did not look british either.

Also the trains...sorry british rail at this time period never had frosted glass windows OR british rail stickers big like that across windows also look at those train seats.....even the most posh trains back then did not have seats like that

also the furniture while grotty just did not scream british at all

[–] dolores_claiborne 8 years ago

God, people! I thought *I* had extra time on my hands! Jeesh!

[–] kelieann 8 years ago

If we're being REALLY picky, Enfield Grammar is actually a secondary boys school, the outside shot of the big school building is actually of Enfield County, the girls school opposite and the "Police station" is also Enfield County (covered walkway leads to the science block)

(I'm an Enfield girl)

But we're not, so it's fine 

Fab film 

Awooga awooga, abandon shop, this is not a daffodil!!!!

[–] trivium105 8 years ago

Amongst the real-life photos at the end of the film was one of the girls' bedroom so you can see what size it really was, and clearly the film bedroom was way bigger. They obviously weren't trying to hide the discrepancy so I assume the film makers assume we will grant them artistic licence.

[–] screenslaver 8 years ago

Last year's "Room" was set within the confines of a 10 x 10 foot garden shed- and was actually filmed there. The director admits he had to get creative, and often sat with the cameraman in the bathtub, as it was the only place available to them. In order to show 5-year-old Jack's perspective, who had never been outside, and didn't realise he was imprisoned, they made sure they didn't include the corners of the room in shots. This created the impression of the space being much larger. So you don't need large spaces to make an area feel spacious.

I think the Conjuring 2 filmmakers wanted to continue in the style of the first movie as much as possible, which was set in a very large family house. Hence the impossibly large interiors to be found in the sequel.

[–] k_tomb 8 years ago

Uhm not sure I saw nearly the issue the OP saw...lol

Sure the rooms were a bit larger than reality, MOSTLY do aid in actually doing a movie, and making it look good up on the screen.

Real sized rooms in a normal sized house, look very small when filmed. That is how all movies and TV shows do it.

But watching it again, not sure it is "That exaggerated" really. I mean look at the front door, it is 3 foot wide. Extrapolate, and the house appears to be maybe 24 foot wide at the front.

6 foot hallway, and the living room 16 feet or so to allow for walls...not really that exaggerated at all.