The first of our ICYMI series featuring Inside the Set episodes with the Set Decorator and Production Designer of Films Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Production Design! Presented in alphabetical order by title, daily this week!
Congratulations to Set Decorator Shane Vieau SDSA and Production Designer Tamara Deverell for their Academy Award nomination for FRANKENSTEIN!
Editor’s Note: They are also very deservedly nominated for the SDSA Awards and many others!
We are offering another look at one of the key sets, AND the full conversation they had with
Halina Siwolop SDSA about their collaboration with the amazing Writer/Director Guillermo Del Toro, for our Inside the Set video series!
Set Decorator Shane Vieau SDSA and Production Designer Tamara Deverell have a lovely and long history with Writer/Director Guillermo Del Toro. Shane won an Academy Award, along with Set Decorator Jeffrey A. Melvin and Production Designer Paul D. Austerberry for GDT’s gorgeous THE SHAPE OF WATER.
Shane also has been Oscar-nominated with Tamara for GDT’s films NIGHTMARE ALLEY and FRANKENSTEIN. And they won an Emmy, shared with Art Director Brandt Gordon, for the series GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S CABINET OF CURIOSITIES. GDT’s CRIMSON PEAK is another standout film that Shane worked on, this with the late Tom Sanders. A nod to that film is the non-color version of the round Notre Dame Rose window in Victor Frankenstein’s laboratory tower. [See photo at top of page.]
Obviously, there is a shared language with this team, a deep collaboration to bring GDT’s vision to life with artistry and precision, grounding the fantasy in history and possibility.
A note about prep...Shane, from the conversation in the video...
“Very early on, many, many months before we started shooting, we did a survey of locations (in the UK)...And then, the nice thing for me is that they left me alone in London for five days after that, so I could go to the prop houses. It gave me a deeper idea about what I could do, what I needed to fill.”
“Also, Tamara loves museums. So, any waking moment that we had, we would visit every museum that had to do with the project. It was just amazing to see these incredible recordings of history that we don't really have in North America. Getting to see those things close up, really gave us the preparation to do the movie.”
Shane also mentions the importance of an experienced crew and experts in various fields, particularly pointing out London-based Senior Assistant Set Decorator Polina Kalentsits and maritime expert Jim Dines. The film begins and ends with a fully accurate ship ‘stuck’ in a field of ice. It also begins & ends with dawn—full circle moments, as circles and cycles are essential in GDT films. Watch the video above where they go into detail showing the ship and how they made certain of the authenticity that is crucial to the audience fully accepting the story.
Victor was traumatized by his father’s violence and his mother’s death. Red was the color he associated with her and his childhood home. In his quest to defy death, the color becomes highly symbolic...literally blood on his hands, guilt, his path towards unfettered abuse.
Editor’s note:
In the video above, Shane talks about some of the specifics of red as a signifier GDT wanted to include. And there is so much more to discover if you haven’t already!
**All episodes were pre-recorded and also appear in the Inside the Set section of SETDECOR (Check the drop-down menu above.) In addition, the episodes can be found on the SETDECOR YouTube Channel.
