Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1526889
T H E D E L I V E R A N C E | P E R S P E C T I V E 4 1 audience Ebony has unseen wealth when the script definitely says otherwise. One other small stage-build was a fun challenge: a hospital observation room where young Andre is seen scurrying up walls and across the ceiling. The budget wouldn't allow for a classic room-on- a-360-degree gimbal, so the production settled on building the room in pieces, allowing it to be assembled upright, or at a right angle, or upside down for the in-camera stunt work. VFX would paint in the in-between phases. Lee took quite seriously the Biblical battle between light and darkness in our script. He arranged to have an onset Apostle with us throughout filming, who was there to open each day's shoot with a prayer. He prayed for success in our work and for protection against any evil demons afoot. The prayer was always devoutly Jesus-based, something that rankled this Jewish-raised atheist. (I suppose if I really objected, I was free to leave the stage for these prayers.) The company relied on this religious expert to ensure that our depictions of Baptist or Pentecostal observances shown on film would be absolutely accurate. He helped us understand the significance of the color white or gold or blood red in Pentecostal Church decor, and the use of swords or candles or Hebraic scrolls and ram's horns in their rituals. Which brings me back to the Pentecostal Church location. Lee had spotted a white-brick mansion that was once a funeral parlor next to one of our proposed locations that he thought would serve as the church. He was right—it turned out brilliantly. But its interior needed major builds to become our Pentecostal Church. A large neutral parlor became our chapel by adding a dais with a white/gold columned portal to frame the lectern for the Apostle. This was backed by a striking mural of clouds pierced by glories supplied by Graphic Designer Raquel Bouvy. For a prayer room where Ebony begins speaking in tongues, the crew installed blood-red G E. BASEMENT PRELIMINARY SKETCH BY STEVE SAKLAD, FEATURING THE STAIRCASE WITH TWO TURNS. F. BASEMENT PRELIMINARY SKETCH BY STEVE SAKLAD, WITH ONE TURN IN THE STAIRS AND A SUGGESTION OF THE SECOND STAIRS TO THE BACKYARD. G. BASEMENT PRELIMINARY GROUND PLAN BY STEVE SAKLAD, CONFORMING TO THE FOOTPRINT OF THE HOUSE ABOVE.