Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541514
O N E B A T T L E A F T E R A N O T H E R | P E R S P E C T I V E 8 5 alongside the El Paso community, which opened their doors to us, helping us secure locations, dressing, and through their stories enriched our world. Sensei's apartment drew from immigrant housing in El Paso's Segundo Barrio. The Art Department collaged architectural references to create six connected units and a hallway. The apartment was designed to feel patched together over decades: exposed framing and lathe and plaster, mismatched tiles, hand-laid wood floors and crooked molding. AJ Cisneros and the team built everything to embrace imperfection. Anthony and the set decoration department filled the rooms with real local objects, alters and ensured everything was practical, including the trap door which was lined up with the existing trap door leading to the neighboring Bolsa Coketa. During rehearsal, Sensei grabbed a Modelo from the working fridge—a spontaneous detail that stayed in the final cut. The Dog Pound The "Dog Pound" sequence at Mira Loma Detention Center began in a detention pen built inside the empty cafeteria, leading to MKU officers' quarters on the recreational field. Custom-made wooden gangplanks connected the fences, guiding the action deeper into the camp before reaching Lockjaw's office. Andrew Cahn oversaw the build, including the holding- cell builds, giving the temporary structures a sense of permanence with plywood-mounted TV screens with cartoons and detention signage. The U-shaped officer tents on the basketball court emphasized the temporary nature of the sets. CAC Bunker The CAC meeting room was one of the most intricate sets—an underground world inspired by Cold War bunkers and secret clubhouses, lit entirely by artificial light. The sequence begins in a stately home in Sacramento, where a concealed basement mural door opens into a serpentine G. SENSEI'S DOJO. PRODUCTION STILL. H. SENSEI'S DOJO. SET PHOTO. I. SENSEI'S APARTMENT. SET PHOTO. J. SENSEI'S APARTMENT. PRODUCTION STILL. H J I G