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.

The Grant Vermeil Room

The Vermeil Room came into play when the Episode 312 script called for the First Ladies portraits.  Jackie Kennedy's iconic White House portrait that the Mellie and Andrew scene centers around resides in this room along with many other First Ladies.  The room gets its name from the items it houses.  On display is a very significant collection of vermeil tableware (silver gilt) from the 1700's and 1800's.  Ok...that's enough of the history lesson.  But I am going try to give you a little fancy talk about these White House rooms whenever I can.  Thank you to the Twitterbug who requested that!

Speaking of Twitter...the question often comes up when we do actual White House spaces if we try to re-create the room.  Yes, but no.  The rooms are all well researched to get the reality of the space and what it is used for, but because each President and First Lady have the option to redecorate spaces there are always many versions of each room from over the years.  What we do is The Grant Administration version of the spaces.

Let's get to the main point - the art.  Those First Ladies.

The First Ladies were hunted down (well, not them, but their portraits were) and rented from several great prop houses around town.  There are a few prop houses that have "White House Collections".  They keep reproductions of the furniture, art, dishes, etc. for shows, movies, etc. to rent.   Remember the Blue Room that we did?  You'll find all of that blue and gold furniture with embroidered eagles in either current or previous versions of the Blue Room (or now other rooms) in The White House.   ANYWHO...First Ladies.  Check.  EXCEPT....for the one we needed.  No Jackie Kennedy portrait.

In comes an artist who can render us something pretty enough to add to our very own White House Collection.

Here is the space:

 

I included these pictures of the reds to show another point we talk about often.  Look at how bright the reds become once the stage lighting is cranked up.  When you love the paint or wallpaper color or a certain fabric you should remember that what you're seeing reflects the changes brought about by the super warm or dark and moody, or even colored lighting.  The red in these pictures looks vastly different from the same furniture in the first couple pictures above.  Still beautiful.  Just different.

The piano is still on its stand so the crew can move it "to camera" as we say.  Once everyone gets set up to shoot, the Director or Director of Photography will sometimes need things moved to work better with the camera's placement.  Sometimes things just have to be moved to make room for the camera equipment.   Larger pieces of furniture are on wheels so the crew can push them all over the room (and many times out of the room) as needed.

I hope you've enjoyed a quick peek into this beautiful space.  The usual White House golds mixed with reds, a little green and of course the classic white trim.  As usual, we pump it up with some crystal bling and florals and then....the rest is up to the amazing actors. 

Josie's Place

Well hello from hiatus land!  Episodes 307 & 308 rocked the Scandalverse.  Along with the tweets about storylines, y'all have been asking for a little blog action.  Many asking about Josie's Place.  And so, here ya go.  No commentary...we're doing this hiatus style.  Just pictures.

Josie Marcus...land of neutrals, fainting couches and zodiac fixtures.  Neutral, but all bold, interesting pieces. 

***Hiatus Style is code for: I am enjoying my sweatpants and baseball cap and do not intend to call on the brain cells necessary for formatting this to be all cute.  Also, I do not have access to the fancy shots with pretty lighting on my computer at work.  So just HAVE FUN oogling and we'll get back to business in a few weeks!

The Blue Room...and a bit of rambling 'bout Arlington

Oh....Lordy be.  This room tried to kill us all.  This room and Arlington National Cemetery (in a golf course).  You have no idea.  BUT...like I say time and time again, there is no time for cry babies at this pace and we made it through this one too.  I bring up the cemetery scene because I just have to say it one more time for the record - Bokelberg's directing and the camera work in that cemetery...wow.  Speechless.  Those shots of the soldiers, the folding of the flag, the slow mo salutes and the bugler on the hillside.... sigh.  I just watched the scene again.  And I teared up AGAIN.  Somehow I'm transported out of a tv show and right there next to that widow into the scene.  Just tremendous. 

So.  Now The Blue Room is an actual space in The White House.  It's Oval shaped just like The Oval Office and is used for receiving guests, receptions and sometimes dinners.  The team researched it at great lengths when it popped up in a script last season actually.  It ended up not being used back then...but here it is now.  A transformation of a space.  We started with this:

And we brought in all the blue that makes it The Blue Room.  Blue and gold upholstered furniture, blue and gold drapery and of course lots of dead president art.  I mean...lovely stately art pieces all certain to be amazing enough to have been chosen from The White House Art Collection.  (More about the art in episodes to come.)
 

After all of the fuss and dust settled, we ended up with this.  Ladies and gentlemen I give you The Grant Administrations Blue Room.  This is the space where we saw all those adorable children and reporters and Mellie's speech went off without a hitch...until she rambled on in the hall nearly giving poor Cy another heart attack.

 

The Hotel Room...

I can't even tell you how gorgeous Mrs. Redwood's (yup I called her that) hotel room was in person.   Soft and neutral but stately.  Even the window treatments and bed canopy are grand and simple at the same time. The only things that aren't blue or ivory are the lamps on either side of the sofa.  Blue and ivory with dark wood and gold accents.  Crystal lamps, crystal chandelier and crystal decanters.  Simple...but elegant.  Here's a quick look:

 

A few details you didn't see... Right down to the room service cart.

Shopping for Jeannine

The Department Store where Olivia and Quinn take Jeannine to get interview ready was one of our biggest sets in Episode 302.  And yet, it went by so fast.   Awww...you say?  Such is the life of a set we say.  We often don't know whether a set will ultimately become a featured moment or a cut moment or a shuttertone fast paced photoburst moment once it hits the editing room.  We treat all the sets the same.

This set was done on location in a space that was pretty close to being bare.  Truth be told, our heads kind of exploded when we saw the space for the first time.  BUT every episode presents its challenges and we have to move at Scandal Pace through them so there is no time for whining.  We hunted down some upscale mannequins, shoe, accessory and jewelry display fixtures.  The Decorator chose pieces that gave it a very exclusive boutique feel rather than mainstream department store display items.  The clothing and accessories on display include some items our department rented as well as some key items brought in by the fab team over in Costumes.  Collaboration is key.

There are large gold and crystal torchieres for lighting.  A comfy seating area with plush rugs and a few plants give the space some life and comfort.  There's even a grand piano in the background space by the stairs.  My personal fave piece is the huge framed mirror sections that create the fitting area where the women of OPA do their work on Jeannine.  (Can we all get these installed at home?) 

So yes, this set flew by on the screen.  But in the end, we have to do as much work as necessary to give the director and the actors what they need to feel they're in the right space.  It has to feel like they're inside the script...a little Alice in Wonderland if you will.  In this case - it's Olivia in Shondaland.