Shona Heath and James Price
I love seeing people who are really good at what they do, really respect somebody else because of some ability they themselves don’t have. They don’t realize they’re equally as good as that person just with different skills. Have you seen him, he’s so brilliant at this?
Yeah, but they think the same thing about you for something else.
AS: How was working with the costume designer Holly Waddington on Poor Things? Would she come in and compare color palettes?
SH: We started quite a lot earlier that Holly. But in our early concepts we’d break down the characters and the costumes a bit and it’s also something I really love doing so it just naturally fell in. But as soon as Holly was on board she was so brilliant. People can be funny and get there backs up if there’s some starting point already, but she wanted to know what we thought. She wanted to know more about our research process and how she could fit that in. She was always checking with us what color the room would be. Or what color do we make Victoria Blessington’s costumes because we’ve used up all the colors on Bella. The costumes worked really well because we were always in communication about whether the clothes should contrast and clash or they should blend, or be played down. She was just great to work with. Her eye for detail and texture was amazing. She was very involved with James and me.
AS: I know the visual effects were minimized but was there still a VFX supervisor who was with you during prep?
JP: Yes, there was a visual effects supervisor there in Hungary, Tim [Barter]. And then in the post production period we spent a lot of time working with [post companies] Union VFX and Time Based Arts. We had a massive input into any post production that happened and did Photoshop paintings and 3D models and there were a lot of assets we handed over. It wasn’t like we just left at the end of principal photography, the post work was done with our blessing and with our input.
AS: What do you see in the future of production design? It seems a lot of projects are moving in the direction of the Unreal Engine and volume stages and minimal set builds. Do you have a sense for that?
SH: I think in the way that so many people will go down that route, you will have filmmakers that literally turn ’round and walk the other way. It’s probably a good time for practical sets because of that. And if you make the practical sets better than the virtual ones there will always be a demand.
JP: I’d also say that even if you do go down an Unreal digital route, it’s better for us in the art department because we’ve got to realize that before you shoot it. There’s a good book I have here that came out in the early 90’s, Production Design and Art Direction (Screencraft Series) by Peter Ettedgui. Post production was just becoming a thing and Stuart Craig was saying how he imagines that in the future, production designers will be staying on more during post. It hasn’t happened to the degree that he was predicting but if you work with a filmmaker like Yorgos he will insist you are involved with that process. So whether the post work happens before you actually make the movie or after, there’s definitely something to be said for the production designers being more involved, whether it’s them on their own or with a little team, because then you create a seamless-looking piece of cinema.