Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1485934
T H E B O Y S , S E A S O N T H R E E | P E R S P E C T I V E 1 1 3 Early in the fall of 2020, I had recently watched the first two seasons and thoroughly enjoyed them, so I was excited to join the show. Eric Kripke, the writer and show runner assured me that despite a decent amount of this world having already been established, there would be plenty more crazy designs to dig into. So how does one begin to approach designing sets and custom props that would make one's own mother blush? Superhero- themed adult toys, a giant set representing a particular male anatomy, a whole episode centered around an orgy for the super-powered crowd, all of it waiting to spring to life. I hit the ground running, and into quarantine for fourteen days. With COVID still rampant and no vaccines yet in sight, I settled into my mandated fourteen days of isolation after crossing the border into Toronto. By far, the Art Department's biggest challenge on the show was the continual need to accommodate the stunts and special effects needed to make the show work. While we were afforded more time than one might usually get on a standard television production schedule, we still were producing feature level sets with less time than needed. To address the challenge of time, we often leaned into considerable builds into existing locations. Similarly, in other instances, finding great locations and then building sets on stage that would in effect become part of those locations through the editing process. The first sizable set that fit this description was a Russian nuclear laboratory that had to look like it was stuck solidly in the 1980s with a cryogenic chamber, as well as a tank that could hold a super- enabled hamster and, of course, host a firefight. With so many stunts and effects, it became necessary to construct the bulk of the lab. With time constraints though, I was concerned that not only would the production lack stage space, we'd also not quite get the level of production value we desired in time for filming. As a result of those concerns, we set out on the task of finding a great location that would have the bones we could build into—something with a level of character and grit that would basically be our canvas. Location manager Drazen Baric sourced a great facility offering a large room with two stories clear, white-glazed cinder block and a long hallway running alongside the upper level with windows looking down. The crew added a steel catwalk with A. RUSSIAN LAB RENDERED MODEL - RENDERED IN ENSCAPE 3D BY BARBARA AGBAJE. B. CRYROGENIC CHAMBER ILLUSTRATION - INITIAL CHAMBER MODEL RENDERED IN ENSCAPE BY BARBARA AGBAJE WITH AUGMENTATIONS IN PHOTOSHOP BY JEFF MOSSA. C. RUSSIAN LAB AND CRYROGENIC CHAMBER ILLUSTRATION - REDERED IN ENSCAPE 3D BY BARBARA AGBAJE WITH AUGMENTATIONS IN PHOTOSHOP BY JEFF MOSSA. B C