Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1504681
7 6 P E R S P E C T I V E | J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 2 3 Another wonderful collaboration was with the cinematographer Igor Martinovic. One way we wanted to visually highlight the public vs. private theme of the series was to lean heavily into reflections and frames within frames. I developed some ideas for how the design could interact with, prepare for, and inform him and his departments' own language. One place we really used this was in the stage build of the iconic Quonset Hut recording studio in Nashville, where countless country and rock legends have recorded albums. It's an iconic place in country music history and the show really did come very close to what was originally there. But we added something to help with this theme that was a perfect mix of design and camerawork. In the '60s there was reference of acoustic dividers in the studio—simple wood frames with batting and burlap that separated the different artists when they recorded. We embraced these but with a change—we added glass panels at head height which were installed at a 45-degree angle, as well as a huge window to the control-both so that whenever George and Tammy were recording —either in a duet or singing solo while the other listens, you could see both of them in frame via one of these reflective planes. It created a beautiful motif —whenever they were in the studio—a collaboration more successful than their love or family life, they were always in the frame together. It worked best in my favorite musical number of the series—"He Stopped Loving Her Today," where the whole scene plays out entirely within these planes of glass. A. "TILL I GET IT RIGHT" PERFORMANCE. PRODUCTION STILL COURTESY OF SHOWTIME. B. "TILL I GET IT RIGHT" PERFORMANCE. PRODUCTION STILL BY DANA HAWLEY. THIS MUSICAL NUMBER WAS HEAVILY BASED ON RESEARCH OF AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE. C. VEGAS PENTHOUSE. PLAN AND ELEVATIONS BY KEVIN HARDISON. D. VEGAS PENTHOUSE SUITE. SET SKETCH BY JONAH MARKOWITZ. E. & F. VEGAS PENTHOUSE SUITE. SET PHOTOS. B A C