Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1490572
T H E F A B E L M A N S | P E R S P E C T I V E 4 3 The opportunity of building the world of the Fabelman family and recreating memories of Steven Spielberg's childhood came to me, I think, because I have worked with him as a Production Designer on eleven films over three decades. I was drawn to the deeply personal nature of the project and intrigued by how it dramatizes the development of what I think of as "the Spielberg code," which is the set of visual themes and motifs that reoccur throughout his cinema. This is the first time that I can think of that Steven has made a movie stripped of most metaphors, so the audience sees into what forms the stories that his films have depicted and how they've been told. The viewer gets direct insight into who he is, not only as a person and how he developed, but also how his cinematic art process developed, and that it is an art that has come from a deep emotional place within him. There wasn't a large budget, but it's not actually a small movie. The Art Department felt that we were designing an epic story, but it was an "interior epic." With many intimate settings to explore. The Art, set dressing and prop departments had a balancing act in order to realistically depict the homes that Steven lived in, but not as a literal re- creation. We were designing the "fable-version." The key was how to make each set, especially the three primary homes, a place Steven would feel "at home" to best inspire his creative process of remembrance. While not trying to be one hundred percent accurate, within these sets we were extrapolating and then re-envisioning the details of three major times in his early years. Steven and his three sisters provided numerous photos and reminiscences. We asked all the family members what they remembered. Set decorator A. EXTERIOR OF THE FABELMANS' NEW JERSEY HOME DURING A TORNADO. ILLUSTRATION BY DYLAN REED AND ANDREW M. CAHN. B. NEW JERSEY HOME EXTERIOR LOCATION IN CHATSWORTH, CA. SET PHOTO. C. NEW JERSEY HOME BUILT ON STAGE 2, LA NORTH. B C