Creating a TV studio from scratch with Nadia and Geo

Creating any set in a studio involves a big effort. We spoke to Nadia, the production designer and Georgina, the art director about their process creating a TV Studio from scratch.

Actors Victoria and Misha sitting on set for a rehearsal

Q: What was you process for collaborating with the team for this film?

N: Everything starts with the script, I had to go through it a couple of times and take the information I needed to start putting a concept together. Then hear what the director has in mind and build a rough concept based on that. The regular meetings with the director, DOP and the rest of the crew are very essentials for the success of the project and it was important to hear feedback's and follow each other progress also having a hard-working and very collaborative Art Director like Georgina made the Art department job smoother.

G: I mainly collaborate with the Production Designer; slightly with designing the set, but mainly in executing her design. During this we worked closely with the director to ensure that what we were all imagining lined up and was happy with all the elements of the set. The 1st Art Assistant also was apart of this, and the three of us as an art department collectively worked during the construction and the filming days with any issues that came up. I also work with the Producer interns of the department budget, and tracking our spending's to ensure we stayed in budget.

Q: Did you run into any challenges?

N: Sure! The biggest challenge was building a convincing TV control room which in real life requires a big number of hi-tech equipment and screens with our very limited budget also negotiating priorities and budget were a little challenging as well.

G: For the most things went as smoothly as it could have gone for our first time building a set. One challenge was working with the materials that we had access to sometimes didn’t benefit us as much as we expected, for example, the door that we were hoping to borrow from the college didn’t happen to fit into the wall frame. This lead us to think of another solution and make the best out of what we had available to us with little time.

"I think my favourite thing about my job is seeing the final set during the filming days. Watching the design go from a stretch, to a construction plan and then it being built is a really rewarding feeling"

Q: What is your favorite thing about your jobs?

N: Shooting days were my favourite where we finally get to see the design transforming from paper to actual 3D spaces and put it in the hands of rest of the crew because the art department have little work to do from that point on set.

G: I think my favourite thing about my job is seeing the final set during the filming days. Watching the design go from a stretch, to a construction plan and then it being built is a really rewarding feeling. On the first day of filming when seeing the framing for the first time after the lighting and final touches, it was a huge relief and almost shocking to see the ‘final product’ of the set design

The art team Yan Yan, Georgina and Nadia sitting on the beautiful set they designed

Q: What is the difference between an art director and a production designer?

N: I believe these roles have different definitions and responsibilities out there in the industry! But for our short film, the Production designer comes up with the bigger and general set design and is responsible for the technicalities of building the set like generating floorplans ,elevations and building materials . Art director looks more into the smaller details and chooses colour palettes, costumes and hair Make-up and eventually all the work was done in collaboration and taking each others opinion on almost every aspect of the design.

G: The way that I think about it is that the production designer is responsible for the overall design and creation of how they want the set to look along side the director. The art director then works to execute the design, working with the budget and organizing the construction and art department crew.

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Q: What was your biggest concern on set?

N: My concerns were about having things stuck safely on the flats without damaging them which was something proofed challenging and had to deal with several times throughout the shoot.

G: Because we were working with flats that are recycled and wanted to wasn’t completely able to hang the monitors that we had for our control room. During pre-production, not being able to test it out with different methods, we tried to think of different ways that we would be able to hang them. When getting to set during construction into the first day, the monitors were able to be hung and were sticking to the wall no problem, but it was a concern that it wouldn’t stay that way during the rest of the filming days, and having it look as realistic as possible

Q: What do you want people to take away from this film?

N:In terms of filmmaking, I want them to know that we did our best within the many limitation we had and that it is a learning experience for everyone who worked on it. In terms of the story, I want them to enjoy the drama and absorb the moral dilemma the characters in this film faces.

Q: Do you have any upcoming projects or things you would like readers to know?

N: Although I did production design on this project; my main passion is for scriptwriting! I'm currently developing a short dramatic script inspired by news we often hear in the media hoping that it will be picked to go for production next year and I'll get the opportunity to direct it as well

G: For post-production of this film, I am working as the sound effects and music editor, as well as one of the social media strategist. Before this production, I worked as the a picture and audio editor for a short documentary, Friendly Faces & Safe Spaces, about a puppeteer who uses puppets to represent and education children on different mental illnesses and disabilities.