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 29 hero plantation, the Turner Plantation. Most of these plantations had remnants of slave quarters that hadn't all been knocked down. There's the odd one here and there. Typically, what survived were the kitchens in the backyards of these plantations. They always used to cook outside; they never had kitchens inside the house in those days. It was a fire consideration, plus the staff who did the cooking then, lived outside nearby anyway. A lot of the slave quarters were not that far from the house, just a short walk. The hero plantation, in fact, had a family living in it; they had been living there for many, many years, and they were happy to have us. I found a great example of slave quarters at another plantation and I said to the construction guys, "Look at this, this is great. Let's build a little avenue of these dwellings at the hero plantation." In the research, a lot of the slave quarters were built in long rows because they had a lot of people to house. They were arranged so the slaves could look after themselves and the shacks had little built-in fireplaces so they could cook. They were pretty rudimentary, as you can imagine, but they were livable. I said to construction coordinator Jason Morgan, "We'd better get some blueprints drawn," and he looked at it, came up with some measurements on the spot, and said, "Eh. I can do this. We don't need drawings." Basically, the only drawings were sketches for Nate and a little plan of the layout at the Turner Plantation. We designated a little area near the house that even had a garden, where the family could grown a few vegetables and things. The slave quarters were placed next to that and it worked out really well. We would have liked some more but it's amazing that we managed to build what we did with the limited budget and time we had. It was also necessary to build a barn which becomes the place where Nat Turner starts to preach. The script called for a couple of those, so I made a barn so that one side looked one way and the other side looked a different way for another plantation. The two sides were changed around in size a bit and dressed differently so the one set became two barns for different preaching sessions in the film. It worked out really well. Top: Another sketch by Mr. Kirkland indicates how an old structure can be converted to a small commercial center. Center: Elliott House at Grove Point Plantation on the Little Ogeechee River was slightly newer than the film's period, but its traditional detailing made it a good choice. Bottom: Candlelight was the primary source of illumination in pre-Civil War interiors.