Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1349602
pivot. We knew that it was especially important to design a space that reected the imbalance of power between the countercultural movement and the American legal system and it became clear that this dynamic was easier to convey in the architecture of a traditional courtroom. We wanted the grand scale, tall ceilings, decorative moldings and wood paneling that say: This is hallowed ground. The Verdict, 12 Angry Men and A Few Good Men are all examples of films that capture our thematic imagination of what a courtroom looks like. As we moved in this new direction with the design, the traditional courtroom interiors of those films became valuable reference points. The hunt for a location that would become the final courtroom interior landed me in Patterson, NJ. That city has a cool history. Jim Jarmusch made a great film about it. Spielberg finished shooting West Side Story there too. In Patterson, a phenomenal church building was discovered on one of the location scouts. When I first walked into the space with cinematographer Phedon Papamichael and we saw the height and the scale of windows, we knew we could achieve what we wanted there; so, we ended up transforming a large abandoned church building into a federal courtroom. The process was a lot of fun. Before construction started, the church had to go through abatement to get it to a place where all the trades could work safely. But once it was prepped, it was perfect. The proportion and scale of the nave were aligned with how the scenes needed to be blocked. The existing architecture allowed for enough physical space between the eight defendants on one side, the sixteen urors on the other, and A. COLOR STUDY. B. POLICE STATION EXTERIOR. PRODUCTION STILL. PHOTO BY NIKO TAVERNISE. C. CHICAGO PARK. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY JAMIE RAMA. D. RIOT AFTERMATH. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY JAMIE RAMA. E. THE TAKING OF THE HILL. PHOTO COMPOSITE BY SHANE VALENTINO. D E