Set Build

To do the studio shoot, we had to build our own set. 

This was something none of us had done before, and was a very exciting new experience. We had to lift up heavy wooden frames and nail them together to form the walls of our set. Our course was split into two for the shoot so we had to design a set that would work for both of us, and have a quick turnover time.

We also had to strip down all the old wallpaper and paint that had been layered up over years of reuse, which was very time consuming, so that it would be smooth when it came to wallpapering over the top. The wooden segments were also very heavy and required 2-4 people to move around, and then someone to come and drill nails in while it was being held up. The other team were only using one half of the set, as they didn't need the door so we had a larger set to manage.

We needed the door as it was the mirror. We decided early on that having actual mirrors on set would be hazardous and so we came up with the idea of having the door as the mirror. This was what triggered our need for two actors. They acted as each others reflection.

We then had to wallpaper, and as we were designing our own background we used plain white wallpaper to cover the entire set. Once it had dried, we painted a layer of grey paint over the top using rollers and paintbrushes.

Once this first layer of paint had dried, we used a technique called stippling to cover the walls in brown splotches, to be the base layer. We then added areas of purple using the same technique, and went over it again with a wet brush and blended the tones together. This wall design was only put into place on the side of the set that was designed to be the inside of the mirror where the Id lives, as it gives it a much more earthy and animalistic vibe.

We had a very specific set design idea, which involved dark and dramatic lighting on one side of the set and bright high key lighting on the other. We used the dark browns and purples on one side of the set and on the other we used a light pastel purple. The superegos side of the set is tidy and neat, with inspirational posters and smart shoes. The Id's side of the set is designed to look like a dark and twister alter-ego and has sexualised images on the walls and references to drugs, as well as leaves all over the floor and party heels thrown under the desk. These props are all designed to highlight the contrast between the two sides, whilst still showing an eerie similarity.