Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1521244
recently demolished church. Map cases and other classroom details were on loan from the Cherokee Museum." In addition to the normal challenges of production, the production also faced an entirely unexpected one: a catastrophic fire in the building that housed the set decoration, construction, and scenic shops a week before we were supposed to start installing and dressing the sets. The entire structure almost completely burned down, which meant much of our historical dressing and personal kits were destroyed. What wasn't burned was soaked by the fire hoses used to put out the blaze. The team had one week to re-source everything that had taken us months to acquire and we pulled it off. It was a testament to everyone's talents and the sense of responsibility we all felt toward the story and the show in general. Mabel's House Reading the scripts for season two, the episode titled "Mabel" immediately stood out. In it, Elora Danan's grandmother would pass away in her bed surrounded by community members sending her on with song, prayer and ceremony. We knew production would approach the scenes with solemnity and respect, just as when we had previously shot emotionally difficult material. They would take time to offer a blessing in the morning and ritually cleanse (smudge) cast and crew members during the day to make sure everyone felt taken care of. Okmulgee, a small town an hour south of Tulsa that functions as the seat of the Muscogee Creek nation, was the backdrop for the fictional village of Okern. I spent hours driving around and visiting homes with Rockee Harjo, Sterlin's brother and an assistant location manager. From the first days of scouting, I asked if I could take pictures of the houses we were invited into so we could incorporate the details (like a Bible quote on the fridge or a handwritten recipe taped to a kitchen cabinet) into our visual references to help add warmth and authenticity to our sets. Tafv Sampson: "The most important aspect of the house was Mabel's bedroom, where she would pass on. We knew many of the actors in the room with Mabel would be elders from the community, like Wotko Long and Dana Tiger, who had gone through similar experiences in their own lives. The dynamic offered us the opportunity to create a richer, more purposeful space that resonated with the people involved and helped foster a sense of intimacy. We asked people on the crew if they had something belonging to a departed loved one that they wanted to contribute to the scene. The prop department's Neosha Pendergraft gave us A. BOARDING SCHOOL DORMITORY. PRODUCTION STILL. B. BOARDING SCHOOL CLASSROOM. THE OWL ON A PLATFORM IS AN OMEN OF DEATH AND IT WAS BROUGHT INTO THE BOARDING SCHOOL SPACE AS A TYPE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTROL. SET PHOTO. C. BOARDING SCHOOL MESS HALL. SET PHOTO. D. MABEL'S BEDROOM. THE SET WAS DRESSED WITH EMOTIONALLY SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS PROVIDED BY CAST AND CREW MEMBERS THAT HONORED A LOVED ONE OF THEIRS WHO HAD PASSED AWAY. PRODUCTION STILL. E. SET DECORATION AND PROP WAREHOUSE AFTER THE FIRE. F. MABEL'S HOUSE. PRODUCTION STILL. D F E