Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1470106
9 8 P E R S P E C T I V E | M AY / J U N E 2 0 2 2 Warburton-Brown, working with Assistant Art Director eline McDowell and draughtsperson wa alak, was tasked with breaking down the outlines of the story and looking at how to most eciently contain all the elements of the season within an achievable build. onstruction managers Dominic and Nicky Akland-Snow provided surgical assistance with creative ideas and methodologies for tailoring our aspirations to stay within those boundaries but still elevate the design. That symbiotic relationship with construction would then carry across all the built environments, keeping our eciency at an extremely high level while always staying fiscally on course. In season one, it was discovered that the project had a natural gravity that pulled it into the narrower alleyways and labyrinths of the exterior town environments it visited. The crew set out to create a set that had both discreet areas tailored to individual episodes, but also an endless flow that would allow characters to continuously move through the environment, changing orientations and entering alleys and streets from different directions in order to give the illusion of a much larger scale. This was coupled with carefully chosen VFX extensions that gave the audience a visual grounding device unique to specific episodes. This allowed the show to utilize particular sections of the backlot for multiple environments by changing the extensions. Two of the most important environments in this season were Nivellen's mansion in episode one, which in many ways set the tone for the season with its scale and detail, and aer Morhen, which would be an environment returned to on a regular basis across almost all episodes. Nivellen's Mansion The creative team wanted the opening of the season to begin with a nod to the Witcher's olish roots. pisode one was to be set almost entirely in one location. Nivellen's mansion needed to have a very strong identity, so we began with an extensive search of olish castles that might serve as a jumping-off point. zocha Castle in southwestern Poland immediately stood out with its strong verticality and unique tower. The somewhat enigmatic architectural layout allowed us to create a scripted environment on stage that sat very believably within the outer walls inspired by a real exterior. Art Directors Mark Larkin, Dominic Hyman and hil lton worked in tandem to design an environment that was then moved into Unreal ngine by V Set Designer liver Herrick. This tool has become an essential part of how we develop spaces and A. BACKLOT STREETS. ILLUSTRATION. BACKLOT STREETS BY GÁBOR SZABÓ. B. BACKLOT LAYOUT. MODEL. C. NIVELLEN'S MANSION APPROACH. ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL VERES WITH GRAPHICS ADJUSTMENT OF FOREGROUND FIGURE. MODELED IN BLENDER AND 3DCOAT FOR THE 3D ELEMENTS AND PHOTOSHOP FOR PHOTOBASHING. D. NIVELLEN'S MANSION COURTYARD. SET PHOTO. E. NIVELLEN'S MANSION COURTYARD. ELEVATIONS. F. NIVELLEN'S MANSION COURTYARD, ENTRY HALL AND DRAWING ROOM. PLAN. A B