Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541514
7 0 P E R S P E C T I V E I N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 5 was grateful for that request, as I felt something was just…well, missing, it needed that little extra something. The roof gable was the final touch on a very hand-plastered, functionally post-and- beam, very hand-hewn structure. Along with the Creature's cell, we introduced mosses and other organic textures as integral to the Creature's environment. We kept the moss squad, as Guillermo called them, recalling having a similar team on Pan's Labyrinth, a combination of scenic painters, dressers and greens, busy working in an artful synchronization. Building the Frankenstein Family Story After searching throughout Europe and North America for suitable locations, we settled on Scotland and parts of the U.K. for the Frankenstein family story. It was an easy choice for us, as much of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein took place in Edinburgh, a major center of scientific knowledge at the time, and the influences of Scotland's bleak north near Dundee, where Ms. Shelley spent many of her formative years, exemplified our desired look. Several studio sets needed to blend seamlessly into those surroundings. One of the sets I was most passionate about was Victor Frankenstein's early Edinburgh apartment. This misaligned garret apartment was as long as it was crooked; this crookedness was a definite challenge to our carpenters, who rely on the sacristy of the right angle when building. Each day, I would push them to lean the walls further out of being plumb, adding to the misshapen interior. Using stained and aged panelled oak and giant skylight windows with truckloads of antique books and scientific paraphernalia, we honoured graphic illustrator Bernie Wrightson, who was a great source of inspiration to both Guillermo and me, with shelves of tubes and beakers and pickled body parts. It was there that we see the mother's bed, used in Victor's childhood flashbacks and again later in his quarters in the lab tower. This canopy bed was a madness of carved posts and covered in Guillermo's signature pigeon blood red in the flocking and gloss stain. It took months to custom-sculpt and upholster, with hand embroidery coming from Hand & Lock in London. A. COTTAGE MILL. ILLUSTRATION. BY CHRIS PENNA BASED ON 3D SKETCHUP MODEL BY SET DESIGNER JON CHAN. B. MILL INTERIOR. ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS PENNA BASED ON A 3D SKETCHUP MODEL BY JON CHAN. C. THE MILL HOUSE, EXTERIOR. BUILT ON LOCATION AT KLEINBURG STUDIOS OUTSIDE TORONTO. SET PHOTO BY KEN WORONER/NETFLIX D. MILL INTERIOR. SET PHOTO BY KEN WORONER/NETFLIX C A B D