Hot Set (2012) s01e01 Episode Script
Crash Landed Astronaut
1 Los Angeles, California Where movie magic is made.
But before the cameras roll Man: 3, 2, 1, make a movie! An entire world has to be created.
In each episode of "Hot Set," two production designers and their teams go head to head in a showdown to build a Hollywood set in just 3 days.
Are you kidding me? Designers will start with an iconic film inspiration-- Aliens, serial killers, androids, and secret agents.
They'll have to come up with a concept I wanted to give a sense of this beautiful palace underwater.
Find the props to help tell their story You have a burned dead body for me? And race against the clock to construct a fully functional film set [Bleep.]
Oh, sorry, sorry! In time to shoot their scene.
It looks amazing.
Only one team will walk away with $10,000.
To come out on top, they'll have to impress our award-winning panel of judges.
Curt Beech, whose credits include "The Social Network" and "Star Trek.
" Lilly Kilvert, two-time Oscar nominee for "The Last Samurai" and "Legends Of The Fall.
" Barry Robison, production designer of "X-Men Origins" and "The Chronicles Of Narnia.
" Contestants will be graded on creativity He's used every cliché in the book.
Technique Technically it's sophisticated and well thought out.
And presentation It's immediately false.
It's fakey mcfakerson.
In the ultimate challenge of imagination We need to be in the mind of a serial killer.
Perspiration Start cleaning this shit up.
Two hours to paint that rock.
Blood, sweat, and tears.
That's how it gets done.
And exasperation.
I don't-- I don't-- Uhh.
Vines and ropes and trees and flowers-- [Babbling.]
It's too much! Watch your step.
Aah! Things are heating up Zhhh Reveal.
Welcome to my madness.
Here on "Hot Set.
" [Bats squeaking.]
My name is Abra Brayman.
I come from a family of artists.
I studied fine arts.
I've worked on a lot of independent films, and I'm excited to showcase these talents as a production designer.
My name is Craig Pavilionis.
I'm a production designer.
I've worked on hundreds of television commercials-- like 20 or 30 a year sometimes.
Being a production designer is insane to most people.
The short notice, a lot of change.
I have a bit of an advantage over someone who does features who has two months to prep.
Hello, production designers.
Welcome to "Hot Set.
" I'm your host Ben Mankiewicz.
We are in the movie capital of the world, Los Angeles, California.
Directors James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, and Guillermo del Toro have all filmed here on this stage.
Abra, Craig, you and your teams will have just 3 days and a budget of $15,000 to turn these empty spaces Into what the film industry calls hot sets-- that is, sets that are perfectly dressed, locked, and camera ready.
At the end of 3 days, you'll present your finished sets to our panel of judges.
These are some of Hollywood's top talent in production design.
- Curt Beech - Hi, guys.
Lilly Kilvert - And Barry Robison.
- Welcome.
Thanks.
Now, I come from a family of screenwriters.
My grandfather, Herman Mankiewicz, wrote "Citizen Kane.
" His brother Joe directed the epic "Cleopatra.
" So we have always known that a great set starts with a solid script.
Yours is certainly no exception.
Now let's set the scene.
Exterior.
Forbidding landscape-- Day.
As Lieutenant Murphy takes in his situation, he sees evidence of disaster all around him and realizes with horror that he may never make it home again.
When I heard Ben read the script, I had so many ideas running through my head.
I mean, is this a battleground? Is this a plane crash? A jail? Such a broad spectrum of possibilities with this set design.
There is one more thing.
Behind this curtain is a critical element that you'll need to incorporate into your final set.
Abra, Craig, here is your inspiration.
Production designers Meet Lieutenant Murphy.
In the tradition of many sci-fi classics, our story begins with a crash-landing in a new world.
Your challenge is to design a set for the alien planet that our downed astronaut will explore.
Judges, please let Abra and Craig know what you're gonna be looking for in their sets.
I'm looking for something recognizably alien.
Another thing-- foreground, mid-ground, background.
I want layers in this set.
Copy that.
Lilly? For me it's a matter of making sure that we sense the isolation-- a sense of doom and fear.
Because we're on an alien planet, you get to think out of the box now.
And what you should really do is really stretch that imagination.
You got it.
When your sets are finished, the judges will walk through your completed sets and watch a scene filmed on your set.
You'll have 5 minutes now to familiarize yourself with the inspiration item.
And when you're ready, your team is waiting for you in the design studio.
Guys, are you ready? Absolutely ready.
Yeah, I'm ready.
Good luck.
Your challenge begins right now.
The first thing that I think about when I see this astronaut suit is, where's the lens gonna be? I try to think, how is the director gonna shoot this? I was really excited because I felt like it was right up my alley.
Being an exterior science fiction/fantasy, it suited my sensibilities really well.
All right, guys, that's 5 minutes.
Time's up.
You selected two people to assist you in this challenge, and they're waiting for you in the design room.
Hi.
What have you got for us? I've got the challenge.
Abra, let's see it.
- It's an astronaut.
- It's an astronaut? It's an astronaut crash-landed into a dark world.
My husband Neil, who's also art director, he has an engineering background, so his thinking is a lot more on that lines.
An exterior, daytime, but it could be dark daytime.
Gotcha.
My buddy Nick, who's my set decorator, who's fantastic, he's basically taken over the budget.
And I'm so glad because that's something that I'm not crazy about doing.
You guys ready to tear it up? - Yeah, man.
What's going on? - Sure.
We got something that is so right up both of y'all's alleys.
I got a couple of great guys helping me out on this project.
Wyatt is one of the best scenic painters I've ever worked with, and he's a great guy.
My other guy is Joey, and he's my gadget head, all around, knows-a-whole-lot sort of dude.
He just does it, you know, so I'm really happy to have him.
Curt, this is quite a challenge.
A lot of elements in this challenge.
I think-- I think it's fraught with peril, frankly.
One of the most exciting parts of this script is the idea of disaster all around.
Mm-hmm.
And I have no idea what form that will take.
It can be anything in this world or another world, and I think the person who makes the boldest choice is gonna be the person who reinvents what we consider to be a foreign planet.
Hopefully we don't get sand and weird rocks.
Yeah.
The last thing we want to see is a retread of an old sixties "Star Trek.
" And they have to do all of this-- design the sets, build them, paint them, all in 3 days, at which point we will see you guys back here.
Thank you.
The dynamic of this set is there's an astronaut who has crash-landed.
It's not just a landscape.
It's actually something that's alive.
It's actually a creature.
We're not gonna just build a set.
I want this thing to live.
To create this living landscape, I'm going to build a wooden frame, cover that frame with wire mesh, and then use spray foam to create a rocklike craggy surface.
And then I'm going to use smoke, lightning strikes, and lighting to help sell that this thing is breathing.
This needs to look like something no one's ever seen before.
One of the alien elements I want to create is a-- is a very large skeleton that's like half coming - Ok.
- Out of the ground.
My vision is this burnt, charred world where the astronaut discovers the skeleton and the body of his copilot.
One of the strongest elements is a dead tree.
The burnt tree being the central part of the set, that, um, perhaps he's entwined in the tree.
Ok.
Part of his rigging could maybe be like he's been caught in the tree.
Before I go out and buy my props, I need to get my construction team up and running.
Joey's going to be our point guy on this.
He and I and Wyatt have gone through a lot of the details of this, so you get with Joey, he's gonna give some direction on what we're gonna start augmenting the set with.
Everybody bring it in right here.
Bring it in here.
Everybody ready? 1, 2, 3-- All right.
Good job, baby.
So there's a lot here in my mind, and I feel like if I have to go start shopping, it would be better if probably-- uh, one thing I do want to note is that the ground, um, should be lighter than the tree.
Abra is a bit of an artist, in that she knows what she wants.
She definitely needs a little help thinking realistically about things.
But, um, but, you know, I think that, um We want to create a dark world, but not like so dark that our tree doesn't stand out.
Ha ha! So, anyway, it's like a lot, I know.
I'm going to Jackson Shrub, which has fake rocks and real rocks and plants and trees.
I kind of like this guy, actually.
That's cool.
The hero piece of my set is the tree, which is a super important part of the set because everything has to be built around it.
Can we tag it for now, 'cause I have my competition here, too.
- Ha ha! - Ok.
Ah, wow, this is great.
I'm gonna be really busy today, so, you know, I've delegated to the guys and they're gonna be building basically the core background of the set while I'm gone on the shopping trip.
402, 401.
Let's lock those.
When I go on my shopping trip, I want to go and shop and leave.
I don't want to hang out at any vendor too long.
This one, those two.
This one.
That's it.
What I think we should do is we'll take some flats, we'll take the skins off them, we'll just use the framework.
We'll flank the two sides this way, and we'll build a straight wall across the back.
- We're good.
We're good.
- Are we good? Awesome.
So let's get started.
Wunderbar.
Wood right here, cut it, and be able to put it in, shoot it, and it's gonna go-- [Whoosh.]
- Ha ha.
- Whoa! I didn't even have my finger on the trigger.
Ooh, a little rock.
I like that one.
Take that one, ok.
You want moss on it? Yeah, moss looks good.
I can't leave without my tree.
But I got sidetracked by beautiful rocks.
So many rocks, so little time.
All right.
I'm changing my mind.
That one.
Decisions, decisions.
We have an idea what we think she's getting, but in previous experience we have no idea, actually, knowing what she turns up with.
These aren't big enough.
I think we need to go to the other ones.
I like that smaller one.
Maybe I'll get two.
What about that guy? It's so cool, though.
This tree is like a work of art in and of itself.
It has just a beautiful shape to it.
My tree! I probably got more stuff than I really need, but I like to have more stuff to work with and then see what works on the set in real time.
Hang on.
- We're on our way back.
- Ok.
Cool.
The other team are making fun of us.
Oh, no.
Why? 'Cause they've got this whole cliff face going on and we're sat here with a few gray flats and a ramp.
[Laughs.]
And we're all standing around doing nothing waiting for the stuff.
All right.
Well We can't do anything till we get the tree.
We cannot do anything.
It's very stressful to not have enough time.
Normally I work quickly, but not this quickly.
This is the ultimate challenge.
Coming up The build continues.
I'm sorry.
What have I done? And the judges await.
I would have loved to have seen a little more foreground.
- We made that pretty clear.
- I said at the beginning Foreground, mid-ground, background.
Mom, I'm home! I get back to the set, I'm really happy with the progress that the guys have made so far.
They got the framing up, they got some of the wire mesh on.
This looks awesome.
So dope, dude, are you kidding? Mommy.
Ok, I got two trees, can I just jump in And they're different from what I imagined in my mind.
See? And this is why we didn't build the rest of the set.
So I'm back on set and we're creating an alien planet that this astronaut has crash-landed into.
We're in a holding pattern.
Well, I didn't know what you were doing with this bottom-right corner, and I didn't know how big the rock was gonna be.
We can't really finish designing the layout until we see these objects in place.
- Well, then you tell me.
- What about sculpting this part? We can do the rest of the floor, you guys.
I glance at the other team and they're way ahead of us, and that scares me.
They're going crazy.
Well, hopefully the truck will get here shortly.
To start creating our surface shape, we'll be using what's called a froth pack product.
It's a sprayable foam that hardens.
You can control the depth by laying it and fanning it in so it's light and thinner, or you can lean on it and it'll build up.
So you can actually almost build like little mounds of rock with this thing.
I love it.
My trees.
My trees and rocks are here.
A moment of truth.
It looks great.
What have I done? We got everything off and now we can get building.
Time's up.
That's it for the day.
Dude, look what you guys did.
I'm feeling pretty good about the progress on the set.
We're actually a little bit further along than I anticipated.
End of day one, and we really didn't get as far as I'd hoped.
We're gonna have to try to rock it tomorrow.
It's definitely hard at the end of the day to look over at the PA and seeing this giant structure.
We're getting our butts kicked.
We made some really good progress yesterday.
I'm really impressed.
All right, all right.
We hit it pretty hard yesterday.
We're a little ahead of what I was hoping for.
Awesome.
By lunch I would love to have the back wall scenic painted.
You know, like you base the rocks, and then when the foam in, you can start basing wall.
But I want you to go to the wall.
There's a few other pieces of fabrication that have to happen.
We've got special effects that are coming in today.
I also need to send Joe on a shopping trip.
We need some parts of what looks like a broken-up spaceship.
Let's go talk about a couple points out there, ok? Day 2, and I'm feeling a lot of pressure for time to make up for day one.
We are behind.
I know.
Let's try to finish off the walls, so that we can start sculpting the space.
You're going to Dapper Cadaver and you're getting the bones.
Dapper Cadaver-- That's my order of business for the morning.
We're going to try to make something amazing happen.
So we'll start by prayer, and then we'll move on.
[Laughs.]
We'll be lucky to get to where our opponent's set was yesterday by the end of today.
This needs to come out a little further.
'Cause we're gonna have this giant dinosaur skeleton right here.
My vision is this burnt, charred world, and then there's this alien creature that's been dead for who knows how long.
Give me some bones.
All right.
They're coming.
Ok.
This astronaut will just be recognizing he's not gonna survive on this planet.
I'm excited because I get to go out and pick out some of these set pieces.
My first stop is Dapper Cadaver.
It's an all-things-dead and horror type of shop.
We need this charred female corpse, some sort of alien-looking skull, and we need a nice rib cage that sort of fits in with our reddish-black color palette.
I think we've got some stuff that could work for you.
The elements that I'm shopping for are very important for Abra's design, because what I'm adding in to the set are definitely the story elements.
This is an elephant skull? Yes.
And they're both really nice.
They're gorgeous, but they're gigantic.
When I go to a place like Dapper Cadaver and I see these pieces, it's exciting, and it's fun to look at the skulls and the bones and the bodies and let myself be creative.
Some big ribs.
These are gorgeous.
Sweet.
Well, do you have a burned dead body for me? I've got one over here that's in a really nice position.
This is Sonia.
Hey, Sonia.
Yeah.
So definitely this.
Definitely the box of bones.
- All right.
- All right? I'm going shopping for props from a place called LCW, for Craig.
Hey, man.
Joey.
How are you? This is one of those stores that, you know, carries like military stuff, naval stuff from different eras.
And I got the cockpit seats.
I need parts that look like they belong to a spaceship.
Yeah.
This is perfect.
I want to make sure that we get the disastrous look that we're looking for.
I'll take one with the 3.
Oh, this is beautiful.
Love this.
Oh.
That panel is really cool.
This is awesome.
Radioactive material.
[Beep.]
I'm finding all kinds of great stuff.
You're gonna be knocked out when you see the stuff I got.
I don't want to go over 1,000 bucks.
- You got it, Bubbe.
- Thanks, brother.
How we looking so far, Randy? It's not gonna be 1,000 bucks.
- It's not? - Just under, bro.
Takin' care of business, baby.
We started putting up some test pieces of the foam to create this rock wall in the background of the set, sort of a fan shape.
We started out with a small foam-cutting tool, and we love the texture it's making, but it's very time-consuming, and there have been moments when I was like, what have I done? Hey, guys.
I'm a little nervous that Lilly's here because I know she's here to critique.
So tell me about your world, Abra.
The world is this sort of burnt, rusty, uh, desolate environment.
A dried-out planet, like it's been eroded from the earth.
Ideally.
[Laughs.]
Given the time to create this erosion effect.
The use of level is really intelligent.
You have created some undulation in the world.
I think that one thing you might consider is not to have it look like our desert, - Right.
Right.
- but it's somebody else's desert.
And what will be the thing that makes it otherworldly? Do you have a plan for that? Um Well, I believe that, um Sort of the red earth.
So I think you're off to an interesting start.
Thanks.
Good luck, and keep on it.
- Welcome.
- Nice to see you.
- Welcome to my planet.
- What planet are we on? Well, the basis of my imagination with this set was that the astronaut crash-lands onto a landscape.
Right.
And what he doesn't realize is the landscape he's hit is actually a creature.
Uh-huh.
He's hit something that's alive.
Definitely a fascinating concept.
So is this a pliable material that's No, this is like a hard coat.
But there'll be nothing that actually moves at all? You just gave me a really good idea, actually, just now.
This is actually really great.
You remember our thing about foreground, middle ground, background? - Yes.
- And you have a lot of background.
Meaning maybe a little more foreground.
- Ok.
- Seems like you're going to a right good place.
- I hope you get there.
- Thank you very much.
Let's start with Abra.
She is unclear about how things are gonna end up.
I love the way the tree curves in and the wall curves in, but you can't just say it's a dead planet, because guess what it'll be.
It'll be a dead set.
She needs to get moving fast.
Thoughts on Craig.
The whole concept of having him land on something alive is a fantastic idea, incredibly ambitious.
If he doesn't give it a heartbeat, then it's gonna be a disaster.
It's gonna be interesting to see where they are tomorrow.
It's gonna be very interesting.
I can't wait.
- Thanks, Lilly.
- Ok, thank you.
One of Lilly's concerns is that if this is going to be a creature that there should be some movement.
So we made some very simple leverage rigs for the back of the set, which pushes the weaker spots of the wall to help sell that this thing is breathing.
Yeah, really easy.
Aw, fuck.
Just pushed too hard.
So we made some leverage rigs which pushes the wall to help sell that this thing is breathing.
- Aww - Oh! But one of my guys leaned into it a little bit too hard, and, you know, it's just wire mesh and foam, and it poked a hole through the wall.
- Yeah, I know.
- Hey, gentle movements, yeah.
All right, patch that thing up.
We were able to just basically put a band-aid on it and re-scenic that spot.
We actually learned from that, ok, guys, this is just a pulse, ease off on the pushing a little bit.
I think it can wedge in there.
It can't wedge in there.
There's styrofoam on one side and a rock on wheels on the other side.
My husband Neil and I sometimes go at it.
It can go like that.
We'll just put a rock in here.
Because I have a vision and I'm so adamant to realize it, and I think that's just my drive as an artist.
I had to fight the good fight for it, but it looks beautiful.
- Maybe some - That's better.
So I'm back from my shopping trip and we got a lot of great props and stuff to work with.
I think Craig's gonna be really surprised and happy with what props I found.
Look at my blinkies and things I got.
Awesome.
We're selling a disaster.
Lieutenant Murphy is ejected as his ship is going nonstop towards this planet, so those spaceship props are gonna be really important.
Is that changing colors? Yeah, it has a program.
It's like the leds that I have that I showed you with the remote.
Awesome! Sometimes I need to just try to put things in the space and see what works and what doesn't work.
That's just part of the process.
Can we take these off? We don't need these, right? We've got our big skeleton to go up there.
We just build things and then take it apart, just for fun.
Ha ha ha! Why? Because we can.
Sorry.
[Indistinct.]
[Indistinct.]
Ok, guys, that's time! Time! Stop, drop all tools now, to the ground.
It's the end of the day and I'm looking at my set, and I'm not completely sure we're gonna make it.
It's gonna mean more hard work for us, and we're already working really hard.
Awesome All right, all right.
It's the beginning of day 3, and I'm a little worried about the upcoming shoot.
I think it's gonna be great.
I can't wait to see it in action.
But we're not quite caught up to where I'd like to be yet.
What I'd love to have happen as the first thing is that Tim finishes the painting, and then everyone else just works on the finishing touches of getting the earth in and the rest of the set dressing.
All right.
Wow.
The set's looking pretty good at this point.
I have a short punch list of things that need to be done.
We need to get our effects tested this morning.
Some of those electronics, Joey, let's bring some of those and just get them kind of set up over here, let's plug 'em in, and let's go ahead and run that, see if we can make sure everything's working.
So I was really concerned about Lilly's comments that the back wall doesn't have enough distance between the foreground of the set.
I'm going to bring in a giant pre-built rock, which we're gonna scene it to make it look like the rest of the set.
Good morning.
[Indistinct.]
I need a large foreground rock that I can create a little bit more depth with.
How quickly can you get that rock here? I can get this on the truck and get it down there within the next half-hour or so.
Oh, my gosh, that would be great, 'cause we gotta scenic that rock.
So, um - Ok.
- All right, thanks, dear.
I appreciate it.
Just like the dark to light, and feather it in.
And then end up here.
Like as much as would be the rest of the helmet, just [Indistinct.]
.
Good tape, boys.
Let's pile up more earth there, Neil.
I am piling up more.
No, in front of the moss.
We'll just use the extra.
No, it's fine.
Just hand me a small rock.
I don't know which ones we need to do this.
Well, can you help put it up there and I'll fix it.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
There we go.
Nice.
Perfect.
Right.
Now, can you help get this going to the right position? No.
That's about where it needs to go.
- No, listen.
- No.
What? That's the top of the parachute on the top of the break.
It can't come any further this way.
It needs to get off the tree.
I had a specific image for how the parachute would hang.
Why don't you just do this? We just did that, though.
We've gotta get up there on the top and pull it over.
Is there a tall ladder we can get up there? Can you catch around the top and cover that top corner? Yeah, twist it and get it-- Yeah.
Yeah.
Perfect.
I was pretty sure that actually that we could move that.
It's fabric.
[Laughs.]
That's fantastic, and we see the strings.
I love that.
That's great.
The overall look that Craig's trying to capture is basically all the debris after he ejected.
It just kind of rained down against this area, and the ship disintegrated and some of it went into this creatureish landscape.
I'm kind of feeling like this is gonna be a little much.
I'm gonna put some panels and wire hanging off of it and all kind of shit.
We can't really paint on those, being [Indistinct.]
.
We have to use movie tricks and other things that we can make it looks like it's been in an accident.
Household products or even children's markers and paints and stuff like that.
Most of that stuff's very washable and it'll come off.
We've finished hand-sculpting and texturing the rocks.
But the painting takes a long time because there's many different colors and many different layers to really give it that-- and it's gonna look amazing.
It's just a very time-consuming process.
I just hope that we have time to finish before the shoot.
Our big Whitman rock is here, dude.
Oh, great.
Wait till you see this mountain that just arrived.
Perfect.
At the last minute Craig ordered this ginormous wall.
It is a lot bigger than we all thought it would be.
Oh, my God.
So you've seen the behemoth has arrived.
It's crazy.
You see the size of that fucking rock out there? It's a lot bigger than I thought it was.
Is this gonna work? Am I gonna have enough room? There's no way.
That's gonna cut off half the set.
That's nuts.
No, there's no way I would have gotten a rock this big.
Fucking nuts.
The behemoth has arrived.
You see the size of that fucking rock out there? I just placed the rock in front of the set, and it's a-- it's actually a lot bigger than I thought it was.
But it's fantastic.
And the way I blocked it out, it's fine.
It's gonna look killer.
We got about two hours left on the time clock, but overall, we're looking pretty good.
Ooh, are there-- there's a couple spots showing up back there.
Right there where your hand is.
Yeah.
And then to the left there's another one.
Can you tilt that down further? It's much better at an angle.
Yeah.
- Like that? - Exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
I feel strongly that we've got something good here, and I want it to be the best that it can, so my mind is constantly racing, like, how can we, you know, just make it awesome? We just gotta keep doing this to the bitter end, unfortunately.
We don't have much time.
Get ready to test this, ok? We have physical effects on the back with our pulsing wall.
You two guys great on pulsing wall.
You're doing the eyes from the top.
You're gonna manage that.
Brad-- No, I'll have you and Brad fence.
I'll be with the director.
You're gonna run them all.
Is everybody clear? What's going to sell this impending doom for Lieutenant Murphy is the crescendo of the effects.
Just turn it on low.
Start from the bottom and bring it up.
We're gonna help tie this in with the lightning strikes, with the wind storm, with the smoke, with the pulsating wall with this creature.
I believe I've satisfied all the requirements for this challenge and then some.
Oh, that's awesome.
And then do a little ash test.
How's that? Good, you guys! Guys, it's 5 minutes.
5 minutes left.
That's it.
Finish up your projects and that'll be it.
I just want the shine to go away, so knock it down.
It looks like plastic right now.
All right.
I love it.
The orange fabric.
Uh-- that's a big part of it.
Yeah, I like that there.
Ok.
And I want these to come up like - Flow into that.
- Yeah, flow.
Good.
That's good.
I like the string.
- Did you spray mount this first, Neil? - No.
Well, no wonder it's not sticking very well.
You know, there's always things that as a designer, if you had more time, you would keep working on and keep perfecting.
How much time do we have left? I feel like we did really, really well.
Oh, there.
Perfection! All right, teams, that is it.
Your time is up.
The sets you have built are now camera ready.
Or at least they should be.
Production designers, Abra, Craig, you each now have 30 minutes to shoot your scenes.
Good luck to both of you.
- Thank you.
- We'll see you soon.
Look's good! Go, team! - Good luck.
- Team Anarchy.
Rock it! You guys are awesome.
Whoo! Guys, thanks, so much, man.
- Break a leg.
- Great job.
Copy, grips, electric, walking, 3, 2, 1.
Make a movie.
I'm kind of coming down like roughly right here.
Bring it in! Everyone ready? - Can I do some last looks? - Sure.
Let's do it.
Come on, guys, we gotta get one.
We got 10 minutes.
Let's go.
And that's an action.
[Grunting.]
It's ok, just go.
Wherever.
[Laughs.]
Ok, 2 1/2 minutes! This is probably gonna be the last take, ok? There's not enough ash in the air, but I don't have time to fix it, so, we're just gonna roll with it and I hope it looks good on camera.
Maybe when we get you in there, we'll see where your feet are.
If you're not comfortable with it, we'll address it.
- Perfect.
- That cool? - Yeah.
- Awesome, man.
Thanks, brother.
Good luck in your survival.
Here we go.
Ready, Craig? - Yeah, yeah.
Ready, ready.
- And that's an action.
Give me a lightning strike.
- And - Pulse the wall with the red.
Hold the lightning.
Helmet's off.
3,000, a little more.
- Hold lightning.
- Heavier.
Clear out some of that, Wyatt, on your side.
- Clear the smoke out.
- Lightning.
5 minutes.
5 minutes left.
3,000 all the way down.
Now, now, now.
Go towards where he's walking.
Hold.
Everyone hold.
Excellent! I'm really proud of this set.
All of us delivered.
So, you know, it's up to the judges to decide.
- Awesome, brother.
- You did it.
You did it.
Production designers, welcome to the "Hot Set" presentation.
Tonight, one of you will leave here with $10,000, the other will leave with nothing.
Of course, you remember our judges.
- Curt Beech.
- Welcome back.
Lilly Kilvert.
And Barry Robison.
Your challenge this week was to create an otherworldly landscape and environment for a stranded astronaut.
In essence, you're showing us an entire planet in a single set.
You were given very specific stage directions that your set had to accommodate.
Exterior-- Forbidding landscape, day.
As Lieutenant Murphy takes in his situation, he sees evidence of disaster all around him and realizes with horror that he may never make it home again.
Abra, we'll start with you.
Tell us about your set.
Lieutenant Murphy crash-lands into a dead world and soon discovers the body of his partner.
We added an extra emotional element by incorporating this body of the woman.
We created this world by hand-sculpting, um, a burnt, arid landscape and dressing in fossilized plant and animal remains.
This is my hot set.
Abra, you told us about your set.
Let's see how you did.
This is my hot set.
Now that the judges have seen your set, Abra, it's time to show them how it plays on screen.
[Beeping.]
Abra, thank you very much.
Craig, tell us about your set.
I built this set for Lieutenant Murphy, who believes he's crash-landed on a planet but comes to realize when he's removed his helmet that he's actually landed on a living being.
This is my hot set.
Ultimately in production design, it is all about how your craft plays on the big screen.
We're familiar with the script.
- Let's see how you did.
- Ok.
[Heavy breathing.]
Craig, thank you.
Ok, judges, I'd like to invite you on set for a closer look at the work of both production designers.
The rock outcroppings feel very alien.
I like the rhythm of the natural forms.
Everything is red.
It's very monochromatic.
Ok, I think we've seen it.
Oh, wow.
I think the texture's good.
- Love the concept.
- I love the concept.
I still think it was a great idea, but I wanted just a tiny bit of movement in the floor.
Yeah.
I wish the walls had had that.
As a breathing organism, they went very flat, and even this close - Yeah.
- You know.
Yeah.
Judges, I know you have questions.
Let's start with Abra.
I think the rock forms are really successful.
They feel very alien, otherworldly to me.
I think the shape of the set is successful.
I like the way it dips down in the back.
I like how the path works.
There's a lot to like here.
Thank you.
I would have loved to have seen a little more foreground, just-- just another element.
We didn't know we could have that element.
Wait a minute.
Wait a second.
I would have loved to have had something there.
I said at the beginning-- Foreground mid-ground, background.
I would have liked a little bit more color.
And I think because of the color of the ash, it put a cloud over it, which made it look a little bit like the desert and less like an alien world.
But your reveal was very good in this set.
It looks fantastic on camera.
And that is the proof of any good set.
That's what I really like about this set.
Abra, thank you very much.
Thank you.
All right, questions for Craig? Conceptually, fantastic.
Really strong concept.
I think it's brave.
I think it's bold.
Thank you.
You needed to be bolder.
If you want to see something breathing, those needed to be bigger, bolder elements.
Yes.
More prominent.
The box that's lit up on the wall-- It seems to me like it's part of the environment and not part of the crash.
Was that your intention? My intention was that the ship was breaking up and he ejected.
And these were parts that were flying through the air and impaled into this.
Which parts like that wouldn't impale into a rock usually.
So that I was hoping to sell, that this was more of a softer surface.
That's a lot to ask of the audience.
Your reveal, with that fourth wall reveal is really one of the strongest elements.
Thank you.
I think it really worked.
Thank you, both.
The judges are now gonna review what they've seen, discuss your sets among themselves.
Please rejoin your teammates while the judges make their decision.
- And again, thanks.
- Thank you.
All right, judges.
This feels very competitive.
Let's start with Abra.
Abra, I have to say, from yesterday, I had no idea how this was gonna turn out, but she's presented something that is quite complete, quite compelling, it draws your eye to a place you want to go.
Curtain goes down and I'm going, whoa.
But, you know, color, it's a big problem.
Yeah.
I'm in agreement.
She does a nice job of creating the shapes and forms, and that unifies the environment.
Anything for Craig? Craig's concept is fantastic.
- I loved it.
- We love it.
But if we don't know that we're inside this animal, then it loses a significant amount of its emotional impact.
If he hadn't told me it was what it was, I would never have known.
In his defense, his creativity is all there.
You can see it.
It does show good understanding of filming techniques.
Absolutely.
The way he had these foreground cutting pieces, it's a big deal.
It's a very successful element to his set.
That was huge.
It seems clear that this is an incredibly difficult decision.
Absolutely.
So, I ask you, though, have you made a decision? - Yes, we have.
- Yep, I think so.
I think we have.
So, judges, who has the hot set and will leave here tonight with $10,000? Judges, who has the hot set and will leave here tonight with $10,000? Craig, conceptually strong, brave, and impressively presented.
But the creature just wasn't there.
Abra, you totally pulled it together.
It's a completed world.
A little monochromatic.
More color would have done you a lot of good.
This was a very, very close competition.
This could have gone either way.
But the designer with this week's hot set is Abra.
Thank you.
Abra, you took us on a journey to another world.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you so much.
Nice job, you guys.
I am a little disappointed about the way the outcome of the competition came.
I really think we nailed it.
I'm so happy right now.
I'm definitely roasted, but, I'm so proud of our whole team.
But before the cameras roll Man: 3, 2, 1, make a movie! An entire world has to be created.
In each episode of "Hot Set," two production designers and their teams go head to head in a showdown to build a Hollywood set in just 3 days.
Are you kidding me? Designers will start with an iconic film inspiration-- Aliens, serial killers, androids, and secret agents.
They'll have to come up with a concept I wanted to give a sense of this beautiful palace underwater.
Find the props to help tell their story You have a burned dead body for me? And race against the clock to construct a fully functional film set [Bleep.]
Oh, sorry, sorry! In time to shoot their scene.
It looks amazing.
Only one team will walk away with $10,000.
To come out on top, they'll have to impress our award-winning panel of judges.
Curt Beech, whose credits include "The Social Network" and "Star Trek.
" Lilly Kilvert, two-time Oscar nominee for "The Last Samurai" and "Legends Of The Fall.
" Barry Robison, production designer of "X-Men Origins" and "The Chronicles Of Narnia.
" Contestants will be graded on creativity He's used every cliché in the book.
Technique Technically it's sophisticated and well thought out.
And presentation It's immediately false.
It's fakey mcfakerson.
In the ultimate challenge of imagination We need to be in the mind of a serial killer.
Perspiration Start cleaning this shit up.
Two hours to paint that rock.
Blood, sweat, and tears.
That's how it gets done.
And exasperation.
I don't-- I don't-- Uhh.
Vines and ropes and trees and flowers-- [Babbling.]
It's too much! Watch your step.
Aah! Things are heating up Zhhh Reveal.
Welcome to my madness.
Here on "Hot Set.
" [Bats squeaking.]
My name is Abra Brayman.
I come from a family of artists.
I studied fine arts.
I've worked on a lot of independent films, and I'm excited to showcase these talents as a production designer.
My name is Craig Pavilionis.
I'm a production designer.
I've worked on hundreds of television commercials-- like 20 or 30 a year sometimes.
Being a production designer is insane to most people.
The short notice, a lot of change.
I have a bit of an advantage over someone who does features who has two months to prep.
Hello, production designers.
Welcome to "Hot Set.
" I'm your host Ben Mankiewicz.
We are in the movie capital of the world, Los Angeles, California.
Directors James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, and Guillermo del Toro have all filmed here on this stage.
Abra, Craig, you and your teams will have just 3 days and a budget of $15,000 to turn these empty spaces Into what the film industry calls hot sets-- that is, sets that are perfectly dressed, locked, and camera ready.
At the end of 3 days, you'll present your finished sets to our panel of judges.
These are some of Hollywood's top talent in production design.
- Curt Beech - Hi, guys.
Lilly Kilvert - And Barry Robison.
- Welcome.
Thanks.
Now, I come from a family of screenwriters.
My grandfather, Herman Mankiewicz, wrote "Citizen Kane.
" His brother Joe directed the epic "Cleopatra.
" So we have always known that a great set starts with a solid script.
Yours is certainly no exception.
Now let's set the scene.
Exterior.
Forbidding landscape-- Day.
As Lieutenant Murphy takes in his situation, he sees evidence of disaster all around him and realizes with horror that he may never make it home again.
When I heard Ben read the script, I had so many ideas running through my head.
I mean, is this a battleground? Is this a plane crash? A jail? Such a broad spectrum of possibilities with this set design.
There is one more thing.
Behind this curtain is a critical element that you'll need to incorporate into your final set.
Abra, Craig, here is your inspiration.
Production designers Meet Lieutenant Murphy.
In the tradition of many sci-fi classics, our story begins with a crash-landing in a new world.
Your challenge is to design a set for the alien planet that our downed astronaut will explore.
Judges, please let Abra and Craig know what you're gonna be looking for in their sets.
I'm looking for something recognizably alien.
Another thing-- foreground, mid-ground, background.
I want layers in this set.
Copy that.
Lilly? For me it's a matter of making sure that we sense the isolation-- a sense of doom and fear.
Because we're on an alien planet, you get to think out of the box now.
And what you should really do is really stretch that imagination.
You got it.
When your sets are finished, the judges will walk through your completed sets and watch a scene filmed on your set.
You'll have 5 minutes now to familiarize yourself with the inspiration item.
And when you're ready, your team is waiting for you in the design studio.
Guys, are you ready? Absolutely ready.
Yeah, I'm ready.
Good luck.
Your challenge begins right now.
The first thing that I think about when I see this astronaut suit is, where's the lens gonna be? I try to think, how is the director gonna shoot this? I was really excited because I felt like it was right up my alley.
Being an exterior science fiction/fantasy, it suited my sensibilities really well.
All right, guys, that's 5 minutes.
Time's up.
You selected two people to assist you in this challenge, and they're waiting for you in the design room.
Hi.
What have you got for us? I've got the challenge.
Abra, let's see it.
- It's an astronaut.
- It's an astronaut? It's an astronaut crash-landed into a dark world.
My husband Neil, who's also art director, he has an engineering background, so his thinking is a lot more on that lines.
An exterior, daytime, but it could be dark daytime.
Gotcha.
My buddy Nick, who's my set decorator, who's fantastic, he's basically taken over the budget.
And I'm so glad because that's something that I'm not crazy about doing.
You guys ready to tear it up? - Yeah, man.
What's going on? - Sure.
We got something that is so right up both of y'all's alleys.
I got a couple of great guys helping me out on this project.
Wyatt is one of the best scenic painters I've ever worked with, and he's a great guy.
My other guy is Joey, and he's my gadget head, all around, knows-a-whole-lot sort of dude.
He just does it, you know, so I'm really happy to have him.
Curt, this is quite a challenge.
A lot of elements in this challenge.
I think-- I think it's fraught with peril, frankly.
One of the most exciting parts of this script is the idea of disaster all around.
Mm-hmm.
And I have no idea what form that will take.
It can be anything in this world or another world, and I think the person who makes the boldest choice is gonna be the person who reinvents what we consider to be a foreign planet.
Hopefully we don't get sand and weird rocks.
Yeah.
The last thing we want to see is a retread of an old sixties "Star Trek.
" And they have to do all of this-- design the sets, build them, paint them, all in 3 days, at which point we will see you guys back here.
Thank you.
The dynamic of this set is there's an astronaut who has crash-landed.
It's not just a landscape.
It's actually something that's alive.
It's actually a creature.
We're not gonna just build a set.
I want this thing to live.
To create this living landscape, I'm going to build a wooden frame, cover that frame with wire mesh, and then use spray foam to create a rocklike craggy surface.
And then I'm going to use smoke, lightning strikes, and lighting to help sell that this thing is breathing.
This needs to look like something no one's ever seen before.
One of the alien elements I want to create is a-- is a very large skeleton that's like half coming - Ok.
- Out of the ground.
My vision is this burnt, charred world where the astronaut discovers the skeleton and the body of his copilot.
One of the strongest elements is a dead tree.
The burnt tree being the central part of the set, that, um, perhaps he's entwined in the tree.
Ok.
Part of his rigging could maybe be like he's been caught in the tree.
Before I go out and buy my props, I need to get my construction team up and running.
Joey's going to be our point guy on this.
He and I and Wyatt have gone through a lot of the details of this, so you get with Joey, he's gonna give some direction on what we're gonna start augmenting the set with.
Everybody bring it in right here.
Bring it in here.
Everybody ready? 1, 2, 3-- All right.
Good job, baby.
So there's a lot here in my mind, and I feel like if I have to go start shopping, it would be better if probably-- uh, one thing I do want to note is that the ground, um, should be lighter than the tree.
Abra is a bit of an artist, in that she knows what she wants.
She definitely needs a little help thinking realistically about things.
But, um, but, you know, I think that, um We want to create a dark world, but not like so dark that our tree doesn't stand out.
Ha ha! So, anyway, it's like a lot, I know.
I'm going to Jackson Shrub, which has fake rocks and real rocks and plants and trees.
I kind of like this guy, actually.
That's cool.
The hero piece of my set is the tree, which is a super important part of the set because everything has to be built around it.
Can we tag it for now, 'cause I have my competition here, too.
- Ha ha! - Ok.
Ah, wow, this is great.
I'm gonna be really busy today, so, you know, I've delegated to the guys and they're gonna be building basically the core background of the set while I'm gone on the shopping trip.
402, 401.
Let's lock those.
When I go on my shopping trip, I want to go and shop and leave.
I don't want to hang out at any vendor too long.
This one, those two.
This one.
That's it.
What I think we should do is we'll take some flats, we'll take the skins off them, we'll just use the framework.
We'll flank the two sides this way, and we'll build a straight wall across the back.
- We're good.
We're good.
- Are we good? Awesome.
So let's get started.
Wunderbar.
Wood right here, cut it, and be able to put it in, shoot it, and it's gonna go-- [Whoosh.]
- Ha ha.
- Whoa! I didn't even have my finger on the trigger.
Ooh, a little rock.
I like that one.
Take that one, ok.
You want moss on it? Yeah, moss looks good.
I can't leave without my tree.
But I got sidetracked by beautiful rocks.
So many rocks, so little time.
All right.
I'm changing my mind.
That one.
Decisions, decisions.
We have an idea what we think she's getting, but in previous experience we have no idea, actually, knowing what she turns up with.
These aren't big enough.
I think we need to go to the other ones.
I like that smaller one.
Maybe I'll get two.
What about that guy? It's so cool, though.
This tree is like a work of art in and of itself.
It has just a beautiful shape to it.
My tree! I probably got more stuff than I really need, but I like to have more stuff to work with and then see what works on the set in real time.
Hang on.
- We're on our way back.
- Ok.
Cool.
The other team are making fun of us.
Oh, no.
Why? 'Cause they've got this whole cliff face going on and we're sat here with a few gray flats and a ramp.
[Laughs.]
And we're all standing around doing nothing waiting for the stuff.
All right.
Well We can't do anything till we get the tree.
We cannot do anything.
It's very stressful to not have enough time.
Normally I work quickly, but not this quickly.
This is the ultimate challenge.
Coming up The build continues.
I'm sorry.
What have I done? And the judges await.
I would have loved to have seen a little more foreground.
- We made that pretty clear.
- I said at the beginning Foreground, mid-ground, background.
Mom, I'm home! I get back to the set, I'm really happy with the progress that the guys have made so far.
They got the framing up, they got some of the wire mesh on.
This looks awesome.
So dope, dude, are you kidding? Mommy.
Ok, I got two trees, can I just jump in And they're different from what I imagined in my mind.
See? And this is why we didn't build the rest of the set.
So I'm back on set and we're creating an alien planet that this astronaut has crash-landed into.
We're in a holding pattern.
Well, I didn't know what you were doing with this bottom-right corner, and I didn't know how big the rock was gonna be.
We can't really finish designing the layout until we see these objects in place.
- Well, then you tell me.
- What about sculpting this part? We can do the rest of the floor, you guys.
I glance at the other team and they're way ahead of us, and that scares me.
They're going crazy.
Well, hopefully the truck will get here shortly.
To start creating our surface shape, we'll be using what's called a froth pack product.
It's a sprayable foam that hardens.
You can control the depth by laying it and fanning it in so it's light and thinner, or you can lean on it and it'll build up.
So you can actually almost build like little mounds of rock with this thing.
I love it.
My trees.
My trees and rocks are here.
A moment of truth.
It looks great.
What have I done? We got everything off and now we can get building.
Time's up.
That's it for the day.
Dude, look what you guys did.
I'm feeling pretty good about the progress on the set.
We're actually a little bit further along than I anticipated.
End of day one, and we really didn't get as far as I'd hoped.
We're gonna have to try to rock it tomorrow.
It's definitely hard at the end of the day to look over at the PA and seeing this giant structure.
We're getting our butts kicked.
We made some really good progress yesterday.
I'm really impressed.
All right, all right.
We hit it pretty hard yesterday.
We're a little ahead of what I was hoping for.
Awesome.
By lunch I would love to have the back wall scenic painted.
You know, like you base the rocks, and then when the foam in, you can start basing wall.
But I want you to go to the wall.
There's a few other pieces of fabrication that have to happen.
We've got special effects that are coming in today.
I also need to send Joe on a shopping trip.
We need some parts of what looks like a broken-up spaceship.
Let's go talk about a couple points out there, ok? Day 2, and I'm feeling a lot of pressure for time to make up for day one.
We are behind.
I know.
Let's try to finish off the walls, so that we can start sculpting the space.
You're going to Dapper Cadaver and you're getting the bones.
Dapper Cadaver-- That's my order of business for the morning.
We're going to try to make something amazing happen.
So we'll start by prayer, and then we'll move on.
[Laughs.]
We'll be lucky to get to where our opponent's set was yesterday by the end of today.
This needs to come out a little further.
'Cause we're gonna have this giant dinosaur skeleton right here.
My vision is this burnt, charred world, and then there's this alien creature that's been dead for who knows how long.
Give me some bones.
All right.
They're coming.
Ok.
This astronaut will just be recognizing he's not gonna survive on this planet.
I'm excited because I get to go out and pick out some of these set pieces.
My first stop is Dapper Cadaver.
It's an all-things-dead and horror type of shop.
We need this charred female corpse, some sort of alien-looking skull, and we need a nice rib cage that sort of fits in with our reddish-black color palette.
I think we've got some stuff that could work for you.
The elements that I'm shopping for are very important for Abra's design, because what I'm adding in to the set are definitely the story elements.
This is an elephant skull? Yes.
And they're both really nice.
They're gorgeous, but they're gigantic.
When I go to a place like Dapper Cadaver and I see these pieces, it's exciting, and it's fun to look at the skulls and the bones and the bodies and let myself be creative.
Some big ribs.
These are gorgeous.
Sweet.
Well, do you have a burned dead body for me? I've got one over here that's in a really nice position.
This is Sonia.
Hey, Sonia.
Yeah.
So definitely this.
Definitely the box of bones.
- All right.
- All right? I'm going shopping for props from a place called LCW, for Craig.
Hey, man.
Joey.
How are you? This is one of those stores that, you know, carries like military stuff, naval stuff from different eras.
And I got the cockpit seats.
I need parts that look like they belong to a spaceship.
Yeah.
This is perfect.
I want to make sure that we get the disastrous look that we're looking for.
I'll take one with the 3.
Oh, this is beautiful.
Love this.
Oh.
That panel is really cool.
This is awesome.
Radioactive material.
[Beep.]
I'm finding all kinds of great stuff.
You're gonna be knocked out when you see the stuff I got.
I don't want to go over 1,000 bucks.
- You got it, Bubbe.
- Thanks, brother.
How we looking so far, Randy? It's not gonna be 1,000 bucks.
- It's not? - Just under, bro.
Takin' care of business, baby.
We started putting up some test pieces of the foam to create this rock wall in the background of the set, sort of a fan shape.
We started out with a small foam-cutting tool, and we love the texture it's making, but it's very time-consuming, and there have been moments when I was like, what have I done? Hey, guys.
I'm a little nervous that Lilly's here because I know she's here to critique.
So tell me about your world, Abra.
The world is this sort of burnt, rusty, uh, desolate environment.
A dried-out planet, like it's been eroded from the earth.
Ideally.
[Laughs.]
Given the time to create this erosion effect.
The use of level is really intelligent.
You have created some undulation in the world.
I think that one thing you might consider is not to have it look like our desert, - Right.
Right.
- but it's somebody else's desert.
And what will be the thing that makes it otherworldly? Do you have a plan for that? Um Well, I believe that, um Sort of the red earth.
So I think you're off to an interesting start.
Thanks.
Good luck, and keep on it.
- Welcome.
- Nice to see you.
- Welcome to my planet.
- What planet are we on? Well, the basis of my imagination with this set was that the astronaut crash-lands onto a landscape.
Right.
And what he doesn't realize is the landscape he's hit is actually a creature.
Uh-huh.
He's hit something that's alive.
Definitely a fascinating concept.
So is this a pliable material that's No, this is like a hard coat.
But there'll be nothing that actually moves at all? You just gave me a really good idea, actually, just now.
This is actually really great.
You remember our thing about foreground, middle ground, background? - Yes.
- And you have a lot of background.
Meaning maybe a little more foreground.
- Ok.
- Seems like you're going to a right good place.
- I hope you get there.
- Thank you very much.
Let's start with Abra.
She is unclear about how things are gonna end up.
I love the way the tree curves in and the wall curves in, but you can't just say it's a dead planet, because guess what it'll be.
It'll be a dead set.
She needs to get moving fast.
Thoughts on Craig.
The whole concept of having him land on something alive is a fantastic idea, incredibly ambitious.
If he doesn't give it a heartbeat, then it's gonna be a disaster.
It's gonna be interesting to see where they are tomorrow.
It's gonna be very interesting.
I can't wait.
- Thanks, Lilly.
- Ok, thank you.
One of Lilly's concerns is that if this is going to be a creature that there should be some movement.
So we made some very simple leverage rigs for the back of the set, which pushes the weaker spots of the wall to help sell that this thing is breathing.
Yeah, really easy.
Aw, fuck.
Just pushed too hard.
So we made some leverage rigs which pushes the wall to help sell that this thing is breathing.
- Aww - Oh! But one of my guys leaned into it a little bit too hard, and, you know, it's just wire mesh and foam, and it poked a hole through the wall.
- Yeah, I know.
- Hey, gentle movements, yeah.
All right, patch that thing up.
We were able to just basically put a band-aid on it and re-scenic that spot.
We actually learned from that, ok, guys, this is just a pulse, ease off on the pushing a little bit.
I think it can wedge in there.
It can't wedge in there.
There's styrofoam on one side and a rock on wheels on the other side.
My husband Neil and I sometimes go at it.
It can go like that.
We'll just put a rock in here.
Because I have a vision and I'm so adamant to realize it, and I think that's just my drive as an artist.
I had to fight the good fight for it, but it looks beautiful.
- Maybe some - That's better.
So I'm back from my shopping trip and we got a lot of great props and stuff to work with.
I think Craig's gonna be really surprised and happy with what props I found.
Look at my blinkies and things I got.
Awesome.
We're selling a disaster.
Lieutenant Murphy is ejected as his ship is going nonstop towards this planet, so those spaceship props are gonna be really important.
Is that changing colors? Yeah, it has a program.
It's like the leds that I have that I showed you with the remote.
Awesome! Sometimes I need to just try to put things in the space and see what works and what doesn't work.
That's just part of the process.
Can we take these off? We don't need these, right? We've got our big skeleton to go up there.
We just build things and then take it apart, just for fun.
Ha ha ha! Why? Because we can.
Sorry.
[Indistinct.]
[Indistinct.]
Ok, guys, that's time! Time! Stop, drop all tools now, to the ground.
It's the end of the day and I'm looking at my set, and I'm not completely sure we're gonna make it.
It's gonna mean more hard work for us, and we're already working really hard.
Awesome All right, all right.
It's the beginning of day 3, and I'm a little worried about the upcoming shoot.
I think it's gonna be great.
I can't wait to see it in action.
But we're not quite caught up to where I'd like to be yet.
What I'd love to have happen as the first thing is that Tim finishes the painting, and then everyone else just works on the finishing touches of getting the earth in and the rest of the set dressing.
All right.
Wow.
The set's looking pretty good at this point.
I have a short punch list of things that need to be done.
We need to get our effects tested this morning.
Some of those electronics, Joey, let's bring some of those and just get them kind of set up over here, let's plug 'em in, and let's go ahead and run that, see if we can make sure everything's working.
So I was really concerned about Lilly's comments that the back wall doesn't have enough distance between the foreground of the set.
I'm going to bring in a giant pre-built rock, which we're gonna scene it to make it look like the rest of the set.
Good morning.
[Indistinct.]
I need a large foreground rock that I can create a little bit more depth with.
How quickly can you get that rock here? I can get this on the truck and get it down there within the next half-hour or so.
Oh, my gosh, that would be great, 'cause we gotta scenic that rock.
So, um - Ok.
- All right, thanks, dear.
I appreciate it.
Just like the dark to light, and feather it in.
And then end up here.
Like as much as would be the rest of the helmet, just [Indistinct.]
.
Good tape, boys.
Let's pile up more earth there, Neil.
I am piling up more.
No, in front of the moss.
We'll just use the extra.
No, it's fine.
Just hand me a small rock.
I don't know which ones we need to do this.
Well, can you help put it up there and I'll fix it.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
There we go.
Nice.
Perfect.
Right.
Now, can you help get this going to the right position? No.
That's about where it needs to go.
- No, listen.
- No.
What? That's the top of the parachute on the top of the break.
It can't come any further this way.
It needs to get off the tree.
I had a specific image for how the parachute would hang.
Why don't you just do this? We just did that, though.
We've gotta get up there on the top and pull it over.
Is there a tall ladder we can get up there? Can you catch around the top and cover that top corner? Yeah, twist it and get it-- Yeah.
Yeah.
Perfect.
I was pretty sure that actually that we could move that.
It's fabric.
[Laughs.]
That's fantastic, and we see the strings.
I love that.
That's great.
The overall look that Craig's trying to capture is basically all the debris after he ejected.
It just kind of rained down against this area, and the ship disintegrated and some of it went into this creatureish landscape.
I'm kind of feeling like this is gonna be a little much.
I'm gonna put some panels and wire hanging off of it and all kind of shit.
We can't really paint on those, being [Indistinct.]
.
We have to use movie tricks and other things that we can make it looks like it's been in an accident.
Household products or even children's markers and paints and stuff like that.
Most of that stuff's very washable and it'll come off.
We've finished hand-sculpting and texturing the rocks.
But the painting takes a long time because there's many different colors and many different layers to really give it that-- and it's gonna look amazing.
It's just a very time-consuming process.
I just hope that we have time to finish before the shoot.
Our big Whitman rock is here, dude.
Oh, great.
Wait till you see this mountain that just arrived.
Perfect.
At the last minute Craig ordered this ginormous wall.
It is a lot bigger than we all thought it would be.
Oh, my God.
So you've seen the behemoth has arrived.
It's crazy.
You see the size of that fucking rock out there? It's a lot bigger than I thought it was.
Is this gonna work? Am I gonna have enough room? There's no way.
That's gonna cut off half the set.
That's nuts.
No, there's no way I would have gotten a rock this big.
Fucking nuts.
The behemoth has arrived.
You see the size of that fucking rock out there? I just placed the rock in front of the set, and it's a-- it's actually a lot bigger than I thought it was.
But it's fantastic.
And the way I blocked it out, it's fine.
It's gonna look killer.
We got about two hours left on the time clock, but overall, we're looking pretty good.
Ooh, are there-- there's a couple spots showing up back there.
Right there where your hand is.
Yeah.
And then to the left there's another one.
Can you tilt that down further? It's much better at an angle.
Yeah.
- Like that? - Exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
I feel strongly that we've got something good here, and I want it to be the best that it can, so my mind is constantly racing, like, how can we, you know, just make it awesome? We just gotta keep doing this to the bitter end, unfortunately.
We don't have much time.
Get ready to test this, ok? We have physical effects on the back with our pulsing wall.
You two guys great on pulsing wall.
You're doing the eyes from the top.
You're gonna manage that.
Brad-- No, I'll have you and Brad fence.
I'll be with the director.
You're gonna run them all.
Is everybody clear? What's going to sell this impending doom for Lieutenant Murphy is the crescendo of the effects.
Just turn it on low.
Start from the bottom and bring it up.
We're gonna help tie this in with the lightning strikes, with the wind storm, with the smoke, with the pulsating wall with this creature.
I believe I've satisfied all the requirements for this challenge and then some.
Oh, that's awesome.
And then do a little ash test.
How's that? Good, you guys! Guys, it's 5 minutes.
5 minutes left.
That's it.
Finish up your projects and that'll be it.
I just want the shine to go away, so knock it down.
It looks like plastic right now.
All right.
I love it.
The orange fabric.
Uh-- that's a big part of it.
Yeah, I like that there.
Ok.
And I want these to come up like - Flow into that.
- Yeah, flow.
Good.
That's good.
I like the string.
- Did you spray mount this first, Neil? - No.
Well, no wonder it's not sticking very well.
You know, there's always things that as a designer, if you had more time, you would keep working on and keep perfecting.
How much time do we have left? I feel like we did really, really well.
Oh, there.
Perfection! All right, teams, that is it.
Your time is up.
The sets you have built are now camera ready.
Or at least they should be.
Production designers, Abra, Craig, you each now have 30 minutes to shoot your scenes.
Good luck to both of you.
- Thank you.
- We'll see you soon.
Look's good! Go, team! - Good luck.
- Team Anarchy.
Rock it! You guys are awesome.
Whoo! Guys, thanks, so much, man.
- Break a leg.
- Great job.
Copy, grips, electric, walking, 3, 2, 1.
Make a movie.
I'm kind of coming down like roughly right here.
Bring it in! Everyone ready? - Can I do some last looks? - Sure.
Let's do it.
Come on, guys, we gotta get one.
We got 10 minutes.
Let's go.
And that's an action.
[Grunting.]
It's ok, just go.
Wherever.
[Laughs.]
Ok, 2 1/2 minutes! This is probably gonna be the last take, ok? There's not enough ash in the air, but I don't have time to fix it, so, we're just gonna roll with it and I hope it looks good on camera.
Maybe when we get you in there, we'll see where your feet are.
If you're not comfortable with it, we'll address it.
- Perfect.
- That cool? - Yeah.
- Awesome, man.
Thanks, brother.
Good luck in your survival.
Here we go.
Ready, Craig? - Yeah, yeah.
Ready, ready.
- And that's an action.
Give me a lightning strike.
- And - Pulse the wall with the red.
Hold the lightning.
Helmet's off.
3,000, a little more.
- Hold lightning.
- Heavier.
Clear out some of that, Wyatt, on your side.
- Clear the smoke out.
- Lightning.
5 minutes.
5 minutes left.
3,000 all the way down.
Now, now, now.
Go towards where he's walking.
Hold.
Everyone hold.
Excellent! I'm really proud of this set.
All of us delivered.
So, you know, it's up to the judges to decide.
- Awesome, brother.
- You did it.
You did it.
Production designers, welcome to the "Hot Set" presentation.
Tonight, one of you will leave here with $10,000, the other will leave with nothing.
Of course, you remember our judges.
- Curt Beech.
- Welcome back.
Lilly Kilvert.
And Barry Robison.
Your challenge this week was to create an otherworldly landscape and environment for a stranded astronaut.
In essence, you're showing us an entire planet in a single set.
You were given very specific stage directions that your set had to accommodate.
Exterior-- Forbidding landscape, day.
As Lieutenant Murphy takes in his situation, he sees evidence of disaster all around him and realizes with horror that he may never make it home again.
Abra, we'll start with you.
Tell us about your set.
Lieutenant Murphy crash-lands into a dead world and soon discovers the body of his partner.
We added an extra emotional element by incorporating this body of the woman.
We created this world by hand-sculpting, um, a burnt, arid landscape and dressing in fossilized plant and animal remains.
This is my hot set.
Abra, you told us about your set.
Let's see how you did.
This is my hot set.
Now that the judges have seen your set, Abra, it's time to show them how it plays on screen.
[Beeping.]
Abra, thank you very much.
Craig, tell us about your set.
I built this set for Lieutenant Murphy, who believes he's crash-landed on a planet but comes to realize when he's removed his helmet that he's actually landed on a living being.
This is my hot set.
Ultimately in production design, it is all about how your craft plays on the big screen.
We're familiar with the script.
- Let's see how you did.
- Ok.
[Heavy breathing.]
Craig, thank you.
Ok, judges, I'd like to invite you on set for a closer look at the work of both production designers.
The rock outcroppings feel very alien.
I like the rhythm of the natural forms.
Everything is red.
It's very monochromatic.
Ok, I think we've seen it.
Oh, wow.
I think the texture's good.
- Love the concept.
- I love the concept.
I still think it was a great idea, but I wanted just a tiny bit of movement in the floor.
Yeah.
I wish the walls had had that.
As a breathing organism, they went very flat, and even this close - Yeah.
- You know.
Yeah.
Judges, I know you have questions.
Let's start with Abra.
I think the rock forms are really successful.
They feel very alien, otherworldly to me.
I think the shape of the set is successful.
I like the way it dips down in the back.
I like how the path works.
There's a lot to like here.
Thank you.
I would have loved to have seen a little more foreground, just-- just another element.
We didn't know we could have that element.
Wait a minute.
Wait a second.
I would have loved to have had something there.
I said at the beginning-- Foreground mid-ground, background.
I would have liked a little bit more color.
And I think because of the color of the ash, it put a cloud over it, which made it look a little bit like the desert and less like an alien world.
But your reveal was very good in this set.
It looks fantastic on camera.
And that is the proof of any good set.
That's what I really like about this set.
Abra, thank you very much.
Thank you.
All right, questions for Craig? Conceptually, fantastic.
Really strong concept.
I think it's brave.
I think it's bold.
Thank you.
You needed to be bolder.
If you want to see something breathing, those needed to be bigger, bolder elements.
Yes.
More prominent.
The box that's lit up on the wall-- It seems to me like it's part of the environment and not part of the crash.
Was that your intention? My intention was that the ship was breaking up and he ejected.
And these were parts that were flying through the air and impaled into this.
Which parts like that wouldn't impale into a rock usually.
So that I was hoping to sell, that this was more of a softer surface.
That's a lot to ask of the audience.
Your reveal, with that fourth wall reveal is really one of the strongest elements.
Thank you.
I think it really worked.
Thank you, both.
The judges are now gonna review what they've seen, discuss your sets among themselves.
Please rejoin your teammates while the judges make their decision.
- And again, thanks.
- Thank you.
All right, judges.
This feels very competitive.
Let's start with Abra.
Abra, I have to say, from yesterday, I had no idea how this was gonna turn out, but she's presented something that is quite complete, quite compelling, it draws your eye to a place you want to go.
Curtain goes down and I'm going, whoa.
But, you know, color, it's a big problem.
Yeah.
I'm in agreement.
She does a nice job of creating the shapes and forms, and that unifies the environment.
Anything for Craig? Craig's concept is fantastic.
- I loved it.
- We love it.
But if we don't know that we're inside this animal, then it loses a significant amount of its emotional impact.
If he hadn't told me it was what it was, I would never have known.
In his defense, his creativity is all there.
You can see it.
It does show good understanding of filming techniques.
Absolutely.
The way he had these foreground cutting pieces, it's a big deal.
It's a very successful element to his set.
That was huge.
It seems clear that this is an incredibly difficult decision.
Absolutely.
So, I ask you, though, have you made a decision? - Yes, we have.
- Yep, I think so.
I think we have.
So, judges, who has the hot set and will leave here tonight with $10,000? Judges, who has the hot set and will leave here tonight with $10,000? Craig, conceptually strong, brave, and impressively presented.
But the creature just wasn't there.
Abra, you totally pulled it together.
It's a completed world.
A little monochromatic.
More color would have done you a lot of good.
This was a very, very close competition.
This could have gone either way.
But the designer with this week's hot set is Abra.
Thank you.
Abra, you took us on a journey to another world.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you so much.
Nice job, you guys.
I am a little disappointed about the way the outcome of the competition came.
I really think we nailed it.
I'm so happy right now.
I'm definitely roasted, but, I'm so proud of our whole team.