Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1529668
While Oz conducted his business in the poor neighborhoods such as the red-light district and Crown Point, he chose to live in a loft in Midtown's Diamond District, untouched by the flood. Lauren LeFranc and I agreed that the loft would be on a lower level, showing that our protagonist was still on the bottom of the crime world ladder. After researching jewelry businesses, I pitched the idea that Oz lived in a former jewelry repair shop, and moved his bed inside of the precious stones vault. The walls of metal drawers seemed to capture his love for everything shiny, and also commented on his capability of compartmentalizing. The script described a fake fireplace, so I spent a great deal of time figuring out the exact level of 'bad taste' for the look of the set. I was greatly assisted by Colin Farrell, who portrayed the Penguin, and was also a producer of the series. We had a long creative meeting covering not only the loft stage set designs but the entire Production Design arc. Colin brought in references for the scripted "bad art," and we later captured their spirit in the set decor. After we finished, Colin sent actor Deirdre O'Connell (who plays Francis Oz's mother) to my office. That led to another in-depth character conversation, and more specific art choices in Francis' environments. Oz's schemes to take over Gotham's drug trade resulted in him finding a safe space for his operation in an abandoned trolley depot. The C A B D E F