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Mike Flanagan on staging the prom sequence in Prime Video's Carrie

Creator Mike Flanagan describes the prom as the most difficult sequence of the Prime Video series Carrie, in interviews with IndieWire (with VFX supervisor Becky Philpott) and TVLine (with cast).

2 outlets · 1L · 1C · 0R First reported Account updated

Updated (version 2). Rewritten with the latest reporting.

Image: IndieWire
Image: TVLine

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Mike Flanagan, creator of Prime Video's "Carrie", has described the prom sequence in the series finale as the hardest work of the show and of their career. Left · 1IndieWire reports that Flanagan and VFX supervisor Becky Philpott explained how the prom was pulled off, and that the shoot took 10 days on set. Centre · 1In the finale, Chris and Billy rig the prom vote so Tommy and Carrie win King and Queen; when Carrie reaches the stage, a bucket of blood is dropped on her, and her telekinesis then sets off the destruction of the gym.

Mixed · 2Flanagan said they looked at earlier versions, from Brian De Palma's 1976 film to the 2013 remake, but deliberately avoided De Palma's showy techniques such as split screen, and told TVLine that they were "not going to top De Palma", so chose to "do something else". Left · 1Flanagan planned the shot list "exhaustively" with director of photography Michael Fimognari, beginning with a whiteboard drawing of the prom about five months before shooting; from the bucket drop to Carrie leaving the stage is about 90 seconds in real time. Left · 1The opening entrance montage, set to Lana Del Rey's "Did you know there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd", was called "enormously complicated" by Flanagan, with changing frame rates and music played faster for the actors' marks; it took nine takes.

Left · 1For the blood drop, the production ran test drops with crew and stand-ins, used a line on a tennis ball to guide the bucket onto Summer H. Howell's head, and planned at least three drops for multiple camera angles; Flanagan said about five gallons of blood were used and it could only be done at the end of a shoot day. Centre · 1Howell told TVLine the shoot lasted two weeks, with many background performers, stunts and practical effects, and said she stood in a "blood tent" each morning to have blood applied; she called it "a fever dream" of controlled chaos. Centre · 1Flanagan said the sequence involved hundreds of extras and 12 principal characters, and that on the second day of shooting they asked everyone to pause and acknowledge they were "at the prom with Carrie White".

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
IndieWire runs a long craft feature, "Anatomy of a Prom", on how the sequence was designed and shot, placing it in the history of Carrie adaptations.
Emphasis
Technical planning, shot design, the blood-drop mechanics, comparisons with De Palma and earlier versions.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not recount the finale's wider plot beyond the prom in the portion covered.
Charged language
“Everest”
For example
“Anatomy of a Prom: How Mike Flanagan Climbed the ‘Everest’ of Horror Sequences for ‘Carrie’” — IndieWire

Centre1 outlet

Framing
TVLine pairs a video interview with a finale recap, with a light, fan-oriented tone.
Emphasis
Cast and creator anecdotes, the finale's plot including the aftermath for Chris, Billy and Margaret, and a prompt for readers to grade the episode.
Leaves out or plays down
Little on technical or VFX detail.
Charged language
“all hell breaks loose”“very Bloody”
For example
“that's exactly when all hell breaks loose, starting with a big ol' bucket of blood.” — TVLine

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.