Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1072449
8 4 P E R S P E C T I V E | M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 9 who is pushing and who isn't? A visual language had to be created that allowed for anachronistic details to exist but to never distract. There were two threads of research—what would it have been and what could it be. Yorgos was always interested in knowing what was correct for the period so he was informed about when to stray or not. There are also many details in the film that are historically accurate. The creative team loved the boxy shape of the early eighteenth century carriages, so our carriages were built as exact replicas. We also loved the delicate hand-blown glassware, the sugar sculptures and the looming four-poster beds. The trick was in having our inventions sit alongside the recreations and for it all to be believed. I had met Yorgos in 2012 for a coffee and a chat. It was a professional 'setup' and I had tried to dazzle him with my folio. Yorgos is a man of relatively few words and when he got to the last page (a photo of a man with a sleeping bag on his head), he tapped the image and nodded. I remember thinking "…at least that was something." Four years later, we met for The Favourite. I had put together a selection of images that illustrated my initial gut response to the material. The images were disparate. Contemporary photographs of cavernous and ornate rooms were laid up next to paintings and illustrations from the period. The rooms were largely empty and there were long corridors and stairwells. By instinct, I'd hit upon some important conceits about space and scale. Yorgos had strong ideas about the lensing and cinematography well before preproduction. He knew that he needed space to move the camera so that he could travel with the actors fluidly and swing around. The primary Production Design note that Yorgos gave me was that he wanted to allow for movement within the rooms. He didn't want the rooms overfilled. Given that I had the same impulse, we then embarked on a very trusting and relaxed process. Yorgos just allowed the Art Department to run with our impulses and do our thing. That was quite unique. Early in the process, Sandy and Yorgos decided that they wanted to create monochromatic court costumes. It was a brilliant concept and it had considerable impact on the Production Design of the film. One of my primary challenges early on was resolving how to bridge between the stylized costumes and the existing locations. The set A A. A CORNER OF THE QUEEN'S BEDROOM SHOWING THE TAPESTRY COVERING THE SECRET PASSAGE. PRODUCTION STILL. B. DETAIL OF THE SECRET PASSAGE TAPESTRY. DRAWN BY GRAPHIC DESIGNER CHARIS THEOBALD USING PHOTOSHOP. C. SKETCHUP MODEL OF A RABBIT HUTCH BY ART DIRECTOR JAMIE SHAKESPEARE. D. RABBIT HUTCH IN THE QUEEN'S BEDROOM. SET PHOTO. E. QUEEN ANNE'S BEDROOM, CONCEPT SKETCH. HAND DRAWN WITH GRAPHITE BY JAMIE SHAKESPEARE. F. QUEEN ANNE'S BED. HEADBOARD ELEVATION. DRAWN BY GRAPHIC DESIGNER CHARIS THEOBALD USING PHOTOSHOP. G. QUEEN ANNE'S BED. SET PHOTO. H. QUEEN ANNE'S BEDROOM. PRODUCTION STILL. B