Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541514
place, we could figure out the rest of the sets. Having the house in place when we started our eight-week prep was invaluable, as it allowed us to focus on developing and executing the overall design. The Art Department was very small, but everyone was incredibly talented and perfectly suited to their job. The team included Andrew Bennett as Supervising Art Director, Andrew Ackland-Snow as Senior Art Director and Francis Martin as our Art Department assistant. We also worked with Karl Simon Gustafsson, an incredibly talented Illustrator, to create some beautiful illustrations. Stella Fox was the set decorator and she was a wonderful creative partner. We were completely in sync all the way through the process. My vision was to embrace everything that we loved about Flintham Hall and bring the rest of the house fully into Hedda's eccentric and bohemian world. I almost can't believe now what we were able to do at Flintham. It helped that the Lady of Flintham Hall was excited about doing some remodeling after the shoot. We were allowed to take out all of the existing antique furnishings, drapery and paintings in all of the areas we wanted to shoot in and alter spaces with paint, wallpaper, carpet and built set pieces. Not everything was a 'yes,' but a lot was and we were really able to transform the house from top to bottom. I wanted the design to have flair, but also not be overpowering or distracting. I put together a series of hero images that captured the mood and that we could draw inspiration from. I created a color palette for the house that was period appropriate, but also skewed toward colors that I would call putrid—acidic greens, musky purples, plummy reds and burgundies. I also leaned into the idea of leaving no trace of her husband George's tastes or belongings in any of the rooms—as if Hedda hadn't taken him into consideration at all when redecorating the house. The idea was that Hedda let him have his study, but the rest of the house was Hedda's world. The great room was changed from a formal sitting room with classical sculptures and antique furnishings into a space ready for a glamorous party. The crew replaced classical paintings with modern paintings that we had a scenic create in the styles of our favorite painters of the era —Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler and Franz Kline to name a few. Stella found a gorgeous Art Deco bar and shipped it from Italy that worked perfectly in the space. We used a lot of Art Deco pieces in the design. I think the streamlined silhouettes layered against the Italianate architecture really helped give the overall design a timeless feeling. The family's powder-blue sitting room became the film's dining room. The homeowners graciously let us repaint the plaster walls and repair the crumbling plaster window detailing, as long as we used their National Trust-certified painter (who was incredible!) and make any repairs permanent. The room was transformed top to bottom. Stella had the dining room table built to fit the room perfectly, taking design cues from one of our hero references. We installed a mirror above the fireplace and hung a portrait that we had created of Hedda. I had shown Nia A. GEORGES'S STUDY. ORIGINALLY THE HOME'S DINING ROOM, PANELLED PLUGS WERE CREATED TO COVER EXISTING INSET PAINTED LINEAGE PORTRAITS. SET PHOTO. B. LIBRARY. SET PHOTO. B A