Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546606
P O N I E S | P E R S P E C T I V E 4 1 passes to find a color space that hinted at the traditional '70s look, while giving a broader range for greens, purples and blues to pop on screen, and we put it all in a vintage-leaning 3:2 aspect ratio. And I thank my lucky stars for that aspect ratio, because our locations featured some of the most incredible mid-century ceilings I'd ever seen! From the floating marshmallows of the activity space at the US Embassy, the origami panels in the theater for Bea and Andrei's first date, to the grid of descending bulbs in the vast entry hall for the Elton John concert, the series used up every bit of stunning period architecture we could find in Budapest. One of the most incredible locations we snagged was for the Hotel Intourist Moscow, for which we used the Hotel Budapest. Opened in 1967 and designed by György Szrogh, the cylindrical tower wasn't an aesthetic match to the Intourist, but it gave us something else—flair. Given the comedic bent of the show, we gave ourselves latitude to accentuate the verve in Soviet culture in these moments. My team and I poured over photos of the original Hotel Intourist in Moscow, creating reverential details that would pop onscreen. The graphics team honored the lobby's scandalous stained-glass work Adam and Eve, by Leonid Polishchuk and Svetlana Shcherbinina, and the set decoration team created flying- saucer-like lighting in the bar. Those, and the brilliant orange linens, all come from original advertisements for the hotel. But the show was running in front of the wrecking ball, as the building was being stripped for demolition when we began prep. We were quickly busy refinishing surfaces damaged by leaking pipes, stripping millennial gray paint, ripping out carpets, and retrofitting the bar and reception desk. F. MOSCOW MOVIE HOUSE. SHOT AT THE ROSSIYA THEATER. SET PHOTO. G. ELTON JOHN CONCERT AT THE ROSSIYA HOTEL. PRODUCTION STILL. H. HOTEL INTOURIST MOSCOW, LOBBY. SET PHOTO. I. HOTEL INTOURIST MOSCOW LOBBY. SHOT AT THE NOW-DEMOLISHED HOTEL BUDAPEST. PRODUCTION STILL. F G H I