See How I Transformed a Set for a Romantic Comedy
Every once in awhile you meet someone that is at the same time inspiring, giving, passionate, talented and kind. I am lucky enough to know three such ladies and had the absolute pleasure of getting to team up with them on a new rom-com series called, “Confessions From the Friendzone.” I am one of the Producers and as luck would have it, also the Production Designer.
With four different locations to shoot at, two weeks to shoot in, and countless hours of prep-we had our work cut out for is. Fortunately my collaborative team of girls let me run wild with my design ideas. Bless them for trusting me and letting me do my thing-it is always easier (and more fun) when your co-workers trust you and value your work. (Have I mentioned how much I love these girls and working with them?!?)
Rosebud Cafe in Pasadena, CA
Our first location was a coffee shop in Pasadena-it required fairly little work on my end aside form making sure a plant wasn’t coming out of anybody’s head in a scene. It is a real coffee shop during the day so staging it to look real was already done.
Yours truly helping set up for the 1st shot of the day!
View on camera of the Coffee Shop.
The second location was a film office that needed to look like a female event planner’s office. With stylish prints from Target-and decorative chairs already in the office it took less than two hours to transform the space into what you will see on screen. We were fortunate that one of the walls was already painted blue-which helped to add character to the otherwise stark white walls.
Overalls are the best piece of clothing to wear on set! I can carry everything!
The Creator, Writer and Producer Rachel McKelvy in her Character, Angelique’s office. I’m loving how all those pops of color are coming through on screen.
The third location was an apartment that needed to look like a late 20s/early 30s boy’s apartment in LA. This one took some more planning on my part. I wanted the space to look realistic and let’s face it most boys I know in that age range lack serious design skills. So how do I make the space interesting and not sparse? My solutions-add items a guy would have, throwing them together in such a way that makes sense from a convenience standpoint and not a “looks good” stand point. I added curtains but kept them a dark navy (no girly colors here) and added elements to the room to keep it full but was careful not to make anything look too organized. i.e. I made sure to add bookshelves with books haphazardly stacked, a coffee table with random items on it, an entry way with a messy mailbox and bike, a feeble attempt at wall art featuring an LA skyline. Nothing too over the top and nothing too put together.
Scene from the boy’s apartment for game night.
Boy’s Dorm Room-used in a flashback scene.
The last location was an apartment that was fit for a late 20s girl living in LA. This one was easier because I have been that girl! Plus we were starting with an apartment already owned by two girls-so there was already a lot to work with. I kept a lot of the existing furniture and brightened it up with some colorful curtains and cheery wall decor from Target. Our character is also a big Star Wars fan so I peppered in some figurines to reflect her back story.
Actors on set in the main character’s living room.
One of the biggest challenges of Production Design is making sure the space fits the characters. In Home Decor you often times want everything to go together and look polished and professional-after all if it doesn’t then why are you hiring a professional to decorate? But in a film you want to capture the real life-the living and that is an art in and of itself.
I had an absolute blast getting to take part in “Confessions From the Friendzone” and hope you will check it out soon! Release date TBA! Check back for details.
