Hot Set (2012) s01e04 Episode Script
Down The Rabbit Hole
Tonight, on Hot Set 3, 2, 1, make a movie! Two production designers go head to head It's gonna look fabulous.
Yippy-tai yokka-yay.
to create an original world The door is huge! Oh, my God! for one of the most famous fantasy characters ever.
I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date.
Ben: In just 3 days Ropes and trees and trees and flowers-- blblbl! It's too much! Ben: 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, 2-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.
" The clock is ticking No, no, it's done.
- Tear that out? - No, we don't have time.
We've got to get our ass in gear.
Ben: And the pressure is on.
All right, I suck.
Can we move on? Oy vey! Here on Hot Set.
Woman: My name is Brandy Alexander.
I'm a production designer for about 25 years now.
Some of my favorite projects include "My So-Called Life" and "Dexter.
" I developed his apartment and the police station.
Being here today is to demonstrate how I can design anything and everything.
My name is Thomas Brown.
My shingle is out as a production designer, but I like to think of myself as a dreammaker.
I used to be a teacher, but about 18 years ago, I made a decision to become a full-time production designer.
Being on the show gives me a chance to display my crafts and to expose my abilities to not only my peers but also to a wider community.
Right now, we're inside a soundstage.
Located in the movie capital of the world, Los Angeles, California.
Thomas, Brandy, you and your teams will have just 3 days and $15,000 to turn these empty spaces into what the film industry calls hot sets-- finished, dressed, and locked sets that are ready to film.
At the end of 3 days, you'll present your camera-ready sets to our panel of judges, some of Hollywood's top talent in production design.
Curt Beech Hi there.
Lilly Kilvert and Barry Robison.
Every great set starts with a solid script, which brings us to your challenge.
Let's set the scene.
"Interior.
Alice's house.
Morning.
Alice awakens to find that things have changed dramatically overnight.
And maneuvering from room to room is going to present a small problem.
" Thomas: My imagination's starting to swirl.
I'm starting in the bedroom, but clearly I'm gonna have to do more than one room.
Ben: That's the scene you'll be creating a set for, but there is one more thing.
Behind this curtain is a critical element that you'll need to incorporate into your final set.
Thomas, Brandy, here is your inspiration.
Production designers, meet Alice.
As you can probably tell, this challenge is in the spirit of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
" Your task is to build a whimsical set that creates the illusion that Alice has grown gigantic or shrunk to tiny or both! Determining scale is part of your challenge.
Brandy: Working with scale is a challenge.
I want to come up with a unique environment for Alice that's never been seen before.
Ben: Judges, please let Brandy and Thomas know what you're gonna be looking for in these sets.
Curt? Don't lose sight of the fact that this is still a film set and has to be shot as a film set.
We want to be able to move around the set and make it a real shootable filmmaking environment.
Lilly? Of course, this is an issue of scale, and I think what you really want to strive for is to be able to allow the actors to move smoothly through the spaces and not get caught up on anything.
Barry? This could be really, really fun, because this is an optical challenge.
You get to choose where that camera goes, and that can really help you create the change of scale.
So don't forget about that.
Thomas: We have Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland.
We know the story really, really well.
It's kind of hard to squeeze any juice out of that.
When your challenge is finished, the judges will walk through your completed hot sets and they'll watch footage of a scene filmed on your set.
You'll have 5 minutes now to familiarize yourself with Alice.
Your challenge begins right now.
I think I'll win this competition because I can create an environment that they've never seen before.
Thomas: I have to figure out a way to make this something special.
Ben: Your teams are waiting for you in the design studio.
Go, go! Dudes! Tom Brown.
It's Alice through the looking-glass.
- Ok! - All right.
My biggest asset is my team.
Tom Bartlett is on as my decorator.
Tom adds an insightfulness into the final touches.
Drake Farrar is my construction coordinator, the guy who keeps all of my flighty intentions settled firmly on the ground.
She can either look like she's big or she can look like she's small, or she can look like she's both.
And I'm saying let's do both.
Why not? Brandy: Alice in Wonderland on speed.
My teammates are fantastic.
Robert has been my set designer for several projects, and we have a collaboration that's joined at the hip.
Mary's my set decorator, and she has immaculate taste and an incredible eye.
The three of us together, we will create something that is absolutely phenomenal.
So, guys, this is a small set, but it presents a big challenge for these guys.
Scale's difficult.
It's all about scale.
To me, it will be interesting to see how they deal with the transition from small to big.
The trick of forced perspective.
You can make a room look like it's much larger than it is.
Within a small space.
It's still the old tricks.
This is classic, old-fashioned filmmaking, and it can be quite wonderful.
And they gotta do it all in 3 days.
When they're done, you'll be back here to judge them, and I look forward to that.
It's gonna be huge.
Or it's gonna be teeny, but it's gonna be good.
Thomas: To accomplish the effect of making someone look like they're getting bigger or smaller, you do something called forced perspective.
We're gonna make the set in such a way that the tops of the walls are angling one way and the floor is angling another way.
And that conjoins to make Alice look like she's getting bigger or smaller, when it's only just the room.
We create the wall with the optical illusion of it getting bigger.
Brandy: Let's play around with scale.
Love to see a window or a door-- Doors, windows, knobs.
I want to do 3 rooms.
Alice will wake up normal size in a black-and-white bedroom.
And then pass through a tiny room where she will appear too big, and then eventually she'll end up in a 3rd space where she will be too small but surrounded in hypercolor with graphics that I'm planning on printing.
It's a concept.
Let's start thinking about game-planning this thing, because I'll tell you right now, we ain't got no time.
I'm gonna be dealing with the build crew so that everybody has a task.
Window, window, or another set of French doors.
Mary is making phone calls.
Apparently you have a 5-foot bird cage? Brandy's off to Jackson Shrub.
And you know what, this could be dangerous, because she really loves to shop.
We need to decide what we need to do today, but I need to get to my computer and draw this sucker up.
The trickiest part to all this is like working out the math.
It only works if you are able to mathematically assess how big something should be, because if you don't, the whole illusion is blown.
What I'm looking for is unusual types of topiary trees.
Think in terms of fantasy.
I want to get as large a flower as possible.
We have these giant roses.
These are great leaves.
I do love these, too.
I'll just take those, too.
I'll take these.
I love these.
Let's take all of 'em down.
Ooh, I like that.
What's that? That's a tree stump.
It's large and unusual.
I like these 3.
I'm gonna go for 2 of each.
Oh, I like them.
Do you have any animals? I'm not sure why or what, but they're gonna be there.
I think I've selected some fabulous items.
I'm so thrilled.
Got a lot of fun stuff.
Are you ready for it? I'm ready.
Let's do it.
I don't really know where it's gonna go.
Wow! The order from Jackson showed up.
We have a set that's 24 feet, and this would probably fit in, let me think, a football field? I don't even know where to start.
We'll store it in front of the stage, then.
I'm very concerned about the budget at this point.
I mean, we only have $15,000, and it's the first day.
So I'm freaking out.
I hope to God that we can return this and get a credit, because we're gonna spend our budget on mushrooms.
It's insane.
Ben: Coming up, the devil's in the details.
Mary: It all should go back.
Brandy: The things that I have to return are critical to my concept.
Thomas: The door doesn't fit.
There's no time to build another one.
- Hey! - Hey.
Wow, have we got a lot here.
Yeah.
Looking at my order onstage, I definitely over-rented.
My big concern is we've already spent almost $2,000.
- It can go back.
- For a credit.
Yeah.
Well, that's good.
Robert: We're gonna have to return half of the greens, simply 'cause we're not gonna be able to use them, but there's a restocking charge.
Most of this is not gonna get seen.
No, no, I do think that we have a lot of elements.
It's very challenging to keep Brandy on track, because it's a moving target.
It's simple.
It's pared-down.
It's scary simple.
It doesn't have vines, ropes, and trees.
And trees, flowers, blblbl! It's too much.
Thomas: We're building a series of rooms and hallways that will demonstrate how Alice shrinks and grows as she moves from one room to the other.
I'm looking at kind of a crown mold because of the whole diminution thing.
We need a quicker solution than this, because this is very labor-intensive.
For Drake, it's about not making unnecessary moves.
All this stuff would have to taper.
Tom's head's in the clouds.
That ain't gonna happen, bro.
My feet are on the ground.
I need that idea from in the clouds to be on the ground.
This is hours of work doing this.
Brandy: I love to let things flow and sometimes modify a design.
Robert doesn't like that.
Hi.
Ok, couple changes.
Ok, go with it.
In my original concept, I had planned a wall of doors from her bedroom leading into the second space.
Now I'm starting to change my mind.
I want to use that door down here, 'cause then all the door head heights are the same.
You don't want to do this whole variance? Uh-uh.
- We gotta stay with-- - I know.
With respect to Brandy, she's the team leader, but I also want to get done.
Why don't we move this and we see what we got? Perfect.
It's gonna look fabulous.
Never have a window that goes down below your bed.
Thomas: I'm looking at this window on the set that's supposed to be a smallish window that Alice confronts when she wakes up.
It looks too big.
It's too high on the wall.
It's throwing off the whole forced perspective illusion.
Can we turn that around? We decided the best way to do that is to just turn it upside-down.
Flip it, Tommy.
They've got 16 minutes to flip this over and leg it out.
We can do it.
5 minutes, guys! Oh! Lookit, lookit here.
Quittin' time! Oh, I was just getting started.
There's still tomorrow.
We'll see what happens there.
Yippee-tay yo-ki-yay! It feels good.
We accomplished a few goals today.
Brandy: At the end of day 1, I feel like I've accomplished quite a bit with my team and we've got a great start.
I'd love to be further along, and I wish I had a few more hours.
Today, there is a lot to get done.
What I'd like to do is get the two backings picked up.
The competition ends tomorrow and we haven't even generated the graphic, which is gonna go onto the floor.
It's insane, but if we can just stay on track, I think we'll do fine.
I'd like to start loading up what we're not taking.
That's a great idea.
We have returns that must go back to Jackson.
I think it's important for me to make sure that only what I have on stage is what I need.
I'm bringing back the forest.
Thomas: Today is a very big day.
We need to build the doors and get it to a place where we can start saying, a-ha! That's what it looks like.
Seems like the biggest issue we have to wrestle through with everything we do is timing.
Tom, a big interview with your decorator guy.
- Hook us up, brother.
- Yeah, yeah.
And Drake, if it's more numbers you need, let me know.
Anyway, let's go see what else-- Yeah, let's see what they can get going.
Brandy: Oh, no, no! We got way too much bedroom in here.
- Too much what? - Bedroom.
We need this space to be bigger.
I'm very much concerned about the scale and about the proportions that I'm trying to work with.
That is 6 feet.
You can't go in any further.
Robert: My biggest frustration with Brandy is Brandy will come in, be moving walls.
Please don't change that.
You don't have the time.
I can't keep track of it, and it's chaos.
Please do not change that.
Well, have we angled this wall in? This is our 7-foot door wall? So, we built this huge door to make Alice look small.
I don't think we can go at all outside the set.
The door is too big.
This is where it absolutely is.
I'm going past that? That's violating the rule? Yeah.
I've got this small footprint that I have to keep the set within, and my door is exceeding that boundary by about 7 inches.
That's a thorny little nut.
So, right now, the only choice we have is to make it even smaller.
The whole effect gets a little diminished by that.
These things happen.
It's disappointing, but you buys the ticket and you takes the ride.
We're working on a set today.
Curt comes up with Ben.
And I'm thinking, maybe he won't be too critical.
Thomas! Brandy! Curt and I are gonna walk through your sets, get a little progress update.
Thomas: I'm feeling nervous.
This could go either way.
Take me through it, step by step.
She wakes up, she thinks it's a normal day.
There's a little bed about this wide, maybe about this long.
And how big is the window? This is the size of the window.
But that's a fairly standard size window we're looking at right there.
Keep going, 'cause I want to know what's happening.
So she wakes up, and then she's walking through the room and noticing that things are getting bigger, as she walks down this way.
And the door is huge! Oh, my God! She starts to walk up here, she ends up getting bigger and bigger to where when she's here she's having to stoop to try to negotiate the door.
The idea is fantastic.
You have to deal with immediate perceptions.
This sounds like a set that requires a significant amount of math.
It certainly does.
And that's been part of my bane, is trying to get all of the calculations, such that we can pull this off in this itty-bitty little space.
As it is right now, I would caution you on the window.
It looks like your standard window.
That's the proportions of it.
Thomas: Apparently the window is too big.
You know, his point is well taken.
I think you need to exaggerate these choices that you've made.
Exaggerate, exaggerate, exaggerate.
- Hi, curt.
Hi.
- How are you? The way I picture this, Alice is in bed.
We're placing a bed here.
This room is going to be black and white.
I've got a series of doors that are going on this wall.
- Lovely.
- Alice will walk up, but when she opens this last door, she goes into a very small space where now she is too big.
How does she get out of this? We have painted an eye that she can exit through.
She goes through an eye? And I've got some other elements, like a large bird cage.
It's 5 feet tall.
I'm not sure if that's big enough.
Curt is a bit concerned about scale and about the proportions that I'm trying to work with.
This whole area will be snakes screened onto plexi.
How big are the snakes? They're normal size, so that's a problem.
I caution you.
Cut the snakes.
I need a normal object that's not normal anymore.
Got it.
And-- bing! We know immediately that, you know Ok, I like that.
- Something's different.
- Ok.
He set the bar a little higher.
I'm glad you came by.
- All right, Brandy.
Good luck.
- Thank you.
Let's start with Brandy.
I love the idea that she has of sort of creating some baseline objects that change in size, but I'm fearful about the big payoff.
I'm not convinced.
And what about Thomas? I think he's maybe overthinking the spaces.
And when you're forcing perspective, it is a science.
But at some point, you have to arm-wave it.
And that means, you just say, "ok, make this window this size," and just go.
So you've got one hugely complex concept, and you've got one half-baked concept.
Is it going to get cooked better, or is it going to get realized better? We'll find out tomorrow.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Why don't you call Robert and make sure that the bird cage that he gets in her room is as small as possible.
Curt has got me going.
I'm making decisions right and left.
Can you make sure that you get a really small bird cage if you're at Modern? [Indistinct.]
Just had a different picture in my head of how it would end up.
Thomas: Some of the changes curt recommended require redoing the set almost from scratch.
If we try and come all the way out to the door, it gets even funkier.
We got no time.
- Ok, it's done.
- We can do it.
- No, no, it's done.
- We can tear it out.
No.
We don't have time.
Brandy: Curt has got me going.
I'm making decisions right and left.
The black-and-white clocks.
I'm gonna need you to screen it onto something that I can wrap a set of stairs.
I'm now gonna make my third room match my first room with the motif of clocks.
The face of them is color, and I want to make them supersized.
And every prop we get from this point forward has to be either very large or very small.
Can you make sure that you get a really small bird cage if you're at Modern? [Indistinct.]
Super size-- that's the goal.
From here, 5'7", we taper down so that she truly has something to bump her head on.
Thomas: After Curt saw the set, I was starting to sweat.
Have you started building the door yet? I have not started building the door.
Some of the changes he recommended require that I recalculate the size of the little door that Alice confronts at the end of the scene-- redoing almost from scratch.
Alice's bedroom window, and even the ceiling-- the height of the ceilings, and we have no time.
I realized I had to get real.
I had to stop being theoretical about this set.
I really had to start looking at the set independent of the computer.
Looks a little [Snaps chalk line.]
It made me have to really step back and say what's really working and what's really not.
[Truck beeping.]
Let's take into account what's here.
Robert just got back from universal, and I am shocked with what's in it.
Marble pedestal.
Real? Real marble pedestal.
- This was through the roof.
- Yeah.
Damn, Robert.
He spent a lot of money on some really heavy, heavy props.
This is also made out of stone.
The heavier the prop, usually the more expensive it is.
I need Robert to get over here.
Pardon me? Real marble? What are you talking about? I'm not quite sure, but the chandelier is gi-normous.
Yeah.
I was thinking small chandelier-- It's too late now.
You're gonna spend time being critical? No.
What can you do about it now? You're gonna yell at me and somehow make it better? Robert-- he says, just, "ok, I did wrong.
" And he won't really allow me to vent.
All right, I suck, but can we move on? Oy, vey.
We are putting in some elements that require a little more time.
Probably the most important of those is raked floors.
[Buzzing.]
The whole notion of raking the floor means that basically you're creating a ramp to accomplish the effect of making someone look like they're getting bigger or smaller in an environment.
You exaggerate perspective.
But there's an awful lot to do and not much time to do it.
So we're at $17,000, which is over our budget.
I'll be eliminated for going over budget.
Robert spent a lot of money, so I'm going to try to return more of the things that I got yesterday.
But the vendors close early, so we will be doing it in the morning.
So we don't need the stone.
We don't need the grass.
Prop houses don't usually do this, but I'm praying that he'll make an exception.
Ok, I've got a lot of vines that can go back.
It all should go back, all of this.
All right.
All right.
Now, I want to keep a few of the colors of this.
The things that I have to return are critical to my concept, but we're over budget, and I'm gonna have to live without them.
I would be devastated to be disqualified.
Ah! Ok, fellas, time's out! Thomas: So we're at the end of day two now, and there's a two-page list of things we still have got to build and paint.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Brandy: Now it's the end of the day, and I got so much left to do.
I am panicking.
Thomas: We're at the beginning of day 3, and hope springs eternal.
All right, fellas.
Well, we got 4 more hours to bring it home.
We've got some really key things we've got to do we've got to focus on with a madness.
Let's do this.
Ha ha ha! Brandy: It's great.
It's gonna happen.
Team, gather round.
We're gonna make a plan.
I am about $1,600 over budget.
We're out of the competition, we forfeit, if we don't come in under budget.
If I can get enough credit, then we're good.
Right now, I'm gonna deal with the budget, and I'm gonna put Robert in charge.
Ok, thank you.
What would you recommend I jump on? Tom is a production designer.
He's not a builder.
But he asked if there was anything that he could help me with, and I said, "yes.
Can you build a small door?" A little door, coming up.
Wow.
This doesn't seem right.
Drake: So he built our door, but what wasn't wrong with that door? I think the door will fit the opening.
You may need to shave the side a little bit because I was rough and ready in my construction.
All right.
This box can go away.
That box can go away.
I'm making a phone call right now.
Brandy: It's up to me to get us back on track.
So now I have to call Gary at Jackson Shrub, and I have to return my entire order, practically.
I'm praying that he takes pity on my situation.
Gary: Hello? Hi.
Gary? Yes.
I need to be returning a number of items.
Brandy: My big job today is to grovel if necessary.
I have no choice.
If I didn't do that, we'd be out of the competition.
So I really need this to be, I guess, a favor? What about mushrooms? Gone.
Gone.
Brandy: I am $1,600 over budget, so now I have to call Gary at Jackson Shrub and ask him to make an exception and allow me to return almost my entire order.
Otherwise, I'll be eliminated for going over budget.
Gary: Hello? Hi.
Gary? I need to be returning a number of items to get back on track.
This is the time for incredible customer service.
Gary? All right.
Yeah, I guess.
Oh, I love you.
Gary at Jackson Shrub is my hero.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
If it wasn't for him, I think I would have been disqualified.
- We did it.
We got it.
We're on budget.
- Great.
We're on budget.
Give me a hug.
Robert: Once again, she comes through.
We're back in the black.
Brandy: We're back in the game, but I had to give up some important pieces that were critical to my concept, and I hope it doesn't hurt my chances with the judges.
That's good.
- I need you to fly like the wind.
- Yeah.
[Tools buzzing.]
Thomas: Are we ready to pop in that ceiling on the bedroom? Is this where we find out how good I measured? Oh, yeah! Thomas: So one of the last elements we put in is our big door.
I want to test swing it.
They're ready.
Thomas: And if that door doesn't fit, there is no time to build another one.
Let it swing.
I win! Dodged a bullet on that one.
Brandy: The flooring I'm planning to put down in Alice's bedroom is going to be a graphic that was screened onto low-tack adhesive.
I'm gonna take both sides here.
It's quite a workout putting this floor down.
Robert: I saw Brandy on the ground, and the roll of wallpaper was over her, and all I could see were legs with footies.
She's a trouper, man.
Brandy: Wallpapering a stair is a nightmare.
That will be the last time.
Brandy: 3-zero.
30 minutes.
This on top, right? Yup.
Brandy: Can you make sure there's something in the bird cage? Are we working on that? 5 minutes left.
Ah, shit.
Thomas: We could not accomplish everything.
There just wasn't enough time.
I wanted to age the door.
I wanted to age more of the walls, but I can't.
I was looking for subtleties.
Right now I'm looking for done.
There's not a chance.
Brandy: I feel like I took my team and we achieved the concept that we started with.
Oh! I love it! All right, teams! Your time is up.
Brandy, Thomas, you'll each now have 30 minutes to shoot scenes on your sets.
Both of you, nice work.
Good luck.
I wish we had another hour, but we don't.
We have to shoot this thing.
Ready, set, go.
Man: Copy.
Grip.
Electric.
Car.
Walkie.
3, 2, 1.
You're noticing as you' walking close to it that your head is getting closer to the ceiling.
I hope that we can really pull it off right with the camera.
Let's shoot something.
We're burning daylight.
We're gonna go for action here.
Ready, Tom? Tom: Ready.
Here we go.
Let's check out the room, check out the bottle.
You're trying to open it.
You come in this room, and you're big.
Now you're so big that-- there you go.
You're gonna make it to the door, and then that ends it.
And cut.
One more time.
- I just want to show you - Ok.
Some stuff on the set to be aware of for your path.
- I made these a little wider - Ok.
So that they're easy to get up.
Yeah, everybody to one, please.
Robert: Turn around for me, Alice.
Look around.
I saw her underpants.
Mo? She's gonna go right away.
Stand by.
I want to switch the night stands.
That doesn't have a handle.
It looks tacky.
And go, Alice Through the door, right away.
And iris out.
- That's a wrap.
- That's great.
Brandy: I am so happy the way the featurette shot.
I can't wait for the judges to see 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.
You remember our judges.
Oh, yes.
- Curt Beech.
- Nice to see you again.
Lilly Kilvert.
Good evening.
- And Barry Robison.
- Hello.
Your challenge this week was to create a whimsical set in the spirit of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
" We gave you either overgrown Alice or shrunken Alice or both as your principal character.
You were given specific stage directions that your set had to accommodate.
Interior, Alice's house, morning.
Alice awakens to find that things have changed dramatically overnight and maneuvering from room to room is going to present a small problem.
Thomas, we'll begin with you, tell us about your set.
My set represents the very first day that Alice begins her journey into Wonderland.
She wakes up one morning and she discovers that her whole house is different.
Not only is her house different, but she's becoming larger and smaller as she moves through the house.
We've decided to incorporate techniques of forced perspective using techniques that have been used in Hollywood since the 1930s.
This is my hot set.
We want to know what you think of tonight's creations.
Tell us on Twitter using #HotSet.
Ben: Thomas, you told us about your set, and we're eager to see how you've done.
Thomas: This is my hot set.
Ben: Now that the judges have seen your set, it's time to see how your rooms work onscreen.
Thomas, let's see how you did.
[Door creaks.]
[Thunder.]
[Sniff.]
[Sniff.]
Ben: Thomas, thanks very much.
Yep.
Brandy, tell us about your set.
We find Alice waking up in a beautiful bedroom but void of all color.
She sees this wall of doors, and she's able to enter one of those doors into a surreal world of enormous color.
She's quite happy and pleased to have found her world, and this is my hot set.
In production design, it is all about how your work looks on the big screen.
We know the script.
Brandy, let's see how you did.
[Clock ticking.]
[Birds tweeting.]
[Birds cawing.]
Thank you, Brandy.
Thank you.
Judges, I'd like to invite you on set for a closer look.
Let me start by saying it came a long way since yesterday.
- Ok.
- So that's good.
However, should have had a smaller bed.
Should have been a different window.
And we talked about the window.
Strengthening it.
I felt like this moment, - when she hits here - Yeah.
was successful.
It was good.
I thought that was great and it was actually a movie set hallway.
Yeah, it was.
And I thought, "hallelujah.
" And this thing was great.
But the biggest deal was the finish in the details is just really not up to par.
But this was great.
All right.
- Onward.
- Onward.
Thank you.
- Good use of the black and white.
- Right.
And she actually-- the girl looked good in here.
It's the objects that killed-- That's exactly right.
The scale, and this is what we had actually talked about, doing the opposite of that, having the objects help the scale.
I love the use of color, but what killed the set again are the props.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Thanks.
Ben: The judges, I can tell are champing at the bit.
Let's start with Thomas.
Thomas, I think the bravery in using perspective side by side-- it was very elegantly done.
So I think you challenged yourself enormously, and for the most part, you were really, really successful, so congratulations.
Thank you so much.
There are issues I have with this set, and they're glaring, glaring issues.
It looks rushed, to my eye.
These sets have to be really super finished.
Time was not my friend.
Your reveal of the set was wonderful-- the camera pushing through the window and revealing the room I thought was really fantastic.
Thank you.
When she walked down from the window, as soon as she hit that gigantic door, boom-- I understood it.
That moment took me into a different dimension.
I wanted that same thing to happen at the window.
We talked yesterday about making that window smaller, making that gesture bigger, and you did not go there.
The way you carved up the rectangle space was brilliant.
All right, judges.
Any thoughts for Brandy? You treated your rooms with color, texture, and pattern like we've not seen before.
Congratulations on that.
The first room is smashing.
Lilly: It was exciting and surprising, and something I didn't expect to see at all, so, surprising me is wonderful.
Thank you.
Yet, the animals need to be much smaller if she's large.
But the animals are kind of normal-sized, so they don't drive the point home.
I thought that the textures that I was gonna achieve with the digital printing was gonna give me more bang for my buck than normal props.
Where that section fell down was your proppage.
If you had put nothing in that set, it would've been a much more successful set.
But I also want to congratulate you on the whole concept, because it's such a wonderful concept.
It's very well done.
Thank you both.
The judges will now take a moment to review what they've seen and discuss your sets among themselves.
Please rejoin your teammates while the judges make their decision.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, guys.
Well, judges, two very different production designers, two extremely different sets, but of course, just one winner.
We'll start by discussing Thomas.
There was a lot I liked.
I-- I think on film, it did very well.
I think he missed an opportunity at the beginning to really draw us in and drive the issue of scale home.
And I tell you, it burns my biscuit because we've talked about it.
His bravery in using the space was fantastic.
Barry: He didn't do it perfectly, but at least he addressed the scale.
I think with Brandy, where she did address it, it just wasn't clear to us.
We're looking at great techniques, strong finishes.
Lilly: Her technique is terrific.
She knows how to do a lot of great stuff.
Her concept was fascinating.
- Fascinating.
- Fascinating.
This is clearly a difficult process.
Are we ready to bring the teams in? - I think we are.
- I think we are.
- Yeah.
Ok.
Judges, who has the hot set and will leave here tonight with $10,000? Judges, who has the hot set, and leaves here tonight with $10,000? Brandy, your design techniques and creativity gave us a fully realized, highly conceptual set.
We just wish you had solved all the problems of scale in the process.
Thomas, you had me at the door.
You changed her world at least 3 times.
You met the challenge extremely well.
However, the details did leave me wanting a better finish.
Barry, the moment of truth.
Who has the hot set and leaves here tonight with $10,000? The designer with the hot set this week is Thomas.
You did it well.
You gave it great thought.
Congratulations.
Thank you so much.
I suppose it didn't answer the scale challenge, but I'll learn from this experience and laugh about it in a day or two.
Hearing my name called out as a winner is a great accomplishment.
I'm grateful that people of this caliber have just told me that they like my work.
Yippy-tai yokka-yay.
to create an original world The door is huge! Oh, my God! for one of the most famous fantasy characters ever.
I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date.
Ben: In just 3 days Ropes and trees and trees and flowers-- blblbl! It's too much! Ben: 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, 2-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.
" The clock is ticking No, no, it's done.
- Tear that out? - No, we don't have time.
We've got to get our ass in gear.
Ben: And the pressure is on.
All right, I suck.
Can we move on? Oy vey! Here on Hot Set.
Woman: My name is Brandy Alexander.
I'm a production designer for about 25 years now.
Some of my favorite projects include "My So-Called Life" and "Dexter.
" I developed his apartment and the police station.
Being here today is to demonstrate how I can design anything and everything.
My name is Thomas Brown.
My shingle is out as a production designer, but I like to think of myself as a dreammaker.
I used to be a teacher, but about 18 years ago, I made a decision to become a full-time production designer.
Being on the show gives me a chance to display my crafts and to expose my abilities to not only my peers but also to a wider community.
Right now, we're inside a soundstage.
Located in the movie capital of the world, Los Angeles, California.
Thomas, Brandy, you and your teams will have just 3 days and $15,000 to turn these empty spaces into what the film industry calls hot sets-- finished, dressed, and locked sets that are ready to film.
At the end of 3 days, you'll present your camera-ready sets to our panel of judges, some of Hollywood's top talent in production design.
Curt Beech Hi there.
Lilly Kilvert and Barry Robison.
Every great set starts with a solid script, which brings us to your challenge.
Let's set the scene.
"Interior.
Alice's house.
Morning.
Alice awakens to find that things have changed dramatically overnight.
And maneuvering from room to room is going to present a small problem.
" Thomas: My imagination's starting to swirl.
I'm starting in the bedroom, but clearly I'm gonna have to do more than one room.
Ben: That's the scene you'll be creating a set for, but there is one more thing.
Behind this curtain is a critical element that you'll need to incorporate into your final set.
Thomas, Brandy, here is your inspiration.
Production designers, meet Alice.
As you can probably tell, this challenge is in the spirit of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
" Your task is to build a whimsical set that creates the illusion that Alice has grown gigantic or shrunk to tiny or both! Determining scale is part of your challenge.
Brandy: Working with scale is a challenge.
I want to come up with a unique environment for Alice that's never been seen before.
Ben: Judges, please let Brandy and Thomas know what you're gonna be looking for in these sets.
Curt? Don't lose sight of the fact that this is still a film set and has to be shot as a film set.
We want to be able to move around the set and make it a real shootable filmmaking environment.
Lilly? Of course, this is an issue of scale, and I think what you really want to strive for is to be able to allow the actors to move smoothly through the spaces and not get caught up on anything.
Barry? This could be really, really fun, because this is an optical challenge.
You get to choose where that camera goes, and that can really help you create the change of scale.
So don't forget about that.
Thomas: We have Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland.
We know the story really, really well.
It's kind of hard to squeeze any juice out of that.
When your challenge is finished, the judges will walk through your completed hot sets and they'll watch footage of a scene filmed on your set.
You'll have 5 minutes now to familiarize yourself with Alice.
Your challenge begins right now.
I think I'll win this competition because I can create an environment that they've never seen before.
Thomas: I have to figure out a way to make this something special.
Ben: Your teams are waiting for you in the design studio.
Go, go! Dudes! Tom Brown.
It's Alice through the looking-glass.
- Ok! - All right.
My biggest asset is my team.
Tom Bartlett is on as my decorator.
Tom adds an insightfulness into the final touches.
Drake Farrar is my construction coordinator, the guy who keeps all of my flighty intentions settled firmly on the ground.
She can either look like she's big or she can look like she's small, or she can look like she's both.
And I'm saying let's do both.
Why not? Brandy: Alice in Wonderland on speed.
My teammates are fantastic.
Robert has been my set designer for several projects, and we have a collaboration that's joined at the hip.
Mary's my set decorator, and she has immaculate taste and an incredible eye.
The three of us together, we will create something that is absolutely phenomenal.
So, guys, this is a small set, but it presents a big challenge for these guys.
Scale's difficult.
It's all about scale.
To me, it will be interesting to see how they deal with the transition from small to big.
The trick of forced perspective.
You can make a room look like it's much larger than it is.
Within a small space.
It's still the old tricks.
This is classic, old-fashioned filmmaking, and it can be quite wonderful.
And they gotta do it all in 3 days.
When they're done, you'll be back here to judge them, and I look forward to that.
It's gonna be huge.
Or it's gonna be teeny, but it's gonna be good.
Thomas: To accomplish the effect of making someone look like they're getting bigger or smaller, you do something called forced perspective.
We're gonna make the set in such a way that the tops of the walls are angling one way and the floor is angling another way.
And that conjoins to make Alice look like she's getting bigger or smaller, when it's only just the room.
We create the wall with the optical illusion of it getting bigger.
Brandy: Let's play around with scale.
Love to see a window or a door-- Doors, windows, knobs.
I want to do 3 rooms.
Alice will wake up normal size in a black-and-white bedroom.
And then pass through a tiny room where she will appear too big, and then eventually she'll end up in a 3rd space where she will be too small but surrounded in hypercolor with graphics that I'm planning on printing.
It's a concept.
Let's start thinking about game-planning this thing, because I'll tell you right now, we ain't got no time.
I'm gonna be dealing with the build crew so that everybody has a task.
Window, window, or another set of French doors.
Mary is making phone calls.
Apparently you have a 5-foot bird cage? Brandy's off to Jackson Shrub.
And you know what, this could be dangerous, because she really loves to shop.
We need to decide what we need to do today, but I need to get to my computer and draw this sucker up.
The trickiest part to all this is like working out the math.
It only works if you are able to mathematically assess how big something should be, because if you don't, the whole illusion is blown.
What I'm looking for is unusual types of topiary trees.
Think in terms of fantasy.
I want to get as large a flower as possible.
We have these giant roses.
These are great leaves.
I do love these, too.
I'll just take those, too.
I'll take these.
I love these.
Let's take all of 'em down.
Ooh, I like that.
What's that? That's a tree stump.
It's large and unusual.
I like these 3.
I'm gonna go for 2 of each.
Oh, I like them.
Do you have any animals? I'm not sure why or what, but they're gonna be there.
I think I've selected some fabulous items.
I'm so thrilled.
Got a lot of fun stuff.
Are you ready for it? I'm ready.
Let's do it.
I don't really know where it's gonna go.
Wow! The order from Jackson showed up.
We have a set that's 24 feet, and this would probably fit in, let me think, a football field? I don't even know where to start.
We'll store it in front of the stage, then.
I'm very concerned about the budget at this point.
I mean, we only have $15,000, and it's the first day.
So I'm freaking out.
I hope to God that we can return this and get a credit, because we're gonna spend our budget on mushrooms.
It's insane.
Ben: Coming up, the devil's in the details.
Mary: It all should go back.
Brandy: The things that I have to return are critical to my concept.
Thomas: The door doesn't fit.
There's no time to build another one.
- Hey! - Hey.
Wow, have we got a lot here.
Yeah.
Looking at my order onstage, I definitely over-rented.
My big concern is we've already spent almost $2,000.
- It can go back.
- For a credit.
Yeah.
Well, that's good.
Robert: We're gonna have to return half of the greens, simply 'cause we're not gonna be able to use them, but there's a restocking charge.
Most of this is not gonna get seen.
No, no, I do think that we have a lot of elements.
It's very challenging to keep Brandy on track, because it's a moving target.
It's simple.
It's pared-down.
It's scary simple.
It doesn't have vines, ropes, and trees.
And trees, flowers, blblbl! It's too much.
Thomas: We're building a series of rooms and hallways that will demonstrate how Alice shrinks and grows as she moves from one room to the other.
I'm looking at kind of a crown mold because of the whole diminution thing.
We need a quicker solution than this, because this is very labor-intensive.
For Drake, it's about not making unnecessary moves.
All this stuff would have to taper.
Tom's head's in the clouds.
That ain't gonna happen, bro.
My feet are on the ground.
I need that idea from in the clouds to be on the ground.
This is hours of work doing this.
Brandy: I love to let things flow and sometimes modify a design.
Robert doesn't like that.
Hi.
Ok, couple changes.
Ok, go with it.
In my original concept, I had planned a wall of doors from her bedroom leading into the second space.
Now I'm starting to change my mind.
I want to use that door down here, 'cause then all the door head heights are the same.
You don't want to do this whole variance? Uh-uh.
- We gotta stay with-- - I know.
With respect to Brandy, she's the team leader, but I also want to get done.
Why don't we move this and we see what we got? Perfect.
It's gonna look fabulous.
Never have a window that goes down below your bed.
Thomas: I'm looking at this window on the set that's supposed to be a smallish window that Alice confronts when she wakes up.
It looks too big.
It's too high on the wall.
It's throwing off the whole forced perspective illusion.
Can we turn that around? We decided the best way to do that is to just turn it upside-down.
Flip it, Tommy.
They've got 16 minutes to flip this over and leg it out.
We can do it.
5 minutes, guys! Oh! Lookit, lookit here.
Quittin' time! Oh, I was just getting started.
There's still tomorrow.
We'll see what happens there.
Yippee-tay yo-ki-yay! It feels good.
We accomplished a few goals today.
Brandy: At the end of day 1, I feel like I've accomplished quite a bit with my team and we've got a great start.
I'd love to be further along, and I wish I had a few more hours.
Today, there is a lot to get done.
What I'd like to do is get the two backings picked up.
The competition ends tomorrow and we haven't even generated the graphic, which is gonna go onto the floor.
It's insane, but if we can just stay on track, I think we'll do fine.
I'd like to start loading up what we're not taking.
That's a great idea.
We have returns that must go back to Jackson.
I think it's important for me to make sure that only what I have on stage is what I need.
I'm bringing back the forest.
Thomas: Today is a very big day.
We need to build the doors and get it to a place where we can start saying, a-ha! That's what it looks like.
Seems like the biggest issue we have to wrestle through with everything we do is timing.
Tom, a big interview with your decorator guy.
- Hook us up, brother.
- Yeah, yeah.
And Drake, if it's more numbers you need, let me know.
Anyway, let's go see what else-- Yeah, let's see what they can get going.
Brandy: Oh, no, no! We got way too much bedroom in here.
- Too much what? - Bedroom.
We need this space to be bigger.
I'm very much concerned about the scale and about the proportions that I'm trying to work with.
That is 6 feet.
You can't go in any further.
Robert: My biggest frustration with Brandy is Brandy will come in, be moving walls.
Please don't change that.
You don't have the time.
I can't keep track of it, and it's chaos.
Please do not change that.
Well, have we angled this wall in? This is our 7-foot door wall? So, we built this huge door to make Alice look small.
I don't think we can go at all outside the set.
The door is too big.
This is where it absolutely is.
I'm going past that? That's violating the rule? Yeah.
I've got this small footprint that I have to keep the set within, and my door is exceeding that boundary by about 7 inches.
That's a thorny little nut.
So, right now, the only choice we have is to make it even smaller.
The whole effect gets a little diminished by that.
These things happen.
It's disappointing, but you buys the ticket and you takes the ride.
We're working on a set today.
Curt comes up with Ben.
And I'm thinking, maybe he won't be too critical.
Thomas! Brandy! Curt and I are gonna walk through your sets, get a little progress update.
Thomas: I'm feeling nervous.
This could go either way.
Take me through it, step by step.
She wakes up, she thinks it's a normal day.
There's a little bed about this wide, maybe about this long.
And how big is the window? This is the size of the window.
But that's a fairly standard size window we're looking at right there.
Keep going, 'cause I want to know what's happening.
So she wakes up, and then she's walking through the room and noticing that things are getting bigger, as she walks down this way.
And the door is huge! Oh, my God! She starts to walk up here, she ends up getting bigger and bigger to where when she's here she's having to stoop to try to negotiate the door.
The idea is fantastic.
You have to deal with immediate perceptions.
This sounds like a set that requires a significant amount of math.
It certainly does.
And that's been part of my bane, is trying to get all of the calculations, such that we can pull this off in this itty-bitty little space.
As it is right now, I would caution you on the window.
It looks like your standard window.
That's the proportions of it.
Thomas: Apparently the window is too big.
You know, his point is well taken.
I think you need to exaggerate these choices that you've made.
Exaggerate, exaggerate, exaggerate.
- Hi, curt.
Hi.
- How are you? The way I picture this, Alice is in bed.
We're placing a bed here.
This room is going to be black and white.
I've got a series of doors that are going on this wall.
- Lovely.
- Alice will walk up, but when she opens this last door, she goes into a very small space where now she is too big.
How does she get out of this? We have painted an eye that she can exit through.
She goes through an eye? And I've got some other elements, like a large bird cage.
It's 5 feet tall.
I'm not sure if that's big enough.
Curt is a bit concerned about scale and about the proportions that I'm trying to work with.
This whole area will be snakes screened onto plexi.
How big are the snakes? They're normal size, so that's a problem.
I caution you.
Cut the snakes.
I need a normal object that's not normal anymore.
Got it.
And-- bing! We know immediately that, you know Ok, I like that.
- Something's different.
- Ok.
He set the bar a little higher.
I'm glad you came by.
- All right, Brandy.
Good luck.
- Thank you.
Let's start with Brandy.
I love the idea that she has of sort of creating some baseline objects that change in size, but I'm fearful about the big payoff.
I'm not convinced.
And what about Thomas? I think he's maybe overthinking the spaces.
And when you're forcing perspective, it is a science.
But at some point, you have to arm-wave it.
And that means, you just say, "ok, make this window this size," and just go.
So you've got one hugely complex concept, and you've got one half-baked concept.
Is it going to get cooked better, or is it going to get realized better? We'll find out tomorrow.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Why don't you call Robert and make sure that the bird cage that he gets in her room is as small as possible.
Curt has got me going.
I'm making decisions right and left.
Can you make sure that you get a really small bird cage if you're at Modern? [Indistinct.]
Just had a different picture in my head of how it would end up.
Thomas: Some of the changes curt recommended require redoing the set almost from scratch.
If we try and come all the way out to the door, it gets even funkier.
We got no time.
- Ok, it's done.
- We can do it.
- No, no, it's done.
- We can tear it out.
No.
We don't have time.
Brandy: Curt has got me going.
I'm making decisions right and left.
The black-and-white clocks.
I'm gonna need you to screen it onto something that I can wrap a set of stairs.
I'm now gonna make my third room match my first room with the motif of clocks.
The face of them is color, and I want to make them supersized.
And every prop we get from this point forward has to be either very large or very small.
Can you make sure that you get a really small bird cage if you're at Modern? [Indistinct.]
Super size-- that's the goal.
From here, 5'7", we taper down so that she truly has something to bump her head on.
Thomas: After Curt saw the set, I was starting to sweat.
Have you started building the door yet? I have not started building the door.
Some of the changes he recommended require that I recalculate the size of the little door that Alice confronts at the end of the scene-- redoing almost from scratch.
Alice's bedroom window, and even the ceiling-- the height of the ceilings, and we have no time.
I realized I had to get real.
I had to stop being theoretical about this set.
I really had to start looking at the set independent of the computer.
Looks a little [Snaps chalk line.]
It made me have to really step back and say what's really working and what's really not.
[Truck beeping.]
Let's take into account what's here.
Robert just got back from universal, and I am shocked with what's in it.
Marble pedestal.
Real? Real marble pedestal.
- This was through the roof.
- Yeah.
Damn, Robert.
He spent a lot of money on some really heavy, heavy props.
This is also made out of stone.
The heavier the prop, usually the more expensive it is.
I need Robert to get over here.
Pardon me? Real marble? What are you talking about? I'm not quite sure, but the chandelier is gi-normous.
Yeah.
I was thinking small chandelier-- It's too late now.
You're gonna spend time being critical? No.
What can you do about it now? You're gonna yell at me and somehow make it better? Robert-- he says, just, "ok, I did wrong.
" And he won't really allow me to vent.
All right, I suck, but can we move on? Oy, vey.
We are putting in some elements that require a little more time.
Probably the most important of those is raked floors.
[Buzzing.]
The whole notion of raking the floor means that basically you're creating a ramp to accomplish the effect of making someone look like they're getting bigger or smaller in an environment.
You exaggerate perspective.
But there's an awful lot to do and not much time to do it.
So we're at $17,000, which is over our budget.
I'll be eliminated for going over budget.
Robert spent a lot of money, so I'm going to try to return more of the things that I got yesterday.
But the vendors close early, so we will be doing it in the morning.
So we don't need the stone.
We don't need the grass.
Prop houses don't usually do this, but I'm praying that he'll make an exception.
Ok, I've got a lot of vines that can go back.
It all should go back, all of this.
All right.
All right.
Now, I want to keep a few of the colors of this.
The things that I have to return are critical to my concept, but we're over budget, and I'm gonna have to live without them.
I would be devastated to be disqualified.
Ah! Ok, fellas, time's out! Thomas: So we're at the end of day two now, and there's a two-page list of things we still have got to build and paint.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Brandy: Now it's the end of the day, and I got so much left to do.
I am panicking.
Thomas: We're at the beginning of day 3, and hope springs eternal.
All right, fellas.
Well, we got 4 more hours to bring it home.
We've got some really key things we've got to do we've got to focus on with a madness.
Let's do this.
Ha ha ha! Brandy: It's great.
It's gonna happen.
Team, gather round.
We're gonna make a plan.
I am about $1,600 over budget.
We're out of the competition, we forfeit, if we don't come in under budget.
If I can get enough credit, then we're good.
Right now, I'm gonna deal with the budget, and I'm gonna put Robert in charge.
Ok, thank you.
What would you recommend I jump on? Tom is a production designer.
He's not a builder.
But he asked if there was anything that he could help me with, and I said, "yes.
Can you build a small door?" A little door, coming up.
Wow.
This doesn't seem right.
Drake: So he built our door, but what wasn't wrong with that door? I think the door will fit the opening.
You may need to shave the side a little bit because I was rough and ready in my construction.
All right.
This box can go away.
That box can go away.
I'm making a phone call right now.
Brandy: It's up to me to get us back on track.
So now I have to call Gary at Jackson Shrub, and I have to return my entire order, practically.
I'm praying that he takes pity on my situation.
Gary: Hello? Hi.
Gary? Yes.
I need to be returning a number of items.
Brandy: My big job today is to grovel if necessary.
I have no choice.
If I didn't do that, we'd be out of the competition.
So I really need this to be, I guess, a favor? What about mushrooms? Gone.
Gone.
Brandy: I am $1,600 over budget, so now I have to call Gary at Jackson Shrub and ask him to make an exception and allow me to return almost my entire order.
Otherwise, I'll be eliminated for going over budget.
Gary: Hello? Hi.
Gary? I need to be returning a number of items to get back on track.
This is the time for incredible customer service.
Gary? All right.
Yeah, I guess.
Oh, I love you.
Gary at Jackson Shrub is my hero.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
If it wasn't for him, I think I would have been disqualified.
- We did it.
We got it.
We're on budget.
- Great.
We're on budget.
Give me a hug.
Robert: Once again, she comes through.
We're back in the black.
Brandy: We're back in the game, but I had to give up some important pieces that were critical to my concept, and I hope it doesn't hurt my chances with the judges.
That's good.
- I need you to fly like the wind.
- Yeah.
[Tools buzzing.]
Thomas: Are we ready to pop in that ceiling on the bedroom? Is this where we find out how good I measured? Oh, yeah! Thomas: So one of the last elements we put in is our big door.
I want to test swing it.
They're ready.
Thomas: And if that door doesn't fit, there is no time to build another one.
Let it swing.
I win! Dodged a bullet on that one.
Brandy: The flooring I'm planning to put down in Alice's bedroom is going to be a graphic that was screened onto low-tack adhesive.
I'm gonna take both sides here.
It's quite a workout putting this floor down.
Robert: I saw Brandy on the ground, and the roll of wallpaper was over her, and all I could see were legs with footies.
She's a trouper, man.
Brandy: Wallpapering a stair is a nightmare.
That will be the last time.
Brandy: 3-zero.
30 minutes.
This on top, right? Yup.
Brandy: Can you make sure there's something in the bird cage? Are we working on that? 5 minutes left.
Ah, shit.
Thomas: We could not accomplish everything.
There just wasn't enough time.
I wanted to age the door.
I wanted to age more of the walls, but I can't.
I was looking for subtleties.
Right now I'm looking for done.
There's not a chance.
Brandy: I feel like I took my team and we achieved the concept that we started with.
Oh! I love it! All right, teams! Your time is up.
Brandy, Thomas, you'll each now have 30 minutes to shoot scenes on your sets.
Both of you, nice work.
Good luck.
I wish we had another hour, but we don't.
We have to shoot this thing.
Ready, set, go.
Man: Copy.
Grip.
Electric.
Car.
Walkie.
3, 2, 1.
You're noticing as you' walking close to it that your head is getting closer to the ceiling.
I hope that we can really pull it off right with the camera.
Let's shoot something.
We're burning daylight.
We're gonna go for action here.
Ready, Tom? Tom: Ready.
Here we go.
Let's check out the room, check out the bottle.
You're trying to open it.
You come in this room, and you're big.
Now you're so big that-- there you go.
You're gonna make it to the door, and then that ends it.
And cut.
One more time.
- I just want to show you - Ok.
Some stuff on the set to be aware of for your path.
- I made these a little wider - Ok.
So that they're easy to get up.
Yeah, everybody to one, please.
Robert: Turn around for me, Alice.
Look around.
I saw her underpants.
Mo? She's gonna go right away.
Stand by.
I want to switch the night stands.
That doesn't have a handle.
It looks tacky.
And go, Alice Through the door, right away.
And iris out.
- That's a wrap.
- That's great.
Brandy: I am so happy the way the featurette shot.
I can't wait for the judges to see 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.
You remember our judges.
Oh, yes.
- Curt Beech.
- Nice to see you again.
Lilly Kilvert.
Good evening.
- And Barry Robison.
- Hello.
Your challenge this week was to create a whimsical set in the spirit of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
" We gave you either overgrown Alice or shrunken Alice or both as your principal character.
You were given specific stage directions that your set had to accommodate.
Interior, Alice's house, morning.
Alice awakens to find that things have changed dramatically overnight and maneuvering from room to room is going to present a small problem.
Thomas, we'll begin with you, tell us about your set.
My set represents the very first day that Alice begins her journey into Wonderland.
She wakes up one morning and she discovers that her whole house is different.
Not only is her house different, but she's becoming larger and smaller as she moves through the house.
We've decided to incorporate techniques of forced perspective using techniques that have been used in Hollywood since the 1930s.
This is my hot set.
We want to know what you think of tonight's creations.
Tell us on Twitter using #HotSet.
Ben: Thomas, you told us about your set, and we're eager to see how you've done.
Thomas: This is my hot set.
Ben: Now that the judges have seen your set, it's time to see how your rooms work onscreen.
Thomas, let's see how you did.
[Door creaks.]
[Thunder.]
[Sniff.]
[Sniff.]
Ben: Thomas, thanks very much.
Yep.
Brandy, tell us about your set.
We find Alice waking up in a beautiful bedroom but void of all color.
She sees this wall of doors, and she's able to enter one of those doors into a surreal world of enormous color.
She's quite happy and pleased to have found her world, and this is my hot set.
In production design, it is all about how your work looks on the big screen.
We know the script.
Brandy, let's see how you did.
[Clock ticking.]
[Birds tweeting.]
[Birds cawing.]
Thank you, Brandy.
Thank you.
Judges, I'd like to invite you on set for a closer look.
Let me start by saying it came a long way since yesterday.
- Ok.
- So that's good.
However, should have had a smaller bed.
Should have been a different window.
And we talked about the window.
Strengthening it.
I felt like this moment, - when she hits here - Yeah.
was successful.
It was good.
I thought that was great and it was actually a movie set hallway.
Yeah, it was.
And I thought, "hallelujah.
" And this thing was great.
But the biggest deal was the finish in the details is just really not up to par.
But this was great.
All right.
- Onward.
- Onward.
Thank you.
- Good use of the black and white.
- Right.
And she actually-- the girl looked good in here.
It's the objects that killed-- That's exactly right.
The scale, and this is what we had actually talked about, doing the opposite of that, having the objects help the scale.
I love the use of color, but what killed the set again are the props.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Thanks.
Ben: The judges, I can tell are champing at the bit.
Let's start with Thomas.
Thomas, I think the bravery in using perspective side by side-- it was very elegantly done.
So I think you challenged yourself enormously, and for the most part, you were really, really successful, so congratulations.
Thank you so much.
There are issues I have with this set, and they're glaring, glaring issues.
It looks rushed, to my eye.
These sets have to be really super finished.
Time was not my friend.
Your reveal of the set was wonderful-- the camera pushing through the window and revealing the room I thought was really fantastic.
Thank you.
When she walked down from the window, as soon as she hit that gigantic door, boom-- I understood it.
That moment took me into a different dimension.
I wanted that same thing to happen at the window.
We talked yesterday about making that window smaller, making that gesture bigger, and you did not go there.
The way you carved up the rectangle space was brilliant.
All right, judges.
Any thoughts for Brandy? You treated your rooms with color, texture, and pattern like we've not seen before.
Congratulations on that.
The first room is smashing.
Lilly: It was exciting and surprising, and something I didn't expect to see at all, so, surprising me is wonderful.
Thank you.
Yet, the animals need to be much smaller if she's large.
But the animals are kind of normal-sized, so they don't drive the point home.
I thought that the textures that I was gonna achieve with the digital printing was gonna give me more bang for my buck than normal props.
Where that section fell down was your proppage.
If you had put nothing in that set, it would've been a much more successful set.
But I also want to congratulate you on the whole concept, because it's such a wonderful concept.
It's very well done.
Thank you both.
The judges will now take a moment to review what they've seen and discuss your sets among themselves.
Please rejoin your teammates while the judges make their decision.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, guys.
Well, judges, two very different production designers, two extremely different sets, but of course, just one winner.
We'll start by discussing Thomas.
There was a lot I liked.
I-- I think on film, it did very well.
I think he missed an opportunity at the beginning to really draw us in and drive the issue of scale home.
And I tell you, it burns my biscuit because we've talked about it.
His bravery in using the space was fantastic.
Barry: He didn't do it perfectly, but at least he addressed the scale.
I think with Brandy, where she did address it, it just wasn't clear to us.
We're looking at great techniques, strong finishes.
Lilly: Her technique is terrific.
She knows how to do a lot of great stuff.
Her concept was fascinating.
- Fascinating.
- Fascinating.
This is clearly a difficult process.
Are we ready to bring the teams in? - I think we are.
- I think we are.
- Yeah.
Ok.
Judges, who has the hot set and will leave here tonight with $10,000? Judges, who has the hot set, and leaves here tonight with $10,000? Brandy, your design techniques and creativity gave us a fully realized, highly conceptual set.
We just wish you had solved all the problems of scale in the process.
Thomas, you had me at the door.
You changed her world at least 3 times.
You met the challenge extremely well.
However, the details did leave me wanting a better finish.
Barry, the moment of truth.
Who has the hot set and leaves here tonight with $10,000? The designer with the hot set this week is Thomas.
You did it well.
You gave it great thought.
Congratulations.
Thank you so much.
I suppose it didn't answer the scale challenge, but I'll learn from this experience and laugh about it in a day or two.
Hearing my name called out as a winner is a great accomplishment.
I'm grateful that people of this caliber have just told me that they like my work.