Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541514
H E D D A | P E R S P E C T I V E 7 3 The film is set over one night, in which a party thrown by Hedda devolves into debaucherous chaos. The heart of the story explores the confines put upon women by society and how they all find their own way—or don't—to break free of them. I wanted to figure out who this character was, who her contemporaries would have been and how to realistically bring her world to life. My inspiration came from a handful of the socialites from the era—women who weren't afraid to buck social norms of the time and surrounded themselves with artists and designers. Oonagh Guinness, Gloria Vanderbilt and Lee Radziwell were sources of inspiration. They wanted to live in the modern world and in turn sought to create one for themselves. David Hicks and Madeleine Castaing were both interior designers that I referenced a lot. Layering patterns and prints, their spaces are still eccentric, fresh and visionary today. Creating this stylistic frame of reference really helped guide me through the design. From the start I knew the hardest part would be finding the right house, which would become the overall framework for the design. Nia is very specific about how she imagines the layout of a space when she writes. The script was very descriptive, clearly noting the rooms of the house and how they should flow together. Nia also wanted to shoot in one house and not adjoin several locations to make one complete house. The architectural style she left up to me, but as far as the elements we needed to have, they included: a grand staircase in the entry foyer, a double-height great room with an interior gallery overlook, an original period kitchen, a period bathroom with tub, a lake visible from the house exterior, the ability to shoot on the roof and an area to build a maze on the property. Nia wanted to be able to practically drop a chandelier inside the house as well. I also needed to find the house within forty-five minutes of Central London. So in other words, I had a very specific set of requirements. I pushed hard to start vetting houses as early as possible and, conveniently, I was already in the UK working on additional photography for The Marvels. It was a full year before prep for Hedda and it sounded fun to visit gorgeous houses, so I started slowly looking at locations with a scout. We started within London, gradually working our way further out of the city. Finding exactly A. HEDDA. THE MODERN ART THROUGHOUT THE HOUSE WAS CREATED BY SCENIC PAINTER THOMASINA SMITH. PRODUCTION STILL.