Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1474575
The other big challenge we faced was assembling the crew to translate the design ideas into technical drawings and models. The industry was so busy at the time, and it took a while to bring together the great team I was lucky enough to collaborate with. The same problem applied to the construction team—and the production ended up splitting the set builds between three construction companies. This posed some issues but also gave us the possibility of building in parallel across diff erent stages. The palace the series ended up creating is an amalgam of those many references I had been collecting. I think that results in quite a diverse look for the show. I was closely infl uenced by the work of Italian architectSet Designer Renzo Mongiardino. The interiors he created were so full of detail and texture, every wall covered either by trompe l'oeils, frescoes, wallpaper or fabric. For rchie's bedroom, I referenced both the interiors he designed for Gianni ersace's apartment in Milan and Rudolf Nureyev's apartment in Paris. The latter had a strong Russian infl uence on it and worked so well in this world. Tony's irreverent' approach to period drama impacted heavily on Production Design, allowing me to play with tropes of the period, reinventing it rather than presenting a series of beautiful interiors looking for the ugliness, grotesque and imperfect at times, comedic set among the beautiful, lavish and luxurious. Drawing heavily on my personal knowledge of the history of art, I was able to experiment and translate architecture and spaces that I have grown up admiring into details for the sets. The ernini fountains and sculptures within the churches in Rome, The Ecstasy of Santa Teresa and the beautiful, sculpted rays that descend toward the statue were incorporated in the altar for the coronation in season two. Peter's baby shower and the transformation of his room included a rocaille fountain with cherubs spitting cranberry vodka, drawing on my love of the baroque and rococo fountains. Season Two The second season was an opportunity for the rt Department to have fun with the sets we had created. y then, we had established a visual design language for the show which we could apply to any new set, and we allowed ourselves to experiment and push certain concepts further. e were oined by a brilliant set decorator, Monica lberte. aving worked all around the world, Monica sourced interesting artefacts abroad, luxurious fabrics from lois in Italy, stunning lanterns and wall sconces from Seville. orking during the pandemic and with rexit being implemented as shooting started, the production was faced with some signifi cant logistical di culties. Nevertheless, as a team we were all extremely engaged with creating new sets as we destroyed' the palace for episode one. The second season starts four months after the end of season one, when Catherine launched her coup on Peter. The palace needed to bear the scars of four months of fi ghting. e established a neutral' A A. AUNT ELIZABETH'S BEDROOM. CONCEPT ELEVATION BY ANNIE MITCHELL. TECHNICAL DRAWING BY SILVIA COLAFRANCESCHI. B. AUNT ELIZABETH'S APARTMENTS. PRODUCTION PHOTO BY SIMON UPTON. B