Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512164
Later that evening, still reveling over the Flamin' Hot bag that changed snacking, Richard's son drove us down to the original Guasti Vineyards. These vineyards are where it all began for Richard. Stepping upon the soil, we got a genuine feeling of what it meant to work there in the '60s, the era responsible for the Chicano movement and the United Farm Workers union. Here we learned about the fusion of Mexican and Italian traditions. The Guasti Vineyards were run and owned by an Italian family, and the market on the premises sold only Italian food. The many Mexicans who worked and lived on the property learned to make Italian food, explaining the reason for serving spaghetti when Richard and Judy visited his father, Vacho (played by Emilio Rivera) in the film. I love developing a color story, an overall aesthetic that resonates throughout the film. It's an opportunity for the team to create a visual language for each character and situation, and a way to evoke emotion. Eva, Federico, Cabot, and set decorator David Hack and I thoroughly discussed ways to differentiate each era and the characters within them. We developed a color story for each period in which the film takes place. The color differentiation was essential to visually guide viewers through the film's several decades, help dictate the pacing and the transition through scenes, and the crossover between eras. An anchor point to this color story was the need to distinguish between the corporate environments and the environments of Richard's daily life. The factory setting balanced a gradient of blue hues with abundant metal textures to feel cool, while light enough to give the factory floor a joyous, almost heavenly, feeling. After all, the factory floor is where Richard expends his endless energy and creativity. Richard's personal life embraced warmer tones, inviting a setting of comfort and nostalgia. The textures and colors of the '70s were hip and fun, understated orange and yellow pastels, light enough to give off the feeling that he and Judy were living with little worry. These tones carried into the early '80s before having their first kid, then the color story changed entirely, the house went from the warm wooden wall paneling to accents of flame- stitch wallpaper. The colors shifted to a more comforting deep green and yellow, accompanied A. JUDY MONTAÑEZ (ANNIE GONZALEZ) AND TONY ROMERO (BOBBY SOTO),IN THE MONTAÑEZ HOME, LATE 1970S ON LOCATION IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO. PRODUCTION STILL. B. MONTAÑEZ FAMILY TRYING THE FIRST FLAMIN' HOT CHEETOS CREATED IN THEIR HOME. C. RICHARD MONTAÑEZ WITH FRITO-LAY PRODUCTS. PRODUCTION STILL. D. SUPERMARKET EXTERIOR. GRAPHIC LAYOUT BY MELISSA SHEPARD A B C D