SYNOPSIS
Dahlia is a young wife who is hosting a lunch for her friend Rue, whom she hasn't seen in years. They catch up and talk about the drama of mutual friends but it's evident that they're both eager to one up each other and measure who has lived a "better life" thus far. As their conversation unfolds—from cooking, to their husbands and kids—Dahlia has flashbacks to her relationship with her husband and it is anything but the dream she is making out to be with Rue. Her husband is aggressive, manipulative and physically abusive. At the end of the film, Dahlia steps inside to get more ice and she drops her perfect wife act and her husband's severed hand is revealed in the freezer! She glances at it proudly and struts back out to continue to put on the act for Rue.
This project involved a specific commission to create a severed prop hand which had been stored in a freezer. In order to create this effect, a silicone severed hand was purchased and then treated with gouache paints. The prop hand required a base color to match the actor's skin tones. After several coats were applied, highlights and shadows were added. In addition, to recreate a "freezer burn" effect which suggests the longevity of the crime and early stages of rotting, shades of red, blue, purple, and greens were lightly layered. Finally, to give the severed hand a cold appearance, large chunks of sea salt were adhered with dried super glue to mimic the look frozen ice.
FINAL STILLS
