Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1507937
a lot of trust and a telepathic shorthand. He gives his department heads the creative autonomy to come up with innovations that push the medium while adding value to his process, and he is always very supportive in return. The key mandate we were given for this pilot was to make it authentic and make Pasadena a character in the story. Since Pasadena is rarely shot as Pasadena, we were all excited by the opportunity to localize it. Jason Segal is a resident and the show's location manager David Flannery is a third-generation Pasadenan who goes by the nickname "Mr. Pasadena," so I knew we were in good company. To inform my process, I first met EP and head writer Neil Goldman and pilot director James Pondsoldt to gather intel and brainstorm design ideas. Jason Segal and producer/director Randall Winston joined the conversation to discuss the sense of place, character details and how best to achieve a knife- edge balance between comedic and dramatic moments in the script. Jason was brilliant at articulating the tone and ethos he had in mind by saying: "Rock bottom is an interesting thing because it seems like it's a sad place, but it's actually very hopeful because there's no place to go but up, watching people scramble in the dark to try to pull themselves out of a hole I think is an inherently funny thing. Grown-ups desperate is really funny." And, he said that at the core of Shrinking, the narrative is about: "Getting really honest about what life actually feels like when nobody's looking…what does it look like if someone is really grieving something that they're never going to get back." The creative team started to devise visual strategies to support Jason's thesis about Jimmy's loss and persistent grief. Instead of stereotypical clues like empty booze bottles piling up, we developed shots supported by design, where in scenes with Jimmy, half the frame would be empty to emphasize the sense the loss of his wife Tia, who would have otherwise been next to him. We devised shots triggered by lights and reflections to conjure Tia in scenes as if in flashback, but it would actually be fragments of happiness firing off in Jimmy's head in key moments. We discussed taking down the value of all interior paint colors A. JIMMY'S HOUSE. ENTRY FOYER. SET PHOTO. B. & C. EXT. JIMMY'S HOUSE, STAGE SET—BACK PATIO, WARNER BROS. STAGE 6. SET PHOTO. D. WARNER BROS. STAGE 6 SPOTTING PLAN WITH JIMMY'S HOUSE FIRST FLOOR, LIZ AND DEREK'S HOUSE FIRST FLOOR, BY MICAH WILMOTT. SET PHOTOS BY TIM SWOPE. A B C D