Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1010570
4 4 P E R S P E C T I V E | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 8 was not practical because much of what I was finding was either too stylized or too extreme in its "realness." Instead, I reached out to people via the internet and social media. I asked people I knew and people I barely knew for their personal stories, and for photos of their homes before they cleaned up. I was surprised at just how many women were so willing and eager to share intimate experiences about motherhood. I received responses from people I had met only once, longtime friends, producers who made me swear not to reveal their identities and from colleagues who had just become moms and were surprised at how overwhelmed they found themselves…all with hilarious stories to go along with the photos. I am also a bit of a Peeping Tom—I go for walks at night and look into people's homes who have their lights on and their curtains open and take notes to record details I want to remember. I love seeing how people live, how they decorate, what wall colors they choose. I am also a real estate website junkie and it came in very handy on this movie. I love seeing how people who are not designers use their homes—door casings used as baseboards, wallpaper borders meant for tops of walls used as chair rails. Bit by bit, I started piecing together Marlo's story. Armed with that research, I arrived in Vancouver to begin the scouting process. For Marlo and Drew's house, Jason, director of photography Eric Steelberg and I discussed ideal layouts for specific scenes. I drew up a few floor plans early on but, due to both time and budget restrictions, we opted to shoot a location as the main floor and to build the second floor on a soundstage. After scouting and considering many houses in Vancouver, the one that was selected actually had a very similar flow and layout to the ones I had initially drawn, and location alterations were made. These included replacing the lighting throughout, painting the entire home, wallpapering, adding a stone wall in the living room, a banquette and new old appliances in the kitchen, wood paneling, rebuilding the front entrance (adding period yellow glass and a single door) and creating a storage area for family photos. The second-floor studio set comprised the master bedroom, nursery and bathroom. It was decided the nursery had A. MARLO'S LIVING ROOM, SET PHOTO. B. MARLO'S FAMILY ROOM, PRODUCTION STILL. C. SET PHOTO, DETAIL FROM MARLO'S KITCHEN. D. WHITE MODEL OF THE FIRST FLOOR OF MARLO'S HOUSE. A B C D