All language subtitles for 08 Production Design Building Unique Worlds

[MUSIC PLAYING]

When you want somebody to
understand the things that

have come with the ideas, you
do it by talking or like a show

and tell.

You want them to get on the
same road that you're on.

And that road is
based on the ideas.

So every department, you
need to get with them

and describe to
them with words what

it is that you're after to
make those ideas come true.

So if that's a
production design,

you talk about furniture.

And you talk about
rooms, windows, light.

You talk about what
things go in the place

and how it goes and the
feeling it is that-- the time.

Is it the 1940s, the
'50s, is it, you know,

completely outside of any
of that like science fiction

or some kind of strange place?

And you describe it to them.

And then they understand it.

And they might bring drawings.

And then you say, well,
that's just about right.

But this thing is not
quite right and this

and this and this.

And then they finally get
going down the same road.

Same way with every department.

Same way with every actor.

You just keep going till we're
all going down the same road.

It's not because I want them
to be, you know, I want it.

It's because the ideas
want to be that way.

When you get an
idea, you see it.

So you know what it looks like.

And so if you could
start building and keep

checking the idea,
theoretically you

could build exactly
what's in your head what

the idea looks like.

In this world, you
can build some sets.

But you could also
find locations.

And locations could be very
close to what's in your head

and fill the bill, but not
only that, sometimes, locations

will give you more
gifts, more ideas,

because, oh, look at that,
and oh, that could work then.

And ideas flow from those.

It's really strange.

A set would just
be exactly what's

in their mind based on the idea.

But locations can sometimes
be even more than that.

These are oil tanks that once
existed underneath the Beverly

Center.

And this set of oil tanks
had a donut of earth

that went around it.

So you couldn't really
see it from the street.

The donut of earth was there
in case one of the tanks burst,

this wall of earth around
would hold the oil from going,

you know, too far away.

And so you go up and
down into this world.

It's absolutely magical.

This here is high art.

This is one of the most
beautiful places on earth,

and it's now gone.

I don't know how I found it.

But it was a lucky day.

I do drawings.

But they're very
poor little drawings.

I do drawings to show
where the furniture is

and where the people
will be moving.

But while I'm
doing the drawings,

I'm also talking to them
about different things.

So they could look
at the drawing.

And not much is there.

But if they remember the words,
then they can go and, you know,

do the thing.

Well, I'll show you
a pathetic thing.

OK, so here's the couch.

And here's the-- and then
she'd be sitting right here.

And then she's going to get
up and go to the window.

You've got to have
that window here.

And then she's going to
pull the curtain back.

You've got to have
curtains there.

And this is like an old,
old, you know, rundown place.

So it's going to have mopboard.

It's going to be, you know,
like so, a standing lamp here.

And then, you know,
it's going to look out.

And then Pete will come in here.

And so behind Pete, we
got this side, this door.

It's an oval top thing.

And this is old
wallpaper along in here.

You come in.

And she turns.

And she sees that
he's got a gun.

And so he's here like this
and points his gun at her.

She didn't see him come in.

If you can remember the words,
if you'd looked at it later,

you'd say what the hell?

On Dune, Tony Masters was
the production designer,

great, great, great, great
British production designer.

I went for a boat ride one
night in Venice, Italy.

And these strange mansions were
coming out of the black water.

And it just was
like another world.

And some of this, not all of
it, but some Italian design,

I started talking to
Tony about these things.

And that was the angle on a lot
of the sets that he designed

and some of the costumes
and some of the props.

When it's not of this
world, it could be anything.

But it needs to be something.

So you get an idea of
what that something is.

And then you build that.

In this case, it was a fleshy
grasshopper that was the idea.

You look at a grasshopper
and make it flesh.

And then you get pretty close.

Carlo Rambaldi build it.

He built ET.

And the thing, a lot of
artists, they build themselves.

To me, the Guild navigator
and ET, both of them

look like Carlo Rambaldi.

We have just
folded space from Ix.

Jack Fisk is my best friend.

I met Jack when we were
in the ninth grade.

First thing I ever
told Jack was a lie.

He said what grade are you in?

I said I'm in the 10th grade.

[LAUGHTER] We became great
friends because out of--

I don't know how many--

4,000 people in our high school,
we were, you know, two of a few

that wanted to become painters.

And so we had four
different studios

that we worked in
during high school

and then ended up
together in Philadelphia

going to the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts.

And one of my four wives
was Jack's sister Mary.

So Jack is family
and my best friend.

And we share this, you know,
living the art life thing,

which is super important.

We worked together
on Mulholland Drive.

And Jack became a great
production designer.

And so he was production
designer on Mulholland Drive

and on The Straight Story.

And his wife Sissy was
in The Straight Story.

There is very little
room to move in a way

unless they get an-- give
you an idea that you say,

oh, that would be incredible.

And, you know, that can happen.

Or they fulfill the idea
so beautifully, you just

can't imagine it
being any better.

That was the case
with Jack for sure.

And so-- but it would
be wrong to say, Jack,

you do whatever you want.

And this department,
you guys, bring

me any kind of props you want.

And you guys, bring
me those clothes.

Anything goes with me.

This thing's not going
to hold together.

It's not a compromise.

And it's not exactly a
mutual collaboration.

And it's not an ego
trip for the director.

It's to stay true to the ideas.

Why wouldn't you want
that to be the thing?

Why would you want a whole
bunch of unrelated things to?

And the thing isn't
going to hold together.

When you're location
scouting, absolutely you're

looking for locations
that fit the idea that you

saw in your mind.

And before you go out looking,
you see many photographs.

So the photographs
that hold promise,

then you have to go
see the actual location

and see if it fits the idea.

I can tell you know,
pretty quick, you know,

if it's going to work or not.

If the idea says
it's this way, you

try to find the thing
that fits the idea.

And you know, you see a
thing like in the case

of Pete Dayton's
house in Lost Highway,

their driveway was on the left.

The door was there.

The living room, you enter into.

On the right is a hallway that
goes down to the bedrooms.

And the kitchen is over here.

Because the idea
when you see it,

movements are all
there in the idea.

And so you're trying to get
the location so it, you know,

it flow like it
does in the idea.

Cori is the script supervisor.

Studying her face, her face
is very, very beautiful.

So we get to this location.

And I guess, maybe I saw
that balcony up there.

I don't know what triggered it.

But I said, Cori,
come over here.

And I just started
looking at her face.

And she said, what is it?

I said, I want
you to be in this.

And she said, no, no,
I don't want to do it.

And I said, Cori, you know.

And then I got the
costume designer

and tried to talk about this
dress and all this stuff.

Pretty soon, Cori came out.

And she was just beautiful.

And there she was as the
last line in the film.

No, it's just the
idea popped in.

How can you take credit
for these things?

It just happens.

Silencio.

Patty Norris was
production designer.

And she came to me and
she said, David, they

want to tear this
cabin set down.

I'm coming to you to make
sure you're finished with it

and would take it down.

And I said, well, let
me think about that.

Don't take it down.

And but she started
this thing going.

And I went over to
Gary D'Amico's trailer.

And Gary is special effects.

And I say, Gary, could
you blow up that cabin?

So Gary went to work.

I told Patty, we're
going to blow it up.

And so not only are we
going to blow it up,

but we're going to
shoot it in reverse.

And what was even
more beautiful,

since Gary didn't have the
things he would have used,

he came up with these balloons
of gasoline and other things

that he had.

And it was a soft explosion.

It was soft and different
than it would have been.

The wind and dust and the soft
explosion, it was so beautiful.

I think we had
three cameras on it.

And it was just a
magical, magical thing.

And it came out of, do you
want it torn down or not?

It's like along the
way, ideas can come.

And you say, oh,
that is so necessary.

It changed the thing.

You know, when you
have that thing going,

it's a magical place.

It feeds into the
mystery of everything.

And it gives a feeling.

It gives a feeling
and gives a thinking.

And it's just-- was just
incredible thing that

came along.

James.

They're looking for you.

I'm gonna talk to them.

There's many stories connected
to that particular scene

right there.

It was so cold, I went to
this outdoor sporting store

and got clothes.

And the guy said,
these clothes, you

could be warm at the North Pole.

I was freezing in those
same clothes that night.

It worked-- the cold
worked into the bones.

We were shooting this scene.

And it came time to
move in to the closeups.

And we got in there.

Both James and Donna were
shaking, they were so cold.

And snot was coming
under their nose.

Their noses were bright red.

And it would have been a joke
to try to make this thing there

at night with that weather.

So we pulled the
plug and went home.

The next day, we woke up.

There was two feet of
snow on the ground.

So all the things were supposed
to do that day were out of,

you know, we couldn't do them.

And then I think it was probably
Patty had the idea, come

to my workplace.

And on the second floor up the
ramp is this concrete area.

We open up all the windows.

Bring in some trees.

And we can shoot those
close-ups right there.

It'll be cold enough
to see their breath.

And it will be beautiful.

And that's exactly what we did,
indoors, daytime, against two

cut down trees.