Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535796
built-in flower boxes on the front porch would help sell the more contemporary style of home. The story called for almost a year to pass between these two sets and visually achieving this sense of growth and time was only possible because of the invaluable work of Art Director Elizabeth Newton and her collaboration with construction coordinator Brian Benevides and his indispensable team, who had to create, cover up and recreate the "construction site" and development of Arroyo Glen numerous times due to the nature of our tight 10-day shoot at this location—including the day and half we lost to snow! The interior of Muriel and Lee's new home needed to reflect the visual apex of the nuclear family of that time, while simultaneously embodying the pressure of a traditional life Muriel would eventually determine was not for her. Elevating the existing space with a wall divider, a modern, but sickly palette of greens and yellows and wallpapers that leaned into the gender roles of the time, the dressing also brilliantly captured the modern feel of Americana of that era, cozy and yet also something entirely uncomfortable for Muriel . The most significant set for the emotional arcs of Muriel, Julius and Henry is the Chester Hotel—a secret haven for the LGBTQ community of the time, part bar, part boarding house. The exterior of the set would have to be accomplished while on the backlot of the Disney Ranch, but the interior was scheduled for a half-day shoot within our incredibly compact schedule. I pitched Dan on the now empty Hop Louie restaurant in Chinatown. Not only did I feel the existing Asian motifs felt accurate for the history of queer-friendly bars, often relegated to immigrant communities and the outskirts of cities, but the layout of the lobby and staircase provided the scale and accuracy of what was an "illegal space" for the era. With strategic scenic work, wall plugs, wallpapers and dressing, we were able to transform this once iconic restaurant into the layered emotional culmination of the film. ADG Erin Magill, Production Designer Elizabeth Newton, Kate Weddle, Art Directors Linia Hardy, Assistant Art Director Glen Hall, Brendan O'Connor, Set Designers Chelsea Alden, Lorie Wallick, Adam Tankell, Graphic Designers Melissa Licht, Set Decorator G. CHESTER HOTEL BAR SET. SHOT ON LOCATION IN CHINATOWN. SET PHOTO. H. CHESTER HOTEL LOBBY SET. MESSAGE BOARD. FEATURED GRAPHIC DESIGN WORK BY CHELSEA ALDEN. PRODUCTION STILL. I. CHESTER HOTEL BAR DANCE FLOOR. PRODUCTION STILL. H G I