As if Amma’s eerie fascination with her dollhouse wasn’t enough to make Sharp Objects viewers cringe, now we know evil was buried in the floors all along, hiding Wind Gap’s darkest secrets inside the magnificent replica of her family’s Victorian mansion.
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As someone who spends a lot of their time online watching videos about miniature making, and as someone who spent a lot of time playing with dollhouses as a child, this article was extremely interesting. However, with my own "innocent" background in mind, it's very unsettling to see a dollhouse being used in a horror flick. Dollhouses have been more used more and more recently in horror movies, which makes sense because in one way or another these houses are reflective of our own lives or what we want them to be. Although I haven't seen "Sharp Objects," I really would like to commend the artists on this house, because from the photos it seems incredibly well down, from the shingles, to the ornament in the hallways. Hearing that it cost about six digits to make is astounding. I'm sure you could buy a regular house for almost the same price. I guess that makes sense though, because of the sheer attention to detail that went into making not only a replica of a real house, but a replica that serves a central purpose in the show. I know that the house is currently on display, but it would be interesting to see if this dollhouse is ever used in a more conventional play sense, (usually dollhouses are passed down for play in generations) I hope that kid appreciates the plastic baby teeth floors.
The article, “How Sharp Objects Made Amma’s Creepy Dollhouse”, describes exactly that. Sharp Objects is a TV show, based on a novel, that aired on HBO. It's about Camille a Crime Reporter, her hometown and a child murderer. The show uses a lot of small little details to slowly build up a sense of unease to the finale. The Dollhouse, and the making of it, can reflect that. In the finale, it is revealed that Smiles step sister Amma is the killer and used teeth of her victims to make an accurate looking ivory floor for her doll house. The amount of work that went into the making of this dollhouse is incredible. The article talked about how much time (or little time) and labour went into this small but important set piece of the show. They made most of it from scratch, featuring “ hand painted wallpaper, to painting on the walls, to a miniature stereo system. They made sure the product was made as meticulously accurate to real (in the story) life as the fictional character who made it would have.
I’ve always enjoyed the juxtaposition between innocence/childish things and the violent/twisted. I usually like incorporating this idea into my artwork and the things I draw, and I enjoy seeing it in other works as well. I haven’t seen ‘Sharp Objects’ but even just reading the line “she was collecting her victims’ teeth to recreate her mother’s prized ivory bedroom floor” was jarring. Aside from that insane fact, and how they used plastic baby teeth to recreate the look of actual teeth in the floor, the rest of the house is insanely well built. All of the miniatures were meticulously put together and well crafted. Everything from the siding on the house, to the little chairs inside look as though they could belong to a real house. The close up photographs makes it look like you could really walk through the halls of the house, open the doors, sit in the chairs, etc. As a person who loves all the little details in things and creating replications/models of things, I’m even more intrigued by reading about their process. It’s also crazy to read about how something that intricate and skilled to make costs six figures! I hope that I get the chance to work on a project like that someday.
There’s something intrinsically creepy about doll houses and having a doll house with the floors made out of teeth quadruples the creepy factor. As always, there’s so much thought that goes into building a set, even if that set is in ¾” scale and is a scary dollhouse. You can clearly tell how much work went into the house, from the immaculate exterior, to the baseboard detail on the staircase. It is clearly worth the “six-figure” estimated value. I’ve always wanted a dollhouse. This has actually inspired me to try and build a dollhouse. Of course, it won’t be perfectly scaled, won’t have creepy teeth floor, won’t be worth six-figures, and actually, when I come to think of it, probably won’t happen. While the house is incredible and awe-inspiring, I have no idea what I’d do with a dollhouse, but this one had a purpose. Maybe if I get really desperate I’ll take a visit to Fake Studios and have a playdate with the house.
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