Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1072449
Thanks to the season five Art Department, Fox Archives and Art Department coordinator Amina Cruz, all the drawings, colors and set photos were retrieved. Scott Lynk, the general foreman, discovered some parts of the original set walls (with the wood grain casing still intact) being used as gold rooms on The Orville stage next door. Having those parts, along with the good fortune of having the scenic painter who had worked on the original set, along with countless other efforts and contributions, made it possible to recreate a nearly perfect match to the original beautiful and terrifying Hotel Cortez. Episode five: Exterior post-apocalyptic nightmare. Cordelia finds herself in the hellscape ruins of what was once the Robichaux Academy. The challenge was to find a location that had an empty, vast space, and because the setting was post-apocalypse New Orleans, mountains were not ideal. Just to make it more difficult, the search was also limited to a small radius in order to accommodate a midday company move. It was found north of Los Angeles, in a wide dry wash with six massive cottonwood trees burned black as charcoal, arranged in a perfect semicircle begging to be one with what was once the Robichaux Academy. Once the concept art was approved, Set Designer Betty Krul created a detailed construction plan and it was off to the races. After three mind- numbingly hot days in the desert, fighting off stinging red ants and heat exhaustion, the crew, led by Mark Taylor, had exceeded expectations once again…no visual effects needed. No time to celebrate, work to be done, on to the next one. Anyone who has seen season three of American Horror Story knows how spectacular the original Robichaux Academy was. As much as the production wanted to resurrect this beauty, we realized we didn't have the time or budget to build the original. So we set out on a quest to find D D. HELLSCAPE RUINS OF ROBICHAUX ACADEMY. CONCEPT SKETCH. E. HELLSCAPE RUINS. DRAFTED ELEVATION. F. HELLSCAPE RUINS. PRODUCTION STILL. E F