Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521244
7 8 P E R S P E C T I V E | M AY / J U N E 2 0 2 4 In the end, the production chose to construct a moderately large set with an entire backdrop on a Hong Kong sound stage despite it barely meeting our scenery requirements. Initially, the Art Department designed both apartments with numerous shared walls and planned to puzzle the wall layout to accommodate the two apartment sets. However, due to schedule conflicts and the pandemic, we ended up building Margaret's apartment in LA, along with the hallway set, and shooting Hillary's similar apartment on the Hong Kong sound stage. While last-minute changes are always challenging, having both apartments already designed alleviated some of the inconvenience. Margaret and Hilary's apartments shared several Hong Kong-inspired architectural features. These included a travertine partition placed by the entrance for feng shui—human assimilation with nature—purposes, curved walls strategically integrated to extend the room and create a visual perception of spaciousness, and a cookie-cutter room layout designed to maximize every square foot. In both apartments, the dining room, kitchen, laundry room, and immigrant workers' quarters were arranged in identical configurations. These similarities stemmed from the apartments being situated in the same building but on different floors. Furthermore, both residences boasted full- length windows with the same scenic backdrop, enhancing the overall ambiance and suggesting the set location at the Mid-Levels in Hong Kong amidst the bustling cityscape. Due to using a scenery backdrop, the set building requirements were a bit different than usual. We built both sets on a 9-foot-high platform and printed backdrops for each window angle. For night scenes, we actually planted various colors of light sources into the way-too-many tiny windows in the backdrop to make it more believable while also making it possible to adjust the tone as needed. The night view and dawn after the typhoon blackouts in episode five effectively show the results of our efforts. A B C A. MANORS ON THE PEAK. STARR APARTMENT. BUILT ON STAGE IN HONG KONG. B. MANORS ON THE PEAK BACKDROP. SET PHOTO. C. MANORS ON THE PEAK. STARR APARTMENT. SET BUILT ON HONG KONG STAGE. DIRECTOR'S PLAN BY PING SUN HSU.