Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1124104
B With the advent of digital film, Production Designers have become de facto lighting designers, since cinematographers use the practical lights for interior sets as their sources. I find myself designing more solid ceilings with lights in them so the need to remove panels for fill lights isn't there. If there is no budget for a concept artist, it's easier to make a collage to show mood and color. It's clearer to everyone what the expectation is for the final product. One particular set needing this look was the Parnassus Bar, set in an old factory in the middle of nowhere. Much like the cantina in Star Wars, it's an otherworldly place predominantly lit with red light accented with green. Aside from painting and decorating with taxidermized animals and surreal objects, it was lit with LEDs that were placed everywhere possible, as well as tables with light up tops and mirrored bar surfaces. By the time Christmasland was shot a second time, there had been a chance to think about it, and the decision was made to place it on a great open grassy space in front of the studio, and pull out the old pieces, repaint, relight and add in the interior portion which would now be seen. By this point in the filming, the production was not as pressed, and A I was able to take the time to conceive other parts of Christmasland to be featured in later episodes. I sat down with the director for these episodes, Jeremy Webb, and worked out the shots in storyboard, a hugely satisfying task since it helps me understand how he imagines shooting it, and I'm able to put in my two cents about what might look the best. The concept of "The Weenie," a Walt Disney theory that helps give the park goer a visual magnet that draws them toward an object in the distance (like a dog to a sausage), was new to me; but as explained by John Bruno, the visual effects supervisor, it was necessary to be seen through the gates of Christmasland. After many attempts, I landed on what we called "Santa's Ticket Booth." It's a lopsided structure that's fun on the outside, disturbing on the interior. A. PARNASSUS BAR DRESSED AND LIT. SET PHOTO. B. SKETCH CHRISTMASLAND INTO GATES WITH WEENIE. C. SKETCH OF BING'S BASEMENT. D. FINISHED BASEMENT SET. SET PHOTO. E. THE COMIC BOOK VIC LOANS TO BING. SKETCH FOR GRAPHIC ARTIST TO WORK FROM BY PRODUCTION DESIGNER. ARTWORK AND PHOTOS BY ANDREW JACKNESS