LMGI COMPASS
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Spring 2021
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the setting for several high-octane gunfighting sequences.
Vickers' team found the perfect location for the fictional
Monarch Solutions headquarters at the American Cancer
Society Center in downtown Atlanta. Designed by Atlanta
architect John Portman, it had the high ceilings, open
spaces, stark black-and-white contrast and lack of corners
that gave it the futuristic look perfect for the story world
within the game.
For the A&E medical miniseries thriller Coma, his team
led production to another high-tech office building in the
High Museum of Art, also in Atlanta. "You have to think
outside the box. Even though the script says 'office,'
you have to look at what could fit the style and story
the director wants to tell. One of the things I love about
this job is that we're often trying to solve a puzzle with
a creative eye, really focusing on the alternate uses of
locations and spaces to convey the visual landscape of
a story."
Sharp Objects Comes to Town
Scouting has recently become a family business in the
Vickers' household. For the HBO crime drama Sharp
Objects, starring Amy Adams, Vickers teamed with
Taylor, his wife of 30 years, who had also become a scout.
Together, they found the pig farm, swimming hole and
several key locations in the city of Barnesville, Georgia.
Sixty miles south of Atlanta, it stood in for the fictional city of
Wind Gap, Missouri.
"We found the locations by getting to know the local community
and gaining their support so they would be excited to help us
with the project. It's as much about the collaboration with local
community as it is working with the production company,"
shares Vickers.
One location that was a particularly challenging find was the
"swimming hole" where a pivotal flashback sequence was to
take place. In the script, it was described as a small lake or pond
totally surrounded by trees with an intimate and claustrophobic
vibe.
"This doesn't exist in the real world," says Vickers. "When you
look at most lakes or ponds, there's usually a shoreline. You don't
often find trees growing right up on the edge of a pond or lake."
The perfect location presented itself as Vickers was chatting
with the publisher of the local Barnesville newspaper. He just
happened to own a property with an area he intended to develop
into a duck pond. There was very little access to the spot, but
director Jean-Marc Vallée and production designer John Paino
fell in love with it.
"We ended up putting in a small gravel road, further excavating
the area, and clearing out the brush in the pond. We found the
nearest water hydrant so the fire department could pump water
Dodd Vickers/LMGI and wife, Taylor Vickers
