Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1495092
Although everything was brand new, I was drawn to what research revealed as disjointed details of the builds; you could see between the seams as groups of filmmakers sweated to figure things out together. So I wanted to highlight these imperfections in all of our production's custom-built film equipment, camera boxes and microphones. Art Director Ace Eure and Set Designer Luis Hoyos took to realizing every detail of late 1920s sound stages, from the built production sets, to the period accuracy of the backing flats, lighting towers and to the greenbed placements. The Singin' in the Rain set was a recreation of MGM's elaborate 1928 musical revue, and the artificiality in the design was expanded, intentionally rivaling the battlefield location from earlier in the movie. The massive hand-painted custom "Noah's Ark" backing—done by Ed Strang at Trio—was scaled to encompass the entire back wall of Stage 16 and lined by massive light towers and hundreds of working period lights. An enormous rock-wall scenic piece was made in the style of the time, with chicken wire and plaster over wood platforms, and a period rain machine was constructed under the greenbeds by Elia Popov's SPFX team. The production had three soundstages at Paramount housing eight movie sets; we repurposed the silent studio framed flats as masking walls to hide each set from one another and provide a place for our modern-day film crew. The color palette was chosen to enhance the tone of each scene. The movie-within-the-movie's "dorm room" set was stark and squared off, with E. KINESCOPE PICTURES. DORM ROOM. ILLUSTRATION BY JOANNA BUSH. F. KINESCOPE PICTURES. DORM ROOM. PARAMOUNT STAGE 28 SET PHOTO. G. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN SET. PARAMOUNT STAGE 16. SET PHOTO. H. KINOSCOPE PICTURES. JAZZ CLUB SET. PARAMOUNT STAGE 28. SET PHOTO. E F G H