Chet Hirsch and Mike Schaeffer (‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ main title designers): ‘The biggest thing was to maintain that tone of surrealism’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
“There was that tremendous sense of responsibility that we needed to deliver as lifelong fans of his,” states Chet Hirsch about working for the Oscar-winning filmmaker in “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.” His collaborator Mike Schaeffer talks about their Emmy nomination for the series by saying, “It’s cool that the work gets recognized like this.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
The Netflix anthology series comprises eight episodes, each telling a different horror story. The collection of stories were curated by del Toro, with two being works he had written. The director of “The Shape of Water” (2017) also handpicked the eight directors for the series. All the stories are dark and touch on various moral themes. Hirsch explains, “to have a horror anthology where every episode is such a meal, and every piece is made with care, is the biggest thing for me. That’s a major event. You don’t get that all the time. To be able to work within that was a huge reward.”
Schaeffer was the creative director and Hirsch was the director of the main title sequence of the series. The sequence sees a cabinet open to a world of skulls, artifacts, and mystery. Due to the nature of the show, the sequence serves as one of the only constants. Schaeffer says that “the cabinet is a vessel for all the stories within. On one hand, it’s a literal wooden cabinet. But making the inside magical and not matching the outside was exciting and analogous for how the anthology works.”
The pair has been nominated for an Emmy for main title theme sequence along with art director David Rowley and designer Akshay Tiwari. Hirsch reveals, “The biggest thing was to maintain that tone of surrealism. Except for the very first shot, it is never clear what size anything is. It’s full of possibility and detail; but there’s always something about it that’s uncanny.” Schaffer adds, “The way the camera moves towards the end, up is down and down is up. It’s that disorientation which culminates with a trapped feeling. That was important.” Chet affirms that “the camera was really our performer.”
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