Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1400113
Working against the power of a private family enterprise worth billions was a government entity ensnared by rules, at times to the detriment of their investigation. I wanted to mire the FBI agents in the structure of their offi ce, and looked for an industrial space with exposed steel beams, water pipes and wire chases. Chris Banks, our location manager, found the perfect location at an elevator repair company, where the bullpen was an elevated fi shbowl set in the bowels of a dark offi ce. In its fi nal international shoot, the show headed to Rome to shoot in January of 2020. There, I realized a barely dreamed goal, working out of a shop at the storied Cinecittà . After returning, production barreled toward the end. Two days into episode six, the plot literally mazes into Cassie's subconscious as she attempts to escape the Mind Palace for good. The ambitions for this set were much larger than the stage space, so I worked closely with Steve Yockey, the episode's writer, Jess Meyer, director Batan Silva and John Decker of FuseFX to fi nd ways to ramp up the sequence. Where we could, the VFX team added endless halls that appeared and vanished before Cassie's eyes. Where we couldn't, I worked with concept designer David Swayze to make Cassie's encounters fully encompassing. We brought the forest from her fi rst hunt into the suite's bedroom and replicated her father's wake in an echo of her childhood living room, all just around the corner from a suite full of rabbits. We also added prismatic vinyl to walls and the elevator to continue to refract Cassie's reality. A mere four weeks from wrap, huddled in the scout van, zipping through Manhattan, the production team started getting text messages from friends on other shoots. Showtime was shutting down their shows. Netfl ix might follow suit. We heard Broadway would cancel performances starting the next day, the infamous Friday, March 13. Drips of news became a torrent and, before we called wrap that evening, we joined A A. AGENT CUBICLES IN THE UNDERBELLY OF THE FBI OFFICE. SET PHOTO. B. SKETCHUP MODEL OF FULLER'S BAR WITH PLAN INSERT OF OUR CAT AND MOUSE BLOCKING PLANS FROM DIRECTOR BATAN SILVA. BY SARA K WHITE C. HOSPITAL SKETCHUP MODEL ELEVATION BY SARA K WHITE. D. HOSPITAL HALLWAY. SET PHOTO BY SPENCER LASKY. B C D