Moving In...

The 24hr transformation of a reoccurring set.  This time...we're in Cyrus and James' bedroom.

A peek in the window this time yesterday looked like moving day. Since this set doesn't shoot every episode we have to pull it apart and store everything when not in use.  The bed gets taken apart, all the little accessories boxed up, bedding put away...and then just as quickly we need to restore it to its camera beauty.  The nice thing about these reoccurring sets is we have every major item shopped and all ready to go.  When they go back up we only need to make small changes here and there to accommodate the story or the director's needs.  This time we made some tiny changes just to keep up with the fact that time has passed in the story.  We also made some changes for purely aesthetic reasons - things that for one reason or another didn't seem to read well on camera got changed out or removed.  Because there is passage of time with these sets, we can imagine that the homeowner would have made those changes over time just as we do in real life! 
In the end, the crew cranked it out as usual..All dressed in and shooting right now!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

A short while ago I tweeted about the team choosing these smokey grey blinds for an upcoming set... and WHO KNEW that you'd get that excited about what these blinds were for!  


WELL...

Lo and behold, I found a way to show you these blinds:

Clearly you're not as excited about the blinds as we are.  We can hear you. 

You're wondering "What is going on behind those beautiful smokey grey 2 inch blinds?!?"
Well people, right outside that room is this...

SO more importantly, what is going on HERE?

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood isn't it?

This conjures up all sorts of questions but ultimately brings us to a great one asked many times this week:  

 "How do we see the "outdoors" through the windows on the sets?"

Depending on whether the scene is supposed to be day or night and what they'd like to see through the windows, a combination of backdrops (as you see above), shrubbery, plants, alterations to the windows and lighting can create exactly what's needed.

Here's another view that helps it all make sense.  In this case, there are some bushes and "trees" closer to the windows and then the backdrop behind them.  The end section of the set is open...but we won't see it like that on camera of course.

Here's one last look at the backdrop magic in all its glory.  It all comes together to help make our decor inside the space come to life as much as possible for you! 

Thanks for the question! 

A Bedroom....but for who?

In our previous excursion we were dressing a bedroom for a young woman in Episode 219.

After the last bit of shopping and the addition of the finishing layers, here is that room just prior to shooting:

The details of the character come out once all of the little pieces are in place don't you agree?  Some clothes, her personal items and some of that real life daily "clutter" make it feel like someone lives here.  

Some of you tweeted your guesses as to who you think this bedroom may be for...still think you're right?

Next up this week:  Some of your twitter questions answered and a little peek into the next two episodes. 

A new bedroom for Episode 219

SO...the million dollar question we get on twitter is: "What do you guys DO each day?"
(Well no, the million dollar question we get is "WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH OLIVIA AND FITZ?!?!"...but that's not getting answered here people...gotta watch the show for that magic to happen)

Let's just start with what's happening today.
This morning we've got a few things rolling for Episode 219. 

1) First up:  Pull some set dressing for a house we're dressing today and tomorrow.  We take a walk down to our lovely Gold Room area to see if we can find some kitchen items, lamps, vases, electronics and maybe a few other pretty things to go on the tables and bookcases. 

 

We can't always pull everything we need from downstairs... but today, for this set, we get lucky.  The crew will take what we've picked and meet us at the location after lunch.  On to the next set for now.

2)  In addition to the house, we have to start dressing a young woman's bedroom set that shoots tomorrow.  Sometimes we can finish on the first pass.  Other times, you see the items in the space and just know you need to add or make changes.  Let's see how today goes.



OK - So here's what we started with:  Our wall o'crazy...some plans, some colors, some samples...whatever inspires... (and no, you won't find any clue on these either that will tell you whether it's an Olitz world or an Olivia/Jake world...just sayin'...)

Our writers have provided us with a description of the character - her age, what she does for a living and of course what's happening in the scene is in the script.  The next layer comes from what the director envisions and the set design itself.  Last but not least, it's all neatly tied to a little thing called a budget. (So shopaholics...this isn't for you...)

For this set we were able to shop many of the items from our off site warehouse space.  The crew brought it over to the lot yesterday morning.  After re-assessing what we had so far, we still needed to rent a few key pieces.  Those were shopped and they arrived yesterday afternoon.




In the mean time, One of those paper drawings on our wall o'crazy has turned into a little set with walls on stage...

 ...and this is where we come into the picture today.

 

Today we move in furniture, art and other possible decor choices.

The crew starts to rough in the furniture placement.



The ladder?...Our crew works along side many other talented crews working on the finishing touches.  Today, they're cleaning up the wallpaper, painting the door and window trim, installing door knobs....you name it.  We're all working together to get the set ready on time. 



We move on to getting the window treatments and bedding steamed and in place.  





The decorator eyes these sconces and decides they would be better in white for this character:

The painters jump on it...  

So now, we're here.


With the furniture and bedding roughed in the crew waits to see what direction the decorator would like to go in to finish the space.

The decision:  we need to add a little more shopping to the list today....which means....this dress is....

TO BE CONTINUED.....Stay tuned for the end results!

I always thought I was Harrison in this situation...Turns out I'm Quinn

Well...they came to me...

I mean, not in a dream or anything crazy like that.  They made an appointment and came to the Art Department.

They came to me and said "Do you want to be a Gladiator in a suit?"

And I said...welllllll.....uuhhhm...love to.....but... maybe in a few months when I don't have so much to do?

Now people...I am no stranger to these Gladiator ways.  I am no stranger to these Pope tactics.   I am however, underneath it all still an excited Gladiator hard at work each day in Shondaland.

So as I sat there, I could hear our fearless leader Merri saying to me the day before, "Do they know how much work you do already?!?!"  (Always making sure we're ok in the trenches.)  But her voice was quickly drowned out by the Gladiator chant I hear roaring thru Twitter each and every day...So loud.  So excited.  So invested.  So appreciative. 

And then...I realized, I must have mumbled the words  "Sure. I'd love to do it." 
So here we are!

This is a place created for those of you who are inspired by Olivia's bed, a piece of art, a wall color or even for those of you who have asked "How does it all come together?"  Sets will rise before your eyes...ok I'm being all dramatic now...so I'll just leave it at that. 

Let the Gladiating begin...