Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1184216
would have to be trucked in to infill the designed topography. The design/build schedule was brutal. The best plan was for the buildings to be constructed on the stages and, because of limited space, outside in the parking lots in Vancouver. After being painted, they would be disassembled and trucked to Whistler for reassembly before the snows came. This meant that, although the village would not be shot until after the Christmas hiatus, it had to be built, in place and ready to collect the winter snow before the start of photography in October. At the same time there were many other locations to prepare, some requiring a great deal of attention, and the other stage sets to build, including the mall where Noelle and her nanny land in Phoenix, a set that took up the full area of largest stage available to the production. The mall was to shoot on day seven of the schedule. A A. HUNDREDS OF 4 X 8 SHEETS OF PLASTIC WERE LAID DOWN ON SLEEPERS TO MAKE THE SKATEABLE ARTIFICIAL ICE AND CANALS. B. TRUCKLOADS OF SNOW WERE BROUGHT IN TO RAISE THE GRADE TO THE BUILDING SILLS. C. THE GRANDEST BUILDING WAS A TOWN HALL WHOSE INTERIOR WAS BUILT ON A STAGE IN VANCOUVER. D. THE TOWN HALL STAGE SET. THE GABLED CEILING WAS FINISHED ONLY AT THE ENDS OF THE SET. VISUAL EFFECTS WOULD FILL IN THE GAPS AS NEEDED. Working from my scaled thumbnails and research photos, a team of seven very talented set designers modeled and turned out the construction drawings for each building. As the individual buildings were designed, they were dropped into a digital version of the set. They were also 3D-printed for a physical model of the town. As the shots were planned with the director and the director of photography, revisions were made. Designing the buildings was great fun, because the conceit Marc came up with was that the North Pole was built over hundreds of years, which allowed me to use period-inspired structures from architectural sources as diverse as Tudor and 19th century. One building was a little art deco holly shop. In some cases, I used individual existing buildings, such as a Woolworth's store and a New York deli, as sly cultural comments. B C D