Duality is a recurring theme in the film, and when Emily suggested we portray the ghostly look-alike sisters (technically, they weren‘t twins), it seemed a perfect fit.
Emily drew on “gothic lolita” designs for the dresses, which mimick a little-girl style. They worked perfectly. But the key to the project’s success were the models -- not-quite-identical twin sisters Pamela and Angela, whose petite figures and doe eyes enabled them to portray characters many years younger.
Makeup artist Hayley Cotterill, who was pressed into service to do both models after another artist bailed the day of the shoot, created a soft palour and sunken look that was both girlish and ghoulish.
For the first set, we used a 19th-century cellar stairwell in a historic building. Not only did it provide a dark, spooky backdrop, but the stairs also enabled us to make the girls appear even tinier in the doorway, by having them kneel on steps below floor level.