On February 27, 2016, A
full house attended 11th annual Art of Production Design panel
discussion with the Oscar nominees at the Egyptian, moderated by Tom Walsh, ADG and
set decorator Jane Pascal, co-founder of the Set Decorators Society
of America (SDSA). The films and panelists were:
- Bridge of Spies – production designer Adam Stackhausen, set decorators Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich
- The Danish Girl – production designer Eve Stewart, set decorator Michael Standish
- Mad Max – production designer Colin Gibson, set decorator Lisa Thompson
- The Martian – production designer Arthur Max, set decorator Celia Borak
- The Revenant – production designer Jack Fisk, set decorator Hamish Purdy
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| The production designers. Photo courtesy ADG |
The
event was sponsored by the Art Directors Guild (ADG), Set Decorators
Society of America, the American Cinematheque, and Kohler. A short
clip was shown for each film, each followed by a one on one
discussion with each film's production designer and set decorator.
Bridge
of Spies
The
team shared that due the time period (1960s Cold War), there were two
color palettes. The palettes were different by location, Berlin being
cooler colors and New York warmer wood tones. Adam Stackhausen, DP,
said that he has had a good relationship with Spielberg, having
worked with him on two movies. Rena DeAngelo said that she had worked
on projects in this time period, including Mad
Men,
and couldn’t stop shopping for Abel’s apartment. Sets were
researched using old pictures and they were lucky that the USSR did
not want to rebuild the east after the WWII, providing them with
locations in Poland that still had the remains of WWII. DeAngelo said
that she usually does not reuse articles, even if it is the same
period, she wants each set a different look and characters have
different tastes.
The
Danish Girl
– Eve Stewart, PD, started in theatre, so she was used to working
with a small budget. Michael Standish, SD, had a strong knowledge of
antiques and started his career in props. He worked as a buyer for
10-15 years and then went into set decoration. The color palette was
different between Denmark (cool, lonesome, gray) and France (rich
tones). The movie included 50 sets all over Europe with an overall
budget of $15 million, despite the small-scale and intimate subject
matter.
Mad
Max
– Colin Gibson, PD, said that he started as a pushy Australian
actor, while Lisa Thompson, SD, started as a window dresser and photo
stylist. According to Gibson, it took 15 years to make the film and
that it was passion that kept the team going forward over time. There
were over 3,500 storyboards and very little dialogue. They describe
it as the world of the future past, with a biblical tone. They worked
out the look with no script, only storyboards. They named tribes,
gave them gods, and a separate look for tribes, weapons and vehicles.
Gibson said that he is a good salvage artist with the a re-purposing
goal of making new from old, but retaining recognizable items. Most
of the film was live action with digital effects added after shooting
to enhance the action.
The
Martian –
Early in his career, PD Arthur Max worked on stage designs, starting
with Woodstock and doing lighting and mixing for Pink Floyd’s Dark
Side of the Moon tour. He started working on commercials with Ridley
and Tony Scott and has worked for both of them over the past 30
years. Celia Borak, SD, is originally from South Africa and started
working for the BBC, working with Tim Harvey for 10 years on Fortunes
of War and
Henry V
with Kenneth Branagh. Max said that Ridley does his own storyboards
that provide clear direction and angles. They worked closely with
NASA (requiring their approval for the use of the NASA logo), and
visited the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena and the Johnson Space
Center. NASA considered their models boring and wanted their help
adding style and inspiration, drawing from a color palette of white,
orange, silver, and black. In just 13 weeks, Max's team prepped
impressive large sets including a gravity wheel based on Kubrick’s
2001: A
Space Odyssey.
They engineered 180 degree sets that they made look continuous
through splicing.
The
Revenant –
Jack
Fisk, PD, started as an artist working for $100 a week and went on to
work with Terrence Malick on Badlands
in 1973 – a creative relationship that continues to this day.
Hamish Purdy, SD, received an English literature degree and started
working on music videos in Vancouver. The color palette on The
Revenant was
“mud and blood.” The film was shot using only natural light, so
sets needed to be west-facing in the morning and east-facing for
later in the day. The locations were tough and the props were mostly
axes and knives. The time period was the early 1800’s, and with
the help of historical consultants, they built boats, a Mandan
village, and a fort using wood provided by First Nations. It took 16
months to find locations, and snow crews were brought in to haul snow
due to a February thaw.
Though
Mad Max
emerged
the ultimate Oscar victor, the work of all these artisans shone
bright on the screen.