Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1533577
Now there's REAL and REEL, and the quote I will admit to using liberally and often is, "…I'm not making a documentary." As if by saying it out loud gets me out of the constrictions of realism. But the opportunity to tell these stories and recreate these environments has been one of the real highlights of this show, especially for the visual departments. The excitement of creating these wild and disparate locales became a great and fun challenge. Each week when a new script came out, the question of where can we actually tell these stories is step one. Often, I would actually have a much earlier conversation with showrunner Spencer Hudnut as to the possibility of being able to find locations to match what he and the other writers were planning. We tend to think of Los Angeles as a sort of Disneyland where everything is possible—that is to say of COURSE, there must be a Tomorrowland somewhere to shoot futuristic scenes, or an Adventureland, Fantasyland, Frontierland, and Main Street. And IDEALLY for production's sake, they are all inside the zone! And truth be told, you can actually find some reasonable, or better, facsimile of all those. But I'm sure Walt did not plan his famous amusement park with a Jalalabadland in mind, nor did the Mulhollands envision replicating the rural villages of Syria when first bringing water to this dry basin so many years go. And so that's where the Art Department comes in! Usually right after the conversation with Spencer, two things happen. ONE—I would start my crew on research for images of, well, anything and everything that might possibly show up in the next episode. From Uyghur villages to Isis bride refugee camps—the old adage of a picture's worth a thousand words is never truer than when trying to bring everyone together to envision something that is so far from our reality. And if a picture is worth a thousand, a good model is worth millions. We built amazing models. Some just for reference and approval of concept while others were actually seen onscreen as part of the story. All these were overseen by the talented and fastidious Assistant Art Director, Lee Wilson-Silas. And then TWO—I would get together with the location team of Curtis Collins and Ross Day. Between all their combined A. MODEL OF AHEL AL AZEM SITE IN JORDAN. BUILT BY THE JORDANIAN ART DEPARTMENT. B. LEE WILSON-SILAS AT WORK ON GIANT SAND TABLE MODEL. C. SAND TABLE MODEL BUILT FOR USE ONSCREEN BY LEE WILSON-SILAS. D. ISIS BRIDE RELOCATION CAMP SET. BUILT IN JORDAN. SET PHOTO. E. TUNISIAN TOBACCO SHOP BUILT ON STAGE 21 CBS RADFORD, FEATURING DOZENS OF CUSTOM GRAPHICS BY JESSICA QUATTRINI. F. CONCEPT RENDERING OF DESTROYED SYRIAN TOWN CREATED IN PROCREATE BY STUART BLATT. G. RUBBLED TOWN BUILT AT BLUE CLOUD RANCH. C A B E D