Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1529668
film, but now the game had changed. The original inspiration drew heavily from German and Russian expressionism, so I returned to a key reference, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, while also exploring a broader range of expressionist cinema and artwork, including Aelita: Queen of Mars and F.W. Murnau's Faust. I also drew inspiration from Set Designers like Andrej Andrejew and William Cameron Menzies, particularly Menzies' science fiction work from the 1950s and 1960s. In addition, artists such as Richard Tennant Cooper and Natalia Goncharova influenced the overall aesthetic and mood I sought to create. Colin Fraser, my construction manager in the UK and his team, spent a long time experimenting with materials and processes to achieve what was created originally, but also to expand our palette. Lots of tests were carried out with metallic paints and lacquers to achieve various levels of reflectivity and luminescence that would absorb the strong colored lighting that is so prevalent in the afterlife. Acid greens, saturated purples and incandescent yellows give the underworld a clear demarcation from the real world that is largely monochromatic, albeit with autumn tones and the occasional pop of primary red giving it an old comic book feel. Throughout the sets, the production used classic film techniques and trickery to extend and augment their scale, trying to avoid the use of CG set extensions wherever possible. From giant mirrors and diminishing shelving in lost and found, to forced perspective railway tunnels in the soul train and every possible trick thrown at the afterlife corridors. The aim was always to achieve things in- camera as much as possible. In addition to constructing new sets, the Art Department also had to recreate several of the originals, including the iconic waiting room. Fortunately, some of the original drawings were still available, which allowed us to accurately replicate the size and shape—a huge relief, since it would have been nearly impossible to do this A. AFTERLIFE CORRIDOR. SET PHOTO. B. LOST AND FOUND. THUMBNAIL SKETCH BY MARK SCRUTON. C. LOST & FOUND PLAN AND ELEVATION SHOWING FLOORING DESIGN. DRAWN BY WILL COUBROUGH. D. SOUL TRAIN PLATFORM. ELEVATION BY WILL HOUGHTON-CONNELL. E. & F. SOUL TRAIN PLATFORM. ILLUSTRATIONS BY EVA KUNTZ. G. SOUL TRAIN PLATFORM. UNDER CONSTRUCTION ON E STAGE. H. SOUL TRAIN PLATFORM. SET PHOTO. A B C