Our hero Corey Harlan is sent in – kicking and screaming – to find the heart of the brane and its creator, Anton Chambers. Now manifested as a normal townhouse hosted by the enigmatic and multi-dimensional Aclima – his adventure begins. A house where opening a door from one room to another can lead you to other worlds, not just the kitchen.
Echoing the fate of our protagonists, the very fabric of the film – the sets – and even the cameras used to make the film are deconstructed throughout. Bulk imaginatively reflects its director’s obsession with the magic of visual effects from early cinema pioneer Georges Méliès to the stop-motion creatures created by Ray Harryhausen.
“I’ve been interested for a long time in the history of effects, 2D effects, in camera, back projection, model works, the Schüfftan process and all these things,” says Wheatley.
“It’s a love letter to film and creativity but also to technology and allusion – a way to make the budgetary constraints make narrative sense for the film. I’m also working with cast members I’ve worked with before – so it’s a collaboration and a built-in understanding of how we will make the film and the workload that everyone signs up to. It’s very well planned.”
“The same goes for the crew – we had a very small unit of close collaborators – so there’s a shorthand there. We also teamed up with the MetFilm School in Brighton and bought in students to help across the camera and art departments.”