Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/716619
P E R S P E C T I V E | S E P T E M B E R / O C TO B E R 2 0 1 6 23 current (if sometimes far-fetched) theory to underpin the science that makes the supernatural possible. If a proton pack emits a particle stream that can capture a ghost, we wanted to have some clue of how it might actually work. Background scientific research went into the designing of all the technology that the Ghostbusters created, and used. An important question of character was settled in early discussions: the Ghostbusters are effectively street scientists, mostly trained in nonconformist ways, learning as they go, but nevertheless, effective creative thinkers and engineers. This became a consistent theme in the design of all things to do with them. Their particular talent was in improvisation, with a minimum of resources. Their labs were full of scavenged and salvaged equipment, as they lacked money to buy the real stuff. The devices they built to battle the ghosts would always use visually familiar items and shapes, now adapted to a new purpose. This ability to scrounge and improvise their way to a solution is their prime Above and below: Three preliminary sketches by Illustrator Constantine Sekeris, created in Photoshop, exploring the immense portal to the Netherworld which opens through the floor of the Mercado Hotel lobby, and imagining how the portal would look as it opened and spewed ghosts and ectoplasmic matter into the human world. Sketches like this were important in directing the previs sequences to follow. talent, and it provided a major clue to who they were and how they worked, and, thus, what their sets would look like. Having worked with Paul Feig over the years was an immense benefit. Besides often simply sensing what would work for him in a given set, there was an easy rapport discussing the different challenges ahead. That rapport gave me the confidence to push limits when appropriate, and to know when to sit tight. An important aspect of Production Design for Paul is to be a partner in solving the needs of the comedy. A set must serve as a complete environment, with alternate possibilities for staging physical action, providing interesting context, addressing questions of character and telling visually the story the script has only begun. Single jokes will often drive the look and layout of a set, and the challenge then becomes to make the set work for the rest of the action, and not to give away the gag too soon.