Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/765720
The TRACKING CONTROL ROOM was constructed at Emory Hospital. This former hospital for mental illness is now an empty facility on the college's campus. It's a great space and seems to be used by every movie that comes to Atlanta. Why? Great empty spaces and, for this movie, long corridors and bold, simple rooms. There was a large ground floor room that was in terrible shape but had great floors and ceilings. We designed and brought in all the elements to turn this space into the Tracking Control Room. HAMPTON, VIRGINIA, in the 1960s—How many movies show how black folks lived in the segregated South? Not many. There are a lot of misperceptions out there, and these misperceptions exist because the stories of this period have not often been told in American cinema. There are some great photography books that give insight: Separate, But Equal by Henry Clay Anderson; Gordon Parks' Back to Fort Scott and Segregation Story. And for myself, there are the memories of my aunts, uncles and grandparents, strong people, proud people, thriving despite the daily obstacles placed in their way. Hidden Figures looks at the Left: A bird's-eye view illustration by Carla Martinez of the NASA Tracking Room set, constructed in the ground floor lobby of the empty Emory Hospital in Atlanta. Below, clockwise from top left: Another Carla Martinez illustration, done in SketchUp ® , of the Tracking Room set. A still photograph of the finished set. The West Computer Room, the segregated black women's computer workspace, was shot downstairs in the basement of the school. The space had low ceilings, exposed cinder block walls, dark colors and was filled with furniture to give a crowded and claustrophobic feeling. The "human computers" who worked there, took great pride in the space program they made possible.