Welcome to Part 2, continuing from THE OLD MAN: Part 1, where we traveled worldwide with sets created solely within the environs of Hollywood.
Set Decorator David Smith SDSA shares about the process, with great anecdotes and perspective!  
Let’s rejoin David for more intriguing details, and don’t forget to check out everything in Part 1 of this fascinating journey...
Enjoy!
Karen Burg, Editor

From Set Decorator David Smith SDSA...
“Working on THE OLD MAN was a wonderful experience and a great opportunity. I am so appreciative of my crew over the 5-year span and how wonderful it was to work with the two Production Designers, Julie Berghoff and Giles Masters.”

“Julie’s forward thinking and drive for excellence helped set the tone for all of our work in Season 1. I really enjoyed collaborating with her. Giles came in for Season 2 with a great eye and extensive world knowledge. We were very much in sync and bounced ideas off each other freely. The last half of the second season was crazy, we were going full throttle, and Giles got to design some really wonderful sets, particularly the Afghan Remote Tea House, the Afghan Cave and the Crete Church.”

“We got to travel around the world for this series, by creating different parts of the world in our Hollywood backyard. It was a truly great adventure.” 

London Hotel...

London hotel: Fully involved now, traveling in the guise of a wealthy business couple, thus the high-end hotel, Dan and Zoe are on a time-crucial desperate search for a missing contact. Amy Brenneman as Zoe McDonald, Jeff Bridges as Dan Chase. Photo by Byron Cohen/FX ©2022 FX Networks. All rights reserved.

“The London Hotel was filmed at the historic Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Because of specific blocking in the bedroom, we covered the set of windows behind the bed in the same fabric as the headboard. On the day, we arrived to find a leak in the AC vent from a rainstorm causing some damage to the rented bedroom dresser! We filmed for only about an hour, and struck the set back to the stage. We then redressed and filmed the set two weeks later.”

London Hotel: “The Bedroom draperies are reworked rentals from Omega Cinema Props...all the sheer curtains and the Sitting Room drapery were newly manufactured by Omega. Draper Garrett Flamig did the installation. The furniture was from Omega, Bridge Props, Warner Bros. and Universal. Artwork from Hollywood Studio Gallery and Bridge Props.” Courtesy of FX Networks. All rights reserved.

“Shooting the side entrance to the Biltmore as London was pretty simple for set dressing. With the help of the Grip Department, a rig was secured above the lead trim to hold our Union Jack and custom hotel flags. With the magic of visual effects, and a smattering of righthand drive vehicles and controlled traffic, for a short period we were successful in creating London.”

London Hotel: For the exterior of this stately London classic, David flew to the UK to grab this shot. Or rather, he and his teams created it in Los Angeles... Courtesy of FX Networks. All rights reserved.

Bote House, USA...
“Morgan Bote’s House was actually a mansion in Pasadena built in 1923. In Season 1, we emptied out the living room and hallway and played it as a sunroom where Bote retreats to paint and converse.”
[See THE OLD MAN: Part 1]

“When Bote’s house was included in the script for Season 2, we decided that we would use the same living room, remove the drapery and play it as a music room/salon with the hallway connecting to a study.”

Bote Music Room: “For this room, I particularly liked the green leather furniture suite from Omega Cinema Props mixed with the Blue and White Chinese export ware that was raided from the large collection at Universal Property, augmented by pieces from Omega and Warner Bros...as well as classic male sculptures in each set, including the terraces.

“Both the Music Room and Study had large bookcase cabinets that were a mixture of pieces from Warner Bros, Omega Cinema Props, and Universal.”

Bote Music Room: Harold Harper, FBI Director for Counterintelligence [John Lithgow] and former CIA operative Dan Chase [Jeff Bridges] seek assistance from their former mentor & boss Morgan Bote. Dan is surprised to discover his dogs, Rottweilers Dave and Carol, are at Bote’s house. More surprises are to come! Photo by Byron Cohen/FX ©2022 FX Networks. All rights reserved.

“The study was originally planned to also be filmed with no drapery. However, the evening before filming, the DP decided he would need covered windows because of diminishing daylight. So, we scrambled and were able to—in one day—alter existing Omega casement drapery and install just before filming. Regina Henderson was working on them quietly in the study while they were filming the music room.”

Harper’s basement, USA...
“The basement was a very big dress. We discussed a lot of specifics, like Christmas decorations, a laundry area, a utilities area, a furnace area. moving racks and a workbench area. I had done a basement set for a movie in 2013 that I showed as a starter for conversation. The dripping water pipe and hot water heater were scripted business, as well as the interrogation.”

“Giles was very specific in deciding the areas of the basement. We had built the set and planned to film it just after filming Bote’s House. However, because the show was picketed, we shut down production for the duration of the SAG/AFTRA strike for a few months.  Everyone had those months to really think about the basement set.”

Harper’s basement: Behind-the-scenes for a major scene. Upon returning from a filming break, the team learned that the director wanted to flood the basement a few inches deep. Courtesy of FX Networks. All rights reserved.

“Upon the return we had a rehearsal with the stunt coordinator and the director and, of course, things changed...particularly the position of the hot water heater and the flooding of the basement.”

“The Director imagined the floor of the basement fully flooded and about 3-4 inches deep which no one else had anticipated. Originally, Special Effects had planned to do shiny clear plastic shapes to mimic water puddles with controlled spritzes of water for more reflection. In order to flood the floor, Construction built a 1x6 wall around the set off camera to act as a dam.”

Harper’s basement: Note adjustments for flooding, i.e. the metal legs on the shelving unit, the brick bases around the support columns, storage items now raised or with legs. Jeff Bridges as Chase and John Lithgow as Harper, both in waterproof shoes! Photo by Byron Cohen/FX ©2022 FX Networks. All rights reserved.

“We had not picked up any rentals prior to shutting down but everything was on hold at the prop houses for when we returned to production. Because some rented set dressing would be sitting for a few days in water we made sure to get items with metal legs or bases so as not to cause damage. Fortunately we had already made the decision to have the washer and dryer in a small area of the floor covered with linoleum in a checkerboard pattern.”

Going global, Afghanistan – Rural teahouse...

Teahouse details - Samovars:
“The large tea samovars were designed by a set designer per my guidance, along with Giles’s input and research photos, and built by Universal. We began in their metal shop...however, the foreman thought the Special Projects Shop at Universal would be the better fabricator and that they should be made from wood. So Jennie and I got to visit the shop that maintains and builds the items for the Universal Studios tour attractions, in a section of the Uni lot that neither she nor I had known existed!”

Afghani Rural Teahouse, entry: So many beautiful textural elements, from the entryway tapestry with the elongated tassels, the studded heavy wooden door, the window fretwork, the wooden furnishings, metal pots and containers, and the large brass samovar on the right. Courtesy of FX Networks. All rights reserved.

“One of the biggest challenges was creating the tea-making area with the samovars and the wall of tea pots. We had a research image of an Afghan interior that showed samovars similar to those that we built and had small teapots. I spent 3 weeks buying individual enameled teapots in various shades of green from vendors on Etsy and eBay.  My crew kept opening packages with the exclamation of ‘another teapot!’.”

Afghani Rural Teahouse: Samovars and wall of teapots, note the cabinet doors, the design of the samovar table, the rough-hewn walls with wooden columns. Courtesy of FX Networks. All rights reserved.

Teahouse details – Rugs: “We were filming hillsides and actors on horseback and motorcycles ... dusty and rugged...a few days before filming the teahouse. When our showrunner checked the teahouse set, he loved the interior but felt it was too vibrant, and wanted it to be more down. So we hustled and rented 12 worn pillows, and 10 worn rugs from Universal and Warner Brothers and made it happen.”

Afghani Rural Teahouse: Worn rugs added to the authenticity. Courtesy of FX Networks. All rights reserved.

“Fortunately for me and my team, filming got pushed a week and that allowed us to buy more worn rugs to make better cushions and augment the rental rugs. Thus, we had a large stock of more vibrant rugs and cushions a few episodes later for Hamzad’s Communal Bedroom.”
[See below]

Afghanistan – Hamzad’s village...
“For Season 2, Giles designed and built an impressive Village Gate, plus three additional houses for the warlord’s hilltop village, and four market stalls, all to add to the village we had built for Season 1 at Blue Cloud Ranch in the Santa Clarita mountains.”
[See Part 1 for more about filming at Blue Cloud.]

Hamzad’s Village gate, Afghanistan: Season 2 brought more houses to the compound, market stalls and a beautifully designed gate. Photo courtesy of FX Networks. All rights reserved.

Hamzad’s Compound exteriors include the façade for the main house and animal pens, the mosque, a house that acts as Emily’s prison and other village houses.

Hamzad’s House and Compound – redress...
“We redressed some of Hamzad’s House and Compound as new spaces within the houses, with different requirements. Hamzad’s House is a two-story building and has four porches that were built to play as parts of the interiors and exteriors, which we used extensively.

Hamzad’s house, one of many porches. Warlord Faraz Hamzad [Navid Negahban] and his most trusted advisor, his sister Khadja. [Jacqueline Antaramian]. Image courtesy of FX Networks ©2024. All rights reserved.

“For example, when we needed a female communal bedroom for Emily to sleep in when she is moved to the main house, we used the porch from Season1 and did a redress along with adding shutters, a wall with a recycled China cabinet and a new backing wall to hide Hamzad’s living room.”
[Click on SHOW MORE PHOTOS button below for Emily’s cell, the communal rooms and more!]

“The dressing for Hamzad’s Village comes from Warner Bros, Universal, Omega, Premiere Props and Sony (before they closed). Badia Designs and Berbere Imports, along with Universal and Omega, are the primary sources for rentals in Hamzad’s House and the Compound interiors.”

[Click on SHOW MORE PHOTOS button below to see the depth of detail and commitment from David, Julie, Giles and their teams, whether conveying an Afghani hilltop compound, a Moroccan dye factory, or even a deconsecrated church in Crete, which became a striking background for a key scene.]

Resources/SDSA Business Members
To complete a project on this scale, Set Decorator David Smith SDSA had to use a vast array of resources, some mentioned above. He would particularly like to acknowledge the SDSA Business members with whom he worked in order to create the worldwide range of sets for THE OLD MAN:

Advanced Liquidators | Air Designs | Alley Cats + RC Vintage | Alpha Companies | AMCO  American Screen and Window Coverings | Art Dimensions | Art Pic | Astek Wallcovering | Badia Design | Bridge Furniture & Props | EC Prop Rentals | Faux Library Studio Props | Gold Room Props | Green Set | Hand Prop Room | History For Hire | Hollywood Cinema Arts | Hollywood Studio Gallery | Independent Studio Services | Jackson Shrub | Lawrence of La Brea | LCW Props | Lennie Marvin’s Prop Heaven | Linoleum City | Luxury Fabrics | Nest Studio Rentals | Objects | Omega Cinema Props | Pinacoteca Picture Props | Playback Technologies | Practical Props | Premiere Props | Prop Services West | Sandy Rose Floral | Town & Country Event Rentals | U-Frame-It | Universal Studios - Property, Drapery & Metal Shop | Warner Bros Studios - Property, Drapery & Sign Shop

Also...

Don’t forget to click on SHOW MORE PHOTOS below!