Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - The Pale Lady - Final Concept
This was the approved concept to begin sculpting the actual character life-size, where many changes would occur adapting to the limitations of the suit performer.
Ian Cromer and Mike Hill sculpt the body and head of The Pale Lady with my concepts as reference. Image courtesy Spectral Motion.
Ian Cromer and Mike Hill pose with the finished Pale Lady. Image courtesy Spectral Motion.
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was a collection of short horror stories written by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Stephen Gammell from 1981 to 1991. This is Gammell's illustration of The Pale Lady from the story "The Dream."
I had the incredible opportunity to help realize The Pale Lady character for Guillermo del Toro's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) horror film directed by André Øvredal, with the amazing crew at Spectral Motion! I mainly focused on bringing The Pale Lady character to life, staying as close to the original illustrations from the book, illustrated by Stephen Gammell, as possible. A lot of variations were made, exploring the proportions of the head and arms, while maintaining the range of motion required for the suit performer. Once the design was established enough to move forward, these designs were handed off and the talented monster maker and sculptor Mike Hill lead the team on The Pale Lady character and The Jangly Man.
Behind the Scenes video at the end.
Spectral Motion Article:
https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/blog/scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark-behind-the-scenes-special-makeup-effects-fx-spectral-motion-mike-elizalde