Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1061165
A hall was transformed into a 1984 period-accurate environment with over a hundred vendor and display tables containing thousands of weapons, assorted ammo, military memorabilia, flags, supplies and apparel. As a counterpoint details like a child's play area and a beef jerky guy were added. The idea was to articulate the ease with which weapon purchases could be made, and of course, it's always important to create an atmosphere that felt not like a set, but like life. Rubber prop guns wouldn't allow for actors to handle and explore the pieces in a realistic fashion, which meant sourcing, shipping and managing over two thousand real vintage guns from throughout the state. For Jon, yet another fun challenge was creating the mood of the Wershe home. Echoes of better times inhabit the house allowing the past to serve as the vision Rick Sr. still holds for the future. Ricky's juvenile bedroom is layered with hints of his now departed mom, but also, trophies and materialistic idols evoking a potential never realized. Dawn's faded princess headboard amplifies the incongruity of a young woman's decline (or refuge) into detox. And deep in the basement, Rick Sr.'s den (packed with machinery enabling him to create dangerous AK-47 silencers) contains a working period lathe, yet also acts as an intimate space for him to teach his young son. This was Jon's first feature as a set decorator and he enjoyed learning more about just how impactful color can be in setting tone and mood. He shared, "Oddly, there's a quality to Stefania's exquisitely chosen colors that evoke both hopelessness, and somehow, hope, all at the same time." Ultimately, the challenge of bringing to life and light a story that is steeped in the past but so presently relevant was a great challenge, but that's what makes the job so exciting. ADG B C