Empty Rooms

Deep post title right? But in this case it is literal. I've been browsing the personal websites of production designers/art directors and the photos on the sites are great. These photographs make what seemed like 'real life' on the film screen look like a stage set. In some part this is due to the lack of people, but the way these rooms are photographed is just kind of weird. They don't look like interior design or architectural photos, they don't look like family snapshots, they are something else. What? I don't know! I just like 'em!

So this first bunch and the next three are all from Carl Sprague for The Royal Tenebaums. He's got a background in film sets which works really well with Wes Anderson. You should definitely check out his website it's got all these great sketches from his projects, and more photos like these (plus Anderson with short hair!)

Good design can make a mediocre film watchable. I didn't like Synecdoche, New York all that much, and yet I could watch it three times. I was initially perplexed, then I realised - IT JUST LOOKS PRETTY. Well not pretty but aesthetically pleasing, and it has this excellent cohesiveness, like a darker blue, mouldy green alternate universe where everything relates to each other. So thank you Mark Friedberg for making an overblown, pretentious film worth watching three times.

And let us not forget exteriors and non-domestic interiors! Wes Anderson's movies don't just co-ordinate everything inside, but outside too!

images from Carl Sprague and Mark Friedberg's websites