P E R S P E C T I V E | J A N UA RY / F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 6
65
by Stefania Cella, Production Designer
James "Whitey" Bulger, once one of the most powerful
and dangerous men in Boston's underworld, affected
the lives of an entire community for years, in bad and
(occasionally) good ways. Black Mass tells his story,
and so I decided that my starting point was going to be
that very community—Boston. Boston would become a
main character for the Art Department, providing the
inspiration and texture to support the narrative. The
IS IT FACTUAL
OR IS IT TRUE?
city's unique architectural qualities would define the very
different aspects of each character.
There are many challenges to designing a movie that tells
a true story. It actually happened; the people in the story
are real. Most of the people in this story are still alive,
some now in prison, some free and walking the streets. A
few are dead, murdered by Bulger. As a designer, I had
