Hollywood from the ground up!
Production Designer Florencia Martin SDSA and Set Decorator Anthony Carlino SDSA dove into Director Damien Chazelle’s vision of the history of 1920s Los Angeles exploding from the dusty early studios where silent films were cranked out in not the best of shooting conditions to the rise of sound-stages, literally created for incorporating sound, and Hollywood became a glitz and gloried mecca, with shades of dreams met and shattered or sometimes never realized, all hidden in what became the shiny package of the capital of dream-making. Collaboration was key to this story of dreams...everyone who read Chazelle’s script became mesmerized and committed to going even beyond that extra step, as is proven on the screen and in the viewing experience.
Anthony and Florencia shared great stories of the making of this film in a conversation with Gene Serdena SDSA.
Click on the video here...
You will so enjoy!
Florencia pointed out the special quality that was added because, "...the opportunity we had to shoot on film, with all our effects, practical lighting, animals (except our elephant) picture cars, and stunts, practically and in camera, in the location, the story takes place and transform Hollywood back to the 1920s without the use of greenscreens that was only possible collaborating with an incredible team of craftspersons that worked tirelessly to allow us to capture the majority of the world practically and on film."
Check our gallery below, and don't forget to click on the video above!
Set Decorator Anthony Carlino SDSA would like to give shout out to the SDSA Business Members who provided such great resources and expertise for this project, especially:
Pam and Jim Elyea with History for Hire | Alan Songer with Omega Cinema Props | Beverly Hadley with Universal Property | Robert Greenfield with Warner Bros. Property | Premiere Props | Practical Props | Hand Prop Room
The Set Decorator would also like to give special recognition to his outstanding crew: Tyler Kettenburg, Mark Boucher,Sam Tell,Walter Martinez, Ethan Goodwin, Dave Ladish, Paul Boucher, Corey Gomez, Darren Hardy, Ed Protiva, James Malley, Scott Anderson, Patrick Smith, & Lauren Baker
Production Designer Florencia Martin SDSA would like to add: “Anthony's passion for filmmaking comes through in every conversation about the sets and the film as a whole. Anthony goes beyond the furnishings to talk about character development and camera movement. He made the design process and execution incredibly fun and rewarding.”
“And I would love to recognize the incredible teams that collaborated closely together with whom Babylon could never happen. You can dream big and create a world from the ground up with the fantastic support, creativity, and team effort of the Babylon crew; without them, this film would have never come to life.”
Movie star Jack Conrad’s home. Inset: Brad Pitt as Jack. Photo courtesy Paramount Pictures.
Movie star Jack Conrad’s home. Brad Pitt as Jack. Note the gramophone, essential in the day. Screen image courtesy Paramount Pictures. [Do check out the video conversation for stories behind this!]