Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1332040
T H E L U M I N A R I E S | P E R S P E C T I V E 8 3 time. These elements informed my approach to the design and were then interwoven into each of the intricately detailed sets. The House of Many Wishes The House of Many Wishes is a notable set and the character environment for Lydia Wells (Eva Green). Eclectic decoration features prominently in Lydia Wells' rented hotel-turned-fortune parlor/gentlemen's saloon. Here, the magical and mystical Lydia plays fate and spins the wheel of fortune. I suggested to the writer the notion of the hotel being burned in the past. This was a way of giving logic to the heightened scenic treatment the architecture demanded. Every detail of the interior set told the story of the history of the building and set the tone for the action; the charred interior kitchen and parlor, the sound of rain hammering on the tin rooves, the night sky, visible through the Victorian 'roof-lantern,' a decorative skylight made of clear and alabaster marble panels that gave the illusion one was at once looking at the night sky and the surface of the moon. The elaborate interior echoed its exuberant exterior: quatrefoil filigree panels in the stair and saloon, decorative over-mantels and lintels, carved wainscot timber paneling, resplendent with native, New Zealand floral designs, anaglypta wallpaper and hand-painted stained- glass windows. I designed the interior set as an unfolding stage, with two saloons, both framed by proscenium arches and a sweeping, theatrical staircase, where Lydia holds court in front of the orrery, entertaining men and telling fortunes, as they soon part with their hard-earned coins. A painting of two huia birds on a branch features prominently above the fireplace in the main saloon. I chose the huia, as it was symbolic of many of the narrative themes in The Luminaries; a rare and precious bird that held special significance to Mori, it was driven to extinction by deforestation and overhunting to procure their exotic tail feathers for hat decorations. In an homage this now extinct native New Zealand bird is portrayed in all its living glory, suspended in time, at the moment the story takes place. Godspeed The scarcity of period-correct locations, carriages, boats and dressing available in New Zealand, required the majority of the settings be built, including part of the three-masted barque, the Godspeed. The exterior of the ship was built as part of the Dunedin quay set and included a customs yard, wharf and various buildings, led by Assistant Art Director Jenny Hitchcock. The interior cabins and cargo hold were built on a gimbal set in South Auckland. On the day I was scheduled to give a tour of the sets to UK studio executives, the letters on the side of the Godspeed had just been fixed to the recently built ship, as Scenic Artists rushed to ready the set for filming. As we walked up through the customs yard toward the docked half-ship, I noticed the s' had slipped off and fallen, leaving the rather unholy 'God_peed' in its place. This was a rare moment of levity, in an otherwise turbulent sea. D. THE HOUSE OF MANY WISHES. SALOON. SET PHOTO. E. THE HOUSE OF MANY WISHES. SALOON. SET PHOTO. D E