I mentioned already that after The Shining diorama I was planning on re-creating a scene from yet another Stephen King film adaptation, this time David Cronenberg’s Dead Zone (1984). I was wavering between Johnny’s vision of the young hockey players breaking through the ice and aspiring politician Greg Stillson using a baby as a human shield. One of the struggles with the pond vision for a diorama (my preference) is how to frame it to provide context (a similar struggle to the Creepshow diorama).
Tommy’s sketch for The Dead Zone diorama ideas
But after watching the scene Tommy suggested we cut the frame in half horizontally: on top we have Johnny (Christopher Walken) exclaiming “the ice is gonna break” and below the vision of the hockey players sinking to the bottom of the pond.
Close up on kids floating to bottom of pond
I think it’s pretty brilliant, and it takes the bav-o-rama in new directions, this will be akin to a larger-scale Richard Scarry cross-section of moments from the scene. I also love how Tommy has the floor between the figures melting into the pond, essentially having the boys break through and drown right in the living room—inline with how Cronenberg places Johnny within the physical spaces where his visions happen.*
Close-up of Johnny breaking the vase and yelling “The ice is gonna break!” to be more emphatic about his premonition
Gotta say Tommy’s working through various perspectives to get to this one was impressive. Viewing the conversation and Johnny breaking the vase more or less straight-on didn’t work for the diorama, even though that’s how we see it in the film. Tommy’s re-positioning the viewer for a side-view of the conversation (a shot not in the movie) adds another element to the diorama, offering a fresh look that builds upon Cronenberg’s brilliance for a medium that is not film, but a brick and mortar diorama. Next step is making a small scale version of this and see how it goes, in the interim all hail Tommy!
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*I’m thinking of the one where he is lying in the child’s room when the room goes on fire.
