Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1507937
her astounding research skills and eye. She always takes my prompt and comes back with something more and better.) Now with the perfect location house, and an idea how we could use Brynn's own talents to show how she created a space specific to her needs, we were able to dive into the design. We couldn't shoot the interior of that existing house—someone lived there, and we needed at least three weeks of prep for the outside (and to fix the roof), and then four weeks of shooting (then restoration)—the owner didn't want to move out for that long, and our budget wouldn't allow to pay him that much anyway. More importantly, the real interior was a warren of rooms that simply didn't work for our story. Enter our small, but hugely talented, Art Department. The first remarkable score was the pure chance that Kristin Lekki was available to be our Art Director. She had turned down all the other work that had swamped NOLA due to a just recently healed accident. Kristin is a dynamo of both organization and talent, and she was able to find some local talent to come on board, especially a very skilled and affable Art Department coordinator, Michele Miatello, and a local, also very skilled, Set Designer, Jessica Stumpf. But Jessica was the only local Set Designer available, and we had such a tight schedule—just a few weeks to design and draw the sets—that we needed more help. I was able to entice Gordon Stotz, who I've now been grateful to work with on several projects, to come to NOLA for a bit. Jaime Salazar, who has stayed in touch for many years, had just come available, so we could finally have that chance to work together. Gordon is a master at SketchUp, with a very useful architectural background, so he was able to whip up the exterior of the house in a few days, and then work with me to flesh out the interior to make it do what Bryan and DP Aaron Morton needed. Jaime is skilled at Unreal, so he then took that model and tied it into the location, working out the dormers we needed, as well as other additions to both the house and yard to make them Brynn's. We worked to provide the action beats the script needed, with Jaime's Unreal model helping Aaron plan shots and E. INT. BRYNN'S BASEMENT, PRELIMINARY PLAN BY RAMSEY AVERY. THIS SET WAS DESIGNED TO BE SHOT ON STAGE, BUT FOR COVER REASONS, WE HAD TO ADAPT IT TO FIT INSIDE A BARN AT THE EXT HOUSE LOCATION. F. & G. INT. BRYNN'S HOUSE, FIRST FLOOR, AND SECOND FLOOR, PRELIMINARY PLANS BY RAMSEY AVERY. THIS ADAPTS THE BASIC LAYOUT OF THE LOCATION HOUSE, ACTUALLY SHORTENING ITS OVERALL DEPTH BY ABOUT 20 FEET AND MAKING IT 10 FEET WIDER TO ADAPT TO OUR SHOOTING NEEDS. H. & I. INT. BRYNN'S HOUSE STUDIES, SKETCHUP MODELS BY GORDON STOTZ. FLOORS ONE AND TWO BUILT ON A WAREHOUSE SPACE IN HARAHAN, LA. THESE HELPED WORK OUT THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE THREE SEPARATE SETS. E F G H I