They didn’t make it easy for themselves. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg told Kinematographer Adam Newport-Berra that they wanted long, unbroken shoots with a single lens; They asked production designer Julie Berghoff to design them a movie studio, and when she said: “Earlier, present or future?” They replied: “All above.” It led to an atmosphere where each episode and each scene started with the same question: “How the hell should we pull this off?”
“Yes,” said Newport-Berra. “But that’s a bit of what gets me out of bed in the morning.”
External, studio
The series filmed on Warner Bros. Lot, who won over Paramount and Universal because of its nostalgic feeling. But for Continental Studio’s headquarters, Berghoff designed a building that would look like it came from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Maya Revival period. “A movie studio founded in the 20th century that today only makes movies and does not have streaming is outdated,” she said. “We wanted something that felt a little crumbly, but it had strong legs. It felt anchored, you know?”
The interior picked up a two-storey, 8,000 square meter set on stage 23 at WB, while the outside was a photo background erected in front of Warner’s TV building. “Julie was very quick to include me in discussions about ways to remove walls and move through windows and between floors,” added Newport-Berra. “We made sure to get enough space and sufficiently wide doors so that cranes could come through.”
Interior, studio
Inside, Berghoff worked with set decorator Claire Kaufman to come up with a mixture of old and new. “With the help of the 18-inch textile block, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, we created really graphic walls and spaces for the furniture, and we used only natural materials,” Berghoff said. “All furniture and built -in is the middle of the century. But then we wanted to integrate old and new, and apple gamers fit perfectly in our space because they are designed with the similar philosophy of clean, simple lines.”
External, patty leigh’s house
For the houses to studio managers – or recently returned studio leaders, such as Catherine O’haras Patty Leigh, based on former Sony manager Amy Pascal – Berghoff knew that she must be impressive. “We were looking for special, unique houses,” she said. “Amy Pascal was known for being architecturally affected, with beautiful homes. Many managers do. They will live in the most interesting houses in Los Angeles. All of these mid-century architects bought the best property when Los Angeles developed and built houses at the top of the hill, which Catherine O ‘Haras House, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has 36, which has almost a 36 house.
Exterior, Matt Remick’s car
Section 2 is designed to look as if it was pushed completely for a while, but in fact, four different images were filmed for four days and then sewn together. The first of these pictures started in the car run by studio manager Matt Remick (Rogen) when he drives to a hill site.
“We would use electromagnets on the car,” Newport-Berra said. “So there are basically these magnetic brackets that when they are turned on create a magnetic force that holds the camera on the car. So while we drive, it is a barrier that way. When the car stops, when the operator goes to grab the camera, it is a grip next to him who loosens a safety chain.
Exterior, Hollywood Hills site
The rest of section 2 takes place in and around another of Berghoff’s spectacular homes with floor -to -ceiling windows. “With the place we chose, we did it as hard on ourselves as we could possibly,” Newport-Berra said. “It’s an architectural masterpiece, but quite small. And the property is on a ridge leaning down on either side, so there was no flat space outside the house and nowhere to put taps for lighting. We were really at the weather and the sun.
Interior, Beverly Hilton
For a section on the Golden Globes, the schedule did not work for Piggyback on the real globes. “We had four days prep and then 12 hours to dress Hilton,” Berghoff said. “Usually they spend weeks to prepare that show.” She designed a modular set that could be canceled quickly when they gained access to the hotel ballroom. For Newport-Berra, the scale made things difficult. “There were so many background actors,” he said. “We had hundreds of people in the background, but everyone who showed up very quickly understood what we were doing and fell in line.”
Interior, Las Vegas
The last two episodes were set in Las Vegas for the Cinemacon Industry Conference, with the final involving the continental team that made a chaotic presentation in a huge hall. “In the end, we make a long handheld shot that is transferred to a drone, and then the drone moves around the entire space and lands back on stage,” Newport-Berra said. “Shooting with a drone inside is crazy enough, but doing it from a hand -held shot in a drone and then back to a handler was quite challenging.”
A version of this story first appeared in the comedy issue of Thewrap’s Awards Magazine. Read more from the question here.
