Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1124104
Maxine's loft, so they needed to feel similar in tone and saturation, but also had to register as opposites. Initially, these characters seem to have nothing in common—two people that live in the same neighborhood who would never meet each other. But they share this strange polar attraction, both locked in a glitching universe of their own making. As the two begin solving the mystery behind their connection (and their pasts), they start infecting each other. While each of their apartments share a similar tonal palette, they're different in temperature, cleanliness and originality. While Nadia has found furniture, Alan owns mostly IKEA. Nadia is messy, Alan is clean. Nadia is right, Alan is left. Nadia is low, Alan is high. Nadia is a circle (her mirror), Alan is a square (his mirror). And yet, over the course of the season, there is a cross-fade of contrasts. Alan cleans Nadia's apartment while trashing his own. Alan chooses to go right when he meets Nadia in the elevator. Nadia chooses to go left, leaving the loft by the only safe way she can find, down the fire escape. This cross contamination culminates in episode 108, where Alan and Nadia's reset bathrooms are facing each other—a reveal that was built practically on the stage. But it also plays out in small details in the design. For example, the wallpaper in both the loft and Nadia's apartment is comprised of a pattern of merging circles and squares. On Russian Doll, I really like how much the Production Design permeated other departments, creating a unified visual strategy for the show itself—design informing camera, costumes and even blocking. A fully collaborative effort, guided by the scripts, Natasha's performance, Leslye's savant-level storytelling and Chris' masterful camera work. And of course, it helped inspire stellar work from Art Director John Cox and set decorator Jessica Petruccelli, whose creativity is clear in every frame. At the end of the day, while funny and unpredictable and occasionally heartbreaking, Russian Doll is about being stuck in a loop. This happens to everyone, as they keep making the same bad choices. It's dark, claustrophobic, reminding the viewer of their own worst days, D A C B