Olivia's Holding Cell

As most of you know, we pretty much made the move over to Instagram last season so I could bring you more action on the fly. We are on the roll all the time around  here...Not much time to sit still for blogging.  But I love this set.  And you loved this set and wanted to see the pictures. So, here we are. This was a monster. A big beast. Not Truman Balcony big...but pretty darn big. The concept was that it had to appear even to Olivia's heightened spidey senses that she was somewhere far, far outside of her normal surroundings. A remote, dangerous, hand crafted building maybe even in a different country. And so the research began.

A few details to get you thinking before you check out all the photos...
Construction worked about 5 days building, plastering and painting. Set Dec took over after that. It is usually Set Dec's responsibility to get all of the things you see on the walls and ceilings - alarm boxes, wiring, pipes...all of the fixtures in that lovely bathroom...the lighting. It all gets picked out, approved, picked up, aged down appropriately by the painters and installed in a matter of days. The aging is very important in our world so things don't appear too new, too shiny, too reflective or too clean - like that toilet. (I've deliberately spared you from looking at it again.) Our paint department does a spectacular job here as always.

Earlier in the build...

The beginnings of the now famous bathroom.
These are the bones...this is what's underneath all of that plaster and paint.

The finished living spaces complete with dusty cobwebs on the ceiling fixtures

We had rooms you didn't see behind those doors Liv passed each day in the hallway...

Finished details in the hallway include pipes, electrical boxes, old wiring strung across the ceiling and of course, the red door.  All making for a very long dramatic hallway with lots of doors, turns and openings for visual interest. 

FUN FACT:  Upon seeing a photo of the early hallway, our fearless leader, Ms. Shonda Rhimes promptly asked if I had tested it out by sprinting down the hallway towards the red door like Liv does in the script.  

Uhhmmm...this is long. Mad props to KW on this one.

How many of you think I ran down this hallway? 

My friends here in the Art Department would probably say that if they see me running somewhere... it probably means they should start running too. You feel me?

So maybe.  Maybe not. That will remain a set secret.