FX adapts Bret Easton Ellis's novel, The Shards, landing on August 5th on FX and Hulu. The series follows a group of high school students in Los Angeles during the 1980s as a serial killer begins targeting teenagers. A blend of nostalgia, suspense, and social critique that promises constant tension.
Technical production: how is terror built in the analog era? 🎬
The series uses a saturated color palette and film grain to recreate 1980s Los Angeles, avoiding artificial digital filters. The cinematography opts for long takes and marked shadows, while the ambient sound incorporates synthesizers from the era. The non-linear narrative, typical of Ellis, relies on abrupt cuts and voice-overs to generate disorientation in the viewer, a technical resource that reinforces youthful paranoia.
Does the killer use WhatsApp? No, in the 80s they used phone booths and Walkmans 📼
Watching teenagers deal with a psychopath without smartphones is almost a historical documentary. Instead of sending a distress message, they run to a phone booth or leave a cassette at the door. If the killer wants to stalk, they must wait for the victim to leave home, because there is no GPS or Instagram. An era where terror was more artisanal and less about stalking profiles.