Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1490572
places where Steven grew up due to COVID-19 limitations and budget considerations. Yet filming exclusively in California precipitated an aesthetic that was meaningfully nostalgic, as it reminded Steven and I of our shared backgrounds in mid- 1970s era Hollywood-based film and television production, which made creative use of whatever was available around Los Angeles to represent any place in the world. The way we produced the design was to try to evoke that era of filmmaking when young Sammy Fabelman would have begun making professional movies. This is young Sammy telling his story and the studio provided him certain restrictions in order to make his semi- autobiographical movie. The Fabelman Homes: The most important sets were the three Fabelman houses, which were "the heart of the movie." Their many rooms and intimate spaces each contributed something to Sammy's psychological, emotional, moral and artistic development. In our design process, Lauren Polizzi and Andrew Broomell drew upon an abundance of photo reference material from the Spielberg family archives. Our set designs for the New Jersey and Arizona houses were based on "little floors plans" that Steven drew from memory. Paraphrasing a famed line in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, a key film in Sammy's cinematic coming-of-age (and reflecting Steven's love of director John Ford's movies), we always came back to the point of view that "when the memory starts to become a legend, tell the legend." The whole "filmscape" exploration that's within this movie is within that gap between one's actual memories and what one's past means when older, looking back on it. The interiors of Sammy's homes were built on LA North stages in Santa Clarita, California, by A. NEW JERSEY HOME. DINING ROOM. SET PHOTO. B. NEW JERSEY HOME. KITCHEN. SET PHOTO. C. NEW JERSEY HOME. GARAGE. SET PHOTO. D. NEW JERSEY HOME. SAMMY'S BEDROOM. SET PHOTO. E. ARIZONA HOME STAGE SET. WHITE MODEL BY DARCY PROVOST. A B C D