Quel Lovely!

The brownstone used as Holly Golightly’s apartment in Breakfast at Tiffany’s is for sale! Anyone want to lend me $8 million dollars? I definitely won’t be able to pay you back, but you can come over whenever you want.

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Cinderella Sets

This past spring, I had the opportunity to design some of the sets for a small local production of Cinderella. It was so cool to see my drawings translated into real life. (& I just loved how the courtyard turned out...)

This upcoming year, I'll be helping with a production of Alice in Wonderland, and I can't wait. =)

xo

Hello There

Guess what... You can buy the neon sign from Selena Kyle/Catwoman's room in Batman Returns here. The 'T' and the 'O' flash on and off, so it will read the same way it does after she breaks it. So good.

xo

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Love at First Set

TV and movie characters always have the best places to live, don't they? I collected some of my favorite famous rooms here... all wonderful in their own way. 

Carrie Bradshaw's Apartment. The closet alone is enough to make you swoon... sigh... all those blues.

Mary Margaret's apartment on Once Upon a Time. Perfectly suited for Snow White in all it's cottage-y goodness - the brick, the worn wood, the soft light. 

Jessica Day's bedroom on New Girl. That bedspread.... She's also got the bare bricks and the most wonderful closet door ever. The whole set of this show is beautiful.

I kind of love Buffy's room. That slanted wall, and how it seems to be decorated for an old lady or a little girl. Something about it just makes it perfect for her. 

Arthur's floating bed and solar system lights are what makes his room one of my favorites.

Cher's room from Clueless is perfectly 90's. Also, another swoon-worthy closet - one that can pick out your outfits for you. This fashion photo-shoot for Wildfox Couture recreated some of the most memorable moments from this movie. Pretty great. 

Mindy's apartment on The Mindy Project is too good. I'm obsessed with the spiral staircase to nowhere and all of those bright lovely colors.

Jay Gastby's bedroom is so beautiful. All those shirts so neatly folded... man oh man. 

Holly Golightly's apartment from Breakfast at Tiffany's may be one of my favorite sets of all time. Even though there isn't much to it, the simplicity and that beyond perfect tub-couch makes it iconic. 

I also love love love Julia Child's French kitchen in Julie & Julia. All the pots and pans, and that old table and her tiny little oven. Very wonderful. 

Which famous fictional residence is your favorite?

xo

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Old Sport

Over the weekend, I had the amazing opportunity to attend a panel discussion with all of the nominated teams of production designers and set decorators for this year's Academy Awards at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. This is the second year I've attended, and both times I've come away completely astonished and inspired by the nominees. The amount of research, time, and care these people put into their work is something to be admired. I also make a point to force myself go up to my favorites to introduce myself and say congratulations afterwards, and although I found myself shaking from nerves, I'm glad I did it.

My favorite of the nominees is The Great Gatsby. I thought the sets and the visual effects were stunning, and couldn't have done a better job of bringing the audience into the world of Jay Gatsby.

I was able to meet Catherine Martin and Bev Dunn, who were both incredibly sweet, as well as say hello and congrats to Gene Serdena, the set decorator for Her.

These are some of what I found to be the most fascinating points that were discussed...

• Originally, there were only to be a few orchids in the scene of Gatsby when Jay and Daisy meet again, but Baz Lerman insisted on hundreds more which proved a challenge to find at the last minute. But Bev worked her magic, bringing in hundreds and hundreds of faux orchids, and it allowed Leo to ad-lib the line 'Do you think it's too much?'. So perfect.

• Each prop used in Gravity had to be modeled, then input into the computer, then simulated on screen to achieve the perfect look. Each prop you see actually existed and was carefully selected. There are also many hidden layers to create back stories for the other astronauts living on the space station, whom we never see, including hints towards where they are from, who their families are, etc. In addition, all the glass on the helmets were added in post production.

• The designers of Her steered away from all blues in their sets, and red became a recurring theme.

• 12 Years a Slave was filmed throughout June, July, and August in Louisiana. The sweat is real. 

• Most of the scenes of American Hustle were filmed in Worcester, Massachusetts in order to make it seem like they were in New York in the 70's.

• Because of the large scale of sets in Gatsby, period pieces were found and then duplicated 10 fold by the prop department to create the look of the 20's.

• Every weekend during filming of 12 years, the designers would travel hours out of town, and even out of state, to rummage through old barns to find the perfect pieces.

• Many of the pieces of furniture used in American Hustle are now in the production designer's home because she loved them so much.

• The teeth used for Wolfsheim's tie-pin and cuff links in Gatsby aren't real, but it isn't because the designers didn't want them to be real. Real teeth were actually acquired and made into accessories, however upon seeing the finished products, the designers decided the teeth didn't look enough like teeth, so dozens of fake teeth were made.

Hooray for the win for Gatsby!!!

I can't wait for next year!

xo

It's Jess!

Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again... I'm always thinking about the New Girl sets. This article talks about the strange things that the show has featured as props or artwork on set. Take a peeky-peek. =)

xo

Anyone...? Anyone...?

The internet is a wonderful thing, ya know? For example, when one gets the urge to, say..., find homes featured in movies and television that might be currently for sale, Google is right there to help. Looky what I found...

Cameron Frye's house from Ferris Bueller's Day Off will be on the market in the near future for $1.65 million.  Says bankrate.com, "No actual windows were harmed in the making of the film." The home was designed in 1953 by architect A. James Speyer, with unique removable walls. The window that the famous Ferrari crashes through was made of fake made-for-breaking glass, and out of the ten cameras shooting the scene, only one caught the crash. As Ferris would say,"Life moves pretty fast..."

Probably should get back to work now...

xo

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Les Mis ObSETssion

Earlier this year, I had the amazing opportunity to attend a discussion panel for all the Oscar nominated production designers and set decorators for the 2013 Academy Awards. Holy moly, it was so awesome. And the best most wonderful part? I mustered up the bravery to walk up to Anna Lynch-Robinson, the set decorator for Les Mis, and talk to her for a couple minutes. I was so star struck that I honestly don’t even remember what I said, but I do remember that she was crazy cool. =)

xo

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Who's That Girl

I’m constantly thinking about the ‘New Girl’ sets. Just all the time. Check this link out for a post from the set decorator, Jane Shirkes. I got a chance to meet her last year, and she’s super cool… exactly who you would expect to have helped create such great sets for this show…

Sigh… so wonderful.

xo