Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1470106
Victor's home is no doubt a form of architectural stylization, it could be called "theatrical realism" or "hyperreality by design." I tried to give Victor's lair a menacing look, while at the same time being slightly tongue-in-cheek. These villains are megalomaniacs, so they have enormous spaces built out of reinforced concrete, and then filled with priceless paintings and antiue furniture. I mix it all up and try to have a sense of humour. New rleans-based scenic Alexander 'Sasha' Stolin actually designed and painted a "priceless" piece of art for Victor's living room. It was a gorgeous 16-foot by 12-foot fresco that was backlit, and it absolutely stole my breath away. The house interior for Victor built onstage would not necessarily fit the same scale indicated by the established exterior. Some of the rooms needed to be of epic proportions as the production had every intention of crashing a massive 4 x 4 Suburban through the window facade of the house. The car would need to come to a stop somewhere in this cavernous main room, and the window the car explodes through was rather on the massive size. After a couple of weeks of pre-preproduction creating concepts, I returned to New Orleans and, with the Art Department starting up proper, embarked on the next stage of design. Seven weeks of preproduction (with Christmas sandwiched in the middle) before principal photography would start. I would be joined by Jim Gelarden (Art Director), Kristin Bicksler (Set Decorator), Henry McGee (Graphic Artist) and Set Designer Jessica Ochoa. To better understand the motivation for the world that needed to be created, understanding who the two main conflicting factions are in this tale would help. There has been a truce in existence for more than a century in Los Angeles between a group of vampires and another group of humans who are headquartered in Boyle Heights, with neither crossing the boundaries laid out and maintained by their antagonists. These are modern-day vampires who have evolved beyond their ancestral A. VICTOR'S HOUSE AFTER SUBURBAN CRASH. ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN MCGONNELL. B. BENNY'S BEDROOM. PRODUCTION STILL. C. LA LAUNDROMAT. PRODUCTION STILL. D. LAUNDROMAT MURAL. GRAPHIC LAYOUT. BY ALEXANDER STOLIN. GRAPHIC LAYOUT BY GEOFFREY MANDEL. E. BOYLE HEIGHTS STREET MURAL BY SERGIO ROBLETO PAINTED IN BOYLE HEIGHTS. A B C D E