HAVE YOU SCENE IT?

AN INSIGHT ON MOVIE SET DECORATIONS

The raging 20’s brought us life, gave us meaning and people learned that life was not all about work. But it was in the late 1920s that a little silver

screen would change our everyday routines and even 100 years later that little screen (even smaller now), is still one of our biggest achievements. Can you imagine your life without the background noise of a television? Or even your own lazy Sunday afternoons without turning on your tv? No. Even with all of our available screens, television has set itself has the centrepiece of our living rooms, we even arrange the furniture accordingly. With such a presence over the years from this tiny box and the wider movie screens, their broadcasts and imagery were one of the biggest propellers of pop culture around the world. Finally, typewritten black letters and words would escape our books and our imagination and gain life on a movie screen, and for a little more than a century, we’ve got glued to the screens. There’s no doubt that tv played a major role in shaping our current (and past) society, and its such a rich and heavy subject, to deep to even put on paper. So, to correctly explore all the details regarding this subject would be needed an extended thesis, and one subject that is probably not explored enough, or at least heard enough, is all the amazing set design productions behind our favourite tv shows and movies. As

a movie aficionado, I’ve come across some quite jaw-dropping movie sets that completely pulled me into the scene itself. Who doesn’t remember the iconic scene where little Danny roams the empty corridors of the Stanley Hotel in Kubrick’s masterpiece “The Shinning” (1980)? David Hick’s famous hexagonal carpet became a staple in pattern aesthetic both in hotels and residential projects, hauntingly beautiful.

“As a movie aficionado, I’ve come across some quite jaw-dropping movie sets that completely pulled me into the scene itself.”

Image © The Shining (1980) Warner Bros., Hawk Films

That carpet has resonated through all of this time, a remarkable piece of tapestry that became has iconic has the movie itself. This is just a small example throughout all movie and tv history where many directors and movies became famous for their beautiful cinematography. Even in movies filled with CGI and green screen effects, set decorations are essential to fill us in the aesthetic and provide us as viewers with the ambience to the scene itself. From small details to overpowering sets, these often-overlooked details are what makes us feel what the characters are feeling and experiencing. Accessories, lighting, upholstery and architecture defined the mood throughout the movie and the scene itself, and one very wellexecuted example of this practical set decoration is the Marvel series “WandaVision”, where we’re transported through various decades of television, paying homage to the most iconic tv shows, from scenes set in the ’60s to contemporary times. Set decoration in this case was crucial, the amount of respect for the detail’s characteristic to the Epoque, and every set changed from decade to decade complete with furniture and aesthetics from the respective time. A masterpiece of set decoration that complemented with visual effects, wardrobe and exquisite acting, created a visionary series that completely stands out in modern tv.

The 60s aesthetic was amazing, but the 70s where those colours really came to life where what made the series stand out. With a midcentury vibe, where households became vibrant with accessories, stripes and patterns in every fabric, where a scene-stealer. Furniture brands like Essential Home, specialized in mid-century modern furniture are an example of how these decorators get amazing pieces to decorate their sets with timeless pieces, in fact, the brand is already a staple in movie set decoration, even working with other Marvel production such as Netflix’s “Luke Cage”, where a jazz club could not be complete without a magnificent Botti Chandelier, the perfect addition to the set of “Harlem’s Paradise”, the night club where some of the most important plot twists and one of the main locations of the series. The heavily inspired jazz theme throughout the set made this customized chandelier the perfect addition.

“Set decoration, in this case, was crucial, the amount of respect for the detail’s characteristic to the Epoque“

Image © WandaVision (2021) Marvel Studios, Disney+

Image © Luke Cage (2016) ABC Television Studio, Marvel Entertainment, Netflix

As we’re able to see, pieces sometimes go unnoticed, but are so of the scene, not to distance the viewer from the scene itself, but important to set the mood for the scene, they’re as important as also to be a credible place where those characters find themselves. the characters themselves, and a great decoration will definitely And creating a contemporary setting is much more difficult to fulfil, create the temperament of the scene, with everchanging trend and style, is of course, complemented with all “every single detail in a scene is very easy for a room to go “out of style” the other designs, such as sound and carefully thought out to create an from year to year, while timeless or cinematography. This is especially ambience where we lose ourselves Epoque specific scenes will always stay noticeable in period pieces, medieval or with the characters“ that way, timeless. regal periods, where architecture, art Iconic pieces create iconic scenes. We and the furniture were so loud, but even nowadays, in scenes, we may never notice, we may never even look for them, but every single often look for those details as well. Luxury penthouses for example, detail in a scene is carefully thought out to create an ambience where in movies, are always a dream of ours and creating a living room we lose ourselves with the characters, and the production team and where we as viewers covet every detail are especially hard to produce. set decoration had two things in mind: craft beautiful set designs Set decorations have to find a balance between the reachable appeal and gracefully welcome us into them.

TRENDBOOK

SPRING-SUMMER TRENDS 2022

After some time experiencing a new way of living as the result of this unexpected pandemic we have started to adapt to a new normal and have different needs. Experiencing the world and seeing things with new eyes made us change our habits rather quickly but we still need and want to experience life.

Interior design and fashion usually change according to seasons or social events but now more than ever we see these changes in habits leading us to new trends for spring-summer of 2022. Maybe these trends represent the need people have to embrace the warmth of the outdoors after spending so much time indoors. Collectively we are feeling nostalgia for simpler and mellower times, for easy sunny days. Let’s create space for what we need, let’s create trends that will serve us and help us go through these times together and come back better from the experience.

70’S RETRO

Colours are a reflection and a sign of times and so this year we will see mature yet hot and bold colours choices. On the colder spectrum side, we go from emerald green to dark blue hues and on the warmer side of things we have burnt orange and mustard yellow hues. Hot, bold and earthy colours are the choices for designers in 2022. These trends can also be seen in other details from the use of patterns to the use of design features such as geometric forms and furniture with rounded shapes.

MULTI FUNCTIONAL

This year has been very out of the ordinary for everyone and came with a lot of changes within our everyday lives. Most of us now spend the entire day at home, eating, working, exercising and relaxing, everything within the same walls. With this in mind, we saw and continue to see an interest in investing in home offices, flexible spaces and even applying the same principle to the way we dress. So you want to be versatile and adaptable, either at home feeling fresh and with a healing space or with your own clothes knowing you can be comfortable and still go from inside to outside at any given moment.

ORGANIC MATERIALS

An increasing need to bring nature to our indoors has been developing a wellness mood, choosing conscious and sustainable elements such as wood, stone, bamboo and so many other organic materials that will give your design a natural feeling. Using organic materials gives us the ability to reconnect and strength the human-nature connection we all need in order to increase our wellness.

With so many of us living in crowded cities where outdoor pollution levels are on the rise and stress is an emerging disease embracing the use of more organic materials will improve our over-all wellbeing and has been proved to reduce mental fatigue and improve your attention and focus.

NEW MINIMALISM

Minimalism is all about giving attention to the essential forms and elements, which makes them the most important. So as they are the key elements they should be detailed oriented, perfect and of high quality. Items should have a touch of luxury, focused on being special like being made by hand and with purer materials. Refined and colder colours are a way to help complement these trend, like stone, metals and brass, is the most favourite elements. It’s the “less is more” approach that makes it perfect for these new times or we want to focus on what is really important