How a Vancouver wallpaper shop became key to the 'Backrooms' horror film's eerie maze
Wallpaper Online Canada created dozens of custom yellow iterations for the A24 film's sound stages in Delta. Extended edition releases today.
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The extended edition of A24's horror film Backrooms releases today, July 3, and a Vancouver-based wallpaper shop played a crucial role in bringing the production's unsettling aesthetic to life.
Wallpaper Online Canada worked with the film's set decorators to create the sickly yellow walls that define the maze-like backrooms themselves. Finding the right shade of yellow wasn't straightforward — the company went through 30 to 40 different color iterations with the art department to nail the perfect tone.
"Colors appear differently in-house versus on set due to changes in lighting and other factors," said Ben Monkhouse, co-owner of Wallpaper Online Canada. "The wallpaper would appear differently online on a screen compared to when it's printed and in front of your eyes. It'll also look slightly different once on camera."
The production required thousands and thousands of square feet of wallpaper, with sound stages located in Delta, B.C. Monkhouse said the film industry is becoming an increasingly important part of the company's business, with major productions filming in Vancouver and new studios like Netflix's animation facility opening in the city.
"They always need everything yesterday," Monkhouse said of the tight turnarounds film work demands. The company has also contributed to productions including Tracker and a new film starring Nicole Kidman.
