Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1490572
Christmas Room The famous "Christmas room" scene was a simple four-walled set built on Stage 16 at Universal Studios. Architectural details of the second floor of Deborah's mansion were used, and a small guest bedroom designed which would double as Deborah's Christmas storage room. Set decorator Jen Lukehart and assistant set decorator Jill Carvalho filled the space wall-to- wall with Christmas tchotchkes (inspired by Paul's grandmother's collections of Byers' Choice Carolers). What had originally been written as a Christmas village became the now iconic dancing Santa when Jill brought that "jolly ol' elf" into the Art Department. We left the wall-mounted wreaths wrapped in plastic as they came, and we justified having a vintage shuffleboard cue leaning against the wall as what Josephina uses to take them down. Crystal Shop It was important to give each set a sense of place and hone into regional details to make the season's road trip convincing. One of my favorite sets was from episode three. Deborah and Ava begin their season-long road trip in Arizona and find themselves in a Sedona crystal shop which leads to a pivotal moment resulting in a crystal fight. It was quickly determined this would be built and the Art Department began researching crystal shops, local building materials and colors of Sedona. We found an existing backing of Sedona at JC Backings which we designed our set around, adding a breezeway and some indoor/outdoor hallways. Exterior faux stone walls were tinted and aged with a very specific "Sedona" red to match an existing strip-mall shot on location in Arizona. Jen completely filled the space with hundreds of real crystals and thousands of painted rocks. Some of the larger pieces were sourced from "some guy's" garage in North Hollywood and prop master Skip Torvinen made a number of rubber rocks for Jean to throw at Hannah. Diana's Office Also, in Sedona, Deborah and Ava visit Deborah's psychic, Diana, who reads tarot cards and takes an aura picture of Ava. This was a simple build with a lot of added character through set dressing. Art Director Rob Tokarz modeled the two-room office in SketchUp with one room being used as Diana's accounting office and the other is her psychic room, with a short wall not quite reaching the ceiling as a fun architectural anomaly. The walls were given a heavy knockdown texture and painted it an appropriate shade of Navajo white. A. CHRISTMAS ROOM. PRODUCTION STILL. B. CRYSTAL SHOP. PRODUCTION STILL. C. CRYSTAL SHOP. SET PHOTO. D. DIANA'S PSYCHIC ROOM. ILLUSTRATION. E. DIANA'S OFFICE. ILLUSTRATION. F. DIANA'S PSYCHIC ROOM. PRODUCTION STILL. G. ARIZONA DINER RESTROOM. PRODUCTION STILL. H. ARIZONA DINER BOOTH GRAPHIC. I. ARIZONA DINER. PRODUCTION STILL. A B C