Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1124104
N O S 4 A 2 | P E R S P E C T I V E 8 5 the New England world of working-class families. Woonsocket, RI, became the show's town of Haverhill, MA. I'm a pencil artist and think through sketching. When I'm not sketching, I use collage as a way to express a palette, composition and pattern. For locations, I sketch on top of photos that I take from angles I want to emphasize to the director and cinematographer. Sometimes it's useful to sketch a bird's-eye view. It depends on what is clear to a director and writer. Sometimes models are best—either 3D or physical. For NOS4A2, I used watercolor and gouache sketches for final looks. And in some cases, I storyboarded a sequence. The first and most important piece I drew was the Shorter Way Bridge, since it had to be started immediately. Although Rhode Island has had filming for years, it isn't common enough that residents aren't surprised to see vans with movie people driving around their neighborhoods, getting out, discussing their homes and pulling out cameras to take pictures. Faces would stare out windows and police would be called, neighborhood watches H would come out and inquire: "What are you doing here?" The location manager had endless government connections, and each time offered to call the mayor of the individual town, and did, setting the residents so much at ease that they would invite us in and offer coffee. A studio large enough to hold the stages, offices and all departments was found on the grounds of the old Quonset Air Force Base, which is now a business park. There were two areas that could be used as stages large enough to hold nine permanent sets, with space for small swing sets and a green screen area for car work. I hired as many local crew members as I could, with great teams in set decoration, construction and paint, having worked with some before on New England projects. As with most non-stage spaces, this had its share of complications: bathroom accessibility, dirt, low rafters, sound issues, leaks, cooling in summer and heat in winter. A single office went to the set decoration department, and the rest of the Art Department squeezed into another office as best we could, with production assistants and graphic artists spilling outside. Most of the homes created for the series were small, and appeared multiple times, so interiors were easier to build as sets rather than cram a camera crew into a location. The stage sets also provided rain cover during one of the wettest seasons on record for the East Coast. Vic's exterior home needed to be chosen immediately since I had to design the interior, which appears in almost every episode. A lower class house became our base and I was able to enlarge the interior on stage by about one-third E. THE MCQUEEN HOUSE. VIC'S HOME WAS ALTERED WITH A COMPLETE PAINT JOB, AND THE ADDITION OF A SIDE PORCH AND JALOUSIE WINDOWS TO MATCH WITH THE STAGE. SET PHOTO. F. VIC'S ROOM WAS DESIGNED AS A PROTECTIVE SHELL FROM HER PARENT'S BITTER RELATIONSHIP, ALCOHOLISM AND ABUSE. SET PHOTO. G. CONCEPT COLLAGE OF VIC'S ART INSPIRED BY ESCHER AND INTENDED TO GIVE HINTS OF THE KIND OF ARTIST VIC MIGHT BECOME. H. VIC'S LINO ART OF MANX FROM HER MEMORY. ART BY ANDREA PEREZ. E G F