Hot Set (2012) s01e02 Episode Script
Alien Queen
Ben Mankiewicz: Get ready for "Hot Set.
" 3, 2, 1! Make a movie! Two production designers go head to head It's going to be perfect.
In a showdown to build a Hollywood set.
So this is what we need to do today to win this.
They'll push themselves to the limit [Gasps.]
Whoa! In the ultimate challenge of imagination She will come through the door.
It will slide.
Perspiration - We have minutes.
- And exasperation.
Let's not talk about that.
I want to do one thing at a time.
Tonight's challenge-- Build a throne room fit for a queen in just 3 days.
It's not impossible.
It's not going to be a picnic.
Designers will have to come up with a concept I wanted to give a sense of this beautiful palace underwater.
Find the props to help tell their story This is cool.
Sold.
And race against the clock to construct a fully-functional film set We have to get that top up.
In time to shoot their scene.
It's either going to be amazing and cool, or it's going to be a disaster.
Only one team will walk away with $10,000.
To come out on top, they'll have to impress our award-winning panel of judges-- Curt Beech, whose credits include "The Social Network" and "Star Trek;" Lilly Kilvert, two-time Oscar nominee for "The Last Samurai" and "Legends of the Fall;" Barry Robison, production designer of "X-Men, Origins" and "The Chronicles of Narnia.
" The clock is ticking.
Tick, tick, tick.
We're way behind.
So guys, we have one hour.
I think they're both screwed.
What happened? Here on "Hot Set.
" I am Greg Aronowitz.
When I was about 8, I saw "Star Wars," and that just changed everything for me.
I have had the good fortune of working on some of the biggest movies made in Hollywood.
I was a model maker on "Saving Private Ryan," "Jurassic Park - Lost World," "Minority Report.
" I decided to do "Hot Set" because I feel that the art of set design is very underexposed and underestimated.
I am here to kind of peel back the curtain and make some actual movie magic for the audience to watch.
My name is Carlos Osorio.
I don't have formal training.
I never studied filmmaking, but I learned a lot working on decent budget movies, and I continued learning my trade.
I was an art director on a major TV series.
I decided to take this challenge because I love to teach young production designers so they can see that anything is possible.
Hello, production designers.
Welcome to "Hot Set.
" I'm your host Ben Mankiewicz.
Right now, we are inside a sound stage located in the movie capitol of the world, Los Angeles, California.
"Titanic," "Legally Blonde," "The Aviator"-- just some of the Hollywood blockbusters that had shot and built sets right inside this sound stage.
Greg, Carlos, you and your teams will have just 3 days and $15,000 to turn these empty spaces into what the film industry calls hot sets, sets that are perfectly dressed, locked, and ready to shoot.
At the end of 3 days, you'll present your sets to our panel of judges.
They are Hollywood's top talent in production design.
Curt Beech, Lilly Kilvert, and Barry Robison.
These guys are mavericks of the industry.
The pressure is on.
Are you up for the challenge? - Ready.
- Yes.
Every great set starts with a script.
Yours is no exception, so let's set the scene.
"Interior, throne room, day.
Queen Amalia enters the chamber.
She briefly inspects an invasion plan, then ascends to her balcony and throws open the doors to address her subjects below.
" Based on the script, I quickly thought it could be a castle.
I felt really excited to start coming out with something.
The script seems pretty straightforward.
I'm excited to actually build it.
Now, that's the scene you'll be using to create your set.
But there is one more thing.
This curtain hides a crucial element that you'll need to incorporate into your set.
Here's your inspiration.
Production designers, meet Queen Amalia, a ruler whose beauty is matched only by her brutality.
Judges, please let Greg and Carlos know what you'll be looking for in their sets.
- Curt? - Bold choices, but bold choices that are made with clarity of design and vision.
- Lilly? - I'm always looking to know what world I'm in.
I want you to define the world and give us a sense what's out the window.
I'm really interested to see how you two are going to handle character in your environment.
You've got a strong element to work with.
I want you to tell us her story.
Now, guys, you have 5 minutes to familiarize yourself with Queen Amalia, because your challenge begins right now.
I'm thrilled that it's an alien queen.
I was instantly hit with inspiration.
Right away, my mind just started designing.
I already had a connection.
I was hoping to do something futuristic, so this is a great opportunity.
That's 5 minutes.
Time's up.
Go meet up with your teams in the design rooms.
Carlos Osorio: We walk into our design spaces.
I was very impressed.
We have all the materials we need.
I know I could build anything I wanted.
I just saw an alien.
Ok.
[Laughs.]
- Sweet.
- An empress.
I like where this is going.
She was full head prosthetic, aquatic.
I'm taking it very blues.
My team consists of my art director, Lynn, who I call Red 5.
She's the one who kind of pulls it back in and makes sure that we stay on track and keep moving forward.
What I do as an art director is figure out what we need in terms of locations, props, dressing, and then try to make that happen.
My concept illustrator, Kevin, known as Amish, he can take anything and turn it into something interesting.
They are super creative, and we just work really well together.
Amalia is an alien queen who is walking into her chamber, overseeing an invasion plan.
I brought Darrell to the job because he's a very level man.
He knows where's the limit.
I don't have limits.
Then, I brought Ryan, very good art director.
He's a very big asset for me.
So Curt, you've met Queen Amalia.
- Mm-hmm.
- How do you think the production designers will do with throne room? I think the biggest obstacle is dealing with the scale of the space, they're doing a throne room.
They're doing something that's generally a very large, vast space, and they're trying to cram it into this little, little box.
And there's also the difficulty of having a space-- Where's the space that she's reviewing the plans on? There are not normally tables in throne rooms.
You can't overlook that detail, because nothing will take an actor out of the moment faster than a bad prop.
In this amount of time, don't get bogged down in the detail, or you'll be lost.
I think we've all spent a week on a door before.
I've spent many weeks on a door! It's going to be very interesting to see what our production designers do.
So it's a throne room, so we want to have regal.
So you guys know me.
Nothing says regal more than - Columns.
- What are they, they're columns, right? So figure out how many, and then, the door here that she goes out for the balcony.
The story that came to mind when I saw the alien was that she is this heartless ruler that is isolated and left alone.
I wanted to give a sense of this once-beautiful palace that is now in ruin that she just kind of floats through on her own and makes plans to take over another world.
I feel like she's aquatic.
I'm just watching going, ok, so you have a very clear vision to create kind of an Atlantis-y underwater castle.
But how do I make this happen? I'm going to do an overhead plan first.
I think I have an idea that will work.
I'm thinking we should build some kind of tunnel entrance.
She may be coming from a big meeting with all her advisers.
Then she comes to her own private room.
She is going to walk into a terrace and address the people of her city or world.
I want to create this futuristic, high tech world with a very bright hallway or a space and a beautiful sliding door.
I want to fabricate the custom pieces from scratch.
Is it a space ship or a castle? It's an alien.
It can be anything.
How much time do we have to do this in? We only have 3 days total.
When I got to set, I find that I had a construction team of professional, talented people in every craft of the art department.
I think I want to take advantage of this floor.
We may just have to go with painted black plywood.
So Darrell, you are in charge.
I got to go to the prop house.
If I don't come back, don't worry.
[Laughter.]
You guys take care of it.
- We'll make it happen.
- You make it happen.
We're going to get started on the hallway and the floors, because there's a lot of custom pieces to be built, and that's going to be the anchor of the entire set.
I'm going to try and get some columns and some other fancy things that we can just kind of fuse into the main shell.
So what I would love for you guys to do while I'm gone is get as many flats up as we can before I get back.
We're going to get on that.
All right.
I'll be back.
Now that I know what the concept is, I'm going to go out to the prop houses while my team moves to the construction phase.
I'm going to go to Jackson Shrub.
I love their inventory.
I can find columns, pedestals.
They have a lot of stuff in their prop department.
They really specialize in old world-type environments.
So these are all our columns here.
I'm choosing these particular props because I want to create layers and volume and have the sense of old world feeling without necessarily having to create every single aspect from scratch.
[Line rings.]
Hello.
I'm wrapping up at Jackson Shrubs.
I'm definitely leaving here with the balustrades, the columns, the fountain, the pedestals, and oh, these two giant urns that I thought might go on either side of the door.
They're just super cool, so.
We are running a little tight on space 'cause that archway is much bigger than we had thought.
I feel a little nervous about Greg's plan with having these big elements that he really wants.
I'm a little worried that it's really going to come back to bite us.
Ben: Coming up Greg: I want to be further along than I am right now.
One of the most important things is the backdrop.
Do you think you can get me ETA on when you'll be here? We're starting to run out of time.
My team is building the floor for the alien throne chamber.
I go to prop house to scout all the props that I wanted to get.
And I'm looking for futuristic things.
How much does something like this go for? 250 a week.
Sold.
This is awesome.
Alien.
[Laughs.]
How much is this guy? 350 a week.
Cool, man.
This is cool.
I found one sphere that looks like an egg.
It can be the motherboard of this ship.
That stuff is great.
- It's flooring.
- I need that floor.
I am very happy with what I chose.
It's perfect for this futuristic world of the mothership somewhere in another planet.
Hey, buddy.
How you doing? We got the hallway cut and mostly assembled.
I'm bringing some flooring for the entrance tunnel.
We've already got that floor framed.
I'll show you what I have.
We may have to do a little modification.
Cease fire on that.
He bought grid flooring for it.
- Ok.
- Changing things on the fly can really impact everything.
But that's his creative process.
I got columns, pedestals, obelisks, balustrades, and two amazing urns for my underwater ancient palace room.
After I've collected everything, I'm back at the stage, and everybody's crazy busy.
Amish: We just put up some eye candy for you.
Probably not as far along as I would have liked, but I did look over at Carlos' rectangle.
There was nothing there.
I feel like we have quite a lead.
I bet if I was over there, I'd probably be feeling a little intimidated right about now.
Laying more mass than those guys.
All right.
I've got walls up.
[Chuckles.]
I have 3 days to build a set.
We are totally fine on money.
- Don't worry about that.
- Ok.
Realistically, sets can take weeks, months.
That's why they cost millions of dollars.
It's not impossible, but it's not going to be a picnic.
All right, gang.
We got to start putting some walls up pretty soon.
I step into the set, and I see that we have nothing up.
It takes a certain period of time to build stuff.
You can't just wave a magic wand, and a wall suddenly appears.
We got to start hustling.
We are way behind.
But at least I'm happy I'm not just putting walls randomly.
I like to fabricate everything original from scratch.
Most of the time, this is the way I work.
Look at that, man.
These are custom pieces.
I love it.
Anybody can rent a set.
Fabricating from scratch, that's the biggest accomplishment.
I'm a builder, and I love to build anything.
If I could, I would customize every single element of my set.
The flip side of that is it's so time-consuming.
I can't really figure out how Carlos is going to get it all done.
No, that's not the right piece.
We got to take it out.
[Saws whirring.]
[Ticks.]
Woman: Yeah.
[Grunts.]
Hey, look over there.
Yeah.
I've been-- [Laughs.]
Try not to, you know, dwell on it.
Carlos: Half an hour, and that's it.
We got to get this screw in and walk away.
Ok, guys.
We have to go.
By the end of the day, I have already up my main set pieces, so we are not that behind anymore.
Greg: First round's on me.
[Clock ticking.]
There's a lot to do today, but there are some major elements that I feel like I need my key team to work on.
We made a lot of progress yesterday.
We got some walls up.
But still doesn't look like anything.
Amish and I were talking about doing some designs for doors.
I feel like that's-- the doors themselves are going to be a half a day project.
We don't have that many halves of days.
How are you? I'm going to give you instructions for the day.
How do I look? Good? - Excellent.
- Like an alien? In two days, we are going to be filming this scene.
My design is a mothership or alienistic castle.
The first thing that I want to do with the paint crew is start prepping this throne.
You and me are going to finish that gate.
Darrell-- and you will help him out-- finish this platform, please.
When I saw the alien's costume, there were a few key elements that really stood out to me.
One was the diamond pattern that was on her collar.
I wanted to bring that into the set and make a whole wall a pattern of diamonds that would echo her costume.
How we doing on the diamonds? Lisa's tracing those right now, and then, I'll cut those.
Ok.
We are cutting the diamonds out of sheet insulation foam using a hot knife, so it actually cuts pretty easy.
The problem is that we need hundreds of them.
It's looking good.
We're getting there with the color, right? I want to paint this set in a degradé of color.
I want to start on a dark blue on the bottom, and I want to go lighter to the top.
Also, I want to add some accents of metallics, maybe black.
The throne is all black with some gold metallics that will match her dress.
That's the dream.
The script specifically calls for the queen to inspect battle strategy.
I thought instead of having a physical element that I will bring in a virtual element.
So I thought we could do this thing where we have this birdbath-style control - with water in it.
- Ok.
And she would, like, touch the water, and this thing would project out.
Having that be a central part of our design, it's a really big risk.
It's either going to be amazing and cool, or it's going to be a disaster.
So Curt and Ben come by the set.
My first thought is, this is nowhere near as far along as I would like for them to be seeing it.
Tell us, what's your idea? What's your concept? My concept is that the queen is the ruler of an underwater world, so I'm kind of going for more of a majestic, ancient stone-type temple.
What's the idea with the columns? The idea with the columns is just to create depth.
Curt: Where's the throne? Well, I actually opted to not have the throne.
When I saw the queen, I didn't see her as a being that liked to sit down.
I decided to make the centerpiece more of the ceremonial element, where she controls things.
What's your budget situation? We're really good.
I was trying to keep it-- you know, do as much as I can without going crazy.
Don't leave a dime on the table.
[Chuckles.]
I'll keep that in mind.
- Thanks for the advice.
- Good luck.
Carlos.
- How's it going? - Nice to see you.
All right.
Good to see you, too.
Tell us what we're looking at.
Ok.
So, my idea was to build some kind of mothership.
Actually, it can be a big castle on Mars, or a mothership.
Hmm.
She will have to enter through this sliding door.
She will come through the door.
It will slide.
She comes through with light in the hallway.
And then, she will come out and address the people.
Curt: I'm curious to see what's going to happen with the balcony.
I'm doing a silk in the back, and we're going to light it like daylight.
But no-- no detail.
I wouldn't overlook it as an opportunity to show more of the context of - what this place is, where it is.
- Ok.
I take the notes for sure.
I'm hoping to get it done.
Good luck.
See you tomorrow.
Very interested to see how it turns out.
Thank you.
Bye.
Well, that was interesting.
Looking at Carlos' set, I like the entrance.
It's got some interesting shapes going on.
You can see the thought about making it sci-fi shapes.
Did I mishear him? We're either on a castle or a spaceship.
That's not really an option.
You can't tell the director, "well, we're either on a ship, or we're in a castle.
" Regarding Greg I appreciate that he's trying to support his ideas with story, but the script is your map to get from point "A" to point "B".
It's labeled as a throne room.
Timing-wise, though, you think they're both ok? No, I think they're both screwed.
[Chuckles.]
Timing-wise, they have their work cut out for them.
I can't wait to see how much of what they want to do they'll actually be able to accomplish in the time that's left.
Well, we'll find out.
Yes, we will.
We need to think about the background and do something better than the sky.
Curt doesn't like the background choices.
He thinks it's too bland.
So Carlos wants to have a backdrop.
Do a run to pick up a backdrop.
We're starting to run out of time.
Best case scenario, I'm still not sure if we're going to be able to do it in time.
Ben and Curt dropped by.
They were concerned with my choice to not have a throne.
Now that curt has brought up the fact that I have no throne, I've been thinking about having a throne.
Definitely concerned that it's going to affect me in the judging.
Hi.
How are you today? I need a backing for pickup tomorrow morning.
Curt tells me that I should do a backdrop.
[Indistinct.]
I went to my office and opened the backdrops books.
And I went through every single page looking for something.
I'm hoping to find something that will play outside this mothership.
I hear him get really excited and point at a photo.
It's a skyline of San Francisco.
Our queen is not blowing up San Francisco.
- Hey, what about this? - That's the one.
Do all the paperwork that's needed, send it to us, and we'll pick it up tomorrow morning.
Thank you so much.
Bye, now.
We've earned the right to bring this in here.
[Imitates laughter.]
How's the doors going? Carlos has this really great idea to build these big, sliding, high tech doors for the alien throne room.
I think it'll be awesome, though, to have the little piece.
[Indistinct.]
[Buzzing.]
Yeah.
We've almost finished the doors, but the true test is once we get them up, does the hallway door line up? [Grunts.]
We're still not good down here.
Hey, guys, if there's a little gap, I don't mind it, ok? Well, it's closer, but still no cigar.
Just adjust it best possible.
We don't have to go back there, cut more.
We're not going back and cutting.
- We're going to sand something down.
- Ok.
I want to put the grill and everything one time, not twice.
All right, guys.
We're calling it.
I really want to be further along than I am right now.
Ok, guys.
We're finished.
Put the stuff down.
We have a few hours left tomorrow to finish everything.
I look at my set, and I'm like, how can we finish this thing? If tomorrow doesn't pick up some pace, we're definitely in a little bit of trouble.
Carlos: Let's get out of here, please.
[Clock ticking.]
Ok.
So, here we are.
Today is the last day.
We are going to shoot the scene on the set.
All right.
Morning, guys.
Are we ready? This is it.
All right.
So this is what we need to do today to win this.
We have to get our last piece of flat up there with the archway, and we need to hang the doors.
We need to get a base coat on all the walls.
These are the final hours, and I'm trying to get every person on the crew to tackle a specific task so that we can get everything done and on the set before we shoot it.
And then, we win.
All right.
Gang, so we finished yesterday base coating and painting everything.
We have to finish building a few props, painting, and then, dressing the set.
You're going to be going to pick up a backdrop.
Today, one of the most important things especially is to pick up the backdrop.
Ok.
We got our lead man Jonesy and sent him out on the road just with this mission to get there as fast as possible.
If Jonesy doesn't get here, we're going to have to fall back and go with the original plan, using light and colors to create a sky.
It might not make the judges happy, but we have to finish it.
We can't leave it open.
Come on.
Let's do it.
Ok.
And you're going to be spackling, - you're going to be-- - Spraying right now.
The current plan was to put one right through on the out-- - Let's do it, let's do it.
- Ok.
- We want to do a sandwich.
Ok.
- I know.
And make sure you guys do not leave each other's sight so you know exactly what the plan is.
And blast this thing with the silver on the thing or no? It's going to be perfect.
How far do you want to extend that, just a little bit? Let's not talk about that.
I want to do one thing at a time.
I want it done quickly.
Right now, my biggest hurdle is the fact that my actual set is still not complete.
I'm not even worried about the details yet.
We're in a mode now where the energy is flowing, and we're not going to stop.
Amish.
Amish.
We have to get that top up before the doors go.
Amish has been working on the door.
I knew the doors were a major risk going into it, but I really wanted the detail of an original design within the middle of the set.
It's taken forever to hang them.
This is where it's costing me.
Hey, guys, we have one hour.
- Hello? - Hey, Jonesy? Yeah.
How are you guys doing on the runs? We had a little bit of a problem.
My biggest worry is whether we're going to get our backdrop.
Once Jonesy's gone, like, everything's completely out of my hands.
We're starting to run out of time.
Get back as soon as possible, and we'll get jumping on this.
Now, go! Ahh.
A screw and a screw gun? I can't move! [Laughs.]
Oh, getting wet! Sorry about that, guys.
Amish: Everything's shaking.
The walls are shaking.
We're tripping over each other trying to do one thing before the other.
This is so crazy.
It's almost dizzying.
You see that big gap? You want to throw black tape or something? I don't want to spend a bunch of time on it.
I just want to slap a piece back there.
Ok.
Fine.
It's going to be an hour first.
Ok.
I ran this morning like crazy finishing building, everything else.
I become the carpenter now, the builder, and the painter, whatever it takes.
Now, I am like the support team of the main team now.
- Hey, Greg? - Yeah? Have you looked at the other team's set? Yeah.
I saw a peek of it.
I don't know where they're at right now.
You might want to go over there.
[Laughs.]
- Yeah? - Yeah.
The overall vibe with the crew is basically flat-out panic.
Are they going to scare me? They might.
The set still pretty much looks unfinished, and if you peek across the way, you can see on Carlos' set, that it's starting to look a little more refined.
Are you worried about it? I mean, of course.
These guys are killin' it.
Hey, do you think you can give me an ETA on when you'll be here? Yeah, I'm about a half an hour, 30, 40 minutes out.
Yeah, I'm counting on Jonesy to be here.
Otherwise, I don't know if I'm gonna finish this.
Hey, do you think you can get me ETA on when you'll be here? We're not quite sure if it's even possible to get the back drop in time to be able to shoot.
We might have to go with plan "B," doing some graduated light.
Right there, yeah? These things are way bigger than I anticipated.
The final stage is set dressing.
This is where we bring in all the props that I've rented; all the detail, and they are the most important thing to let the audience know about the environment they're in.
Eeek! Hey, guys? We have a half hour left.
Whoa! The ladder is not set.
So we need to pull the hinge in a little bit, ok? We can't just drop it back and forth, the whole set will fall over.
I understand.
The alien opens the doors and walks out onto the balcony.
So if the doors don't open, then, you know, this whole thing's pointless.
Just shave half an inch off the door.
Cut the bottom of the door off? Cut the bottom of the door off.
We have minutes.
Ok, guys, let's hustle.
Everybody, please.
We can get this out of here.
Yep, absolutely.
Ok.
Great.
Hey, Jonesy's back.
Jonesy saves the day, shows up at the last minute with a back drop.
When I saw the back drop, I was really relieved.
We have to do this, like, right away.
We've got 15 minutes and we shut down.
What can I tell you? You can take the time you want, but I got to get this done.
Everybody gets to work getting everything up.
You know, this back drop turned out a hundred times better than what I even expected.
Curt was right.
It's beautiful.
[Indistinct chatter.]
No, no, no, no.
Can we get in the other door or do we have one door? We have to hang the doors, yeah.
And they have to open.
We've been waiting for the doors for what feels like the entire time that we've been building.
Is that going to work? It needs the contrast.
But that color? It needs to be like that.
To brush it, it's not-- No, no, no, spray paint it.
We don't have it.
There was some-- what about that speckles? I don't-- I don't-- ugh, shit.
That feeling that we had earlier in the day of everything coming together is completely gone.
Guys, we have 5 minutes.
Oh, there's no run-in.
This egg, it's like the brain of this ship.
And this brain has this invasion plan projected into a screen.
No monitor, though.
It worked.
No monitor, nothing? Not even like the blue screen? We have been going so fast, until the screen in our egg completely went off.
These were never plugged in.
It doesn't help that these things are stripped so freakin' tight.
This particular prop is the center of everything.
If the screen on the egg will not come on, I don't know what to do.
[Beep.]
Oh, we have power.
Hold on, hold on, we got it, we got it, we got it.
Yeah? But it says no signal now.
Give it a second.
Give it a second.
It should be good now.
It went off.
It was the connection right on top here.
Good, man.
Good job, bro.
Hey, great designs.
All right, teams.
Carlos.
Greg.
Your time is up.
- That's it.
- Ben calls time.
My heart sinks.
You will now each have 30 minutes to shoot your scenes.
Later, you will present those scenes to our judges.
Thank you, and above all else, good luck.
Copy, grip, electric, car, walkie.
3, 2, 1.
Make a movie.
You would walk in.
The map of space is going to pop up.
And, action.
It looks amazing.
Turn it over, flip it.
I can definitely see off the set there.
Are we ever going to be in an angle where we might see off-- I'm happy that this is how it turned out.
It's totally amazing.
Looks like something I'd watch.
Yeah, exactly.
It looks amazing, brother.
I'm excited.
Open it.
Keep going, keep going.
Ok, I'm ready to shoot it.
I stand by door.
Action.
Nice.
When I saw the queen, I said that I felt that she could hold her place.
Gorgeous, baby.
Great job.
Excellent.
Production designers.
Welcome to the "Hot Set" presentation.
Tonight, one of you will leave here with $10,000, the other will leave with nothing.
Of course, you remember our judges, - Curt Beech - Hi, guys.
Good to see you again.
- Lily Kilvert - Hello again.
- Barry Robison.
- Good to see you.
Your challenge this week was to create a throne room for an alien queen.
You were given very specific stage directions that your set had to accommodate.
Queen Amalia enters the chamber.
She briefly inspects an invasion plan, then ascends to her balcony and throws open the doors to address her subjects below.
Greg, I know you're excited, tell us about your set.
Sure.
My impression of Queen Amalia is that she is an amphibious creature.
I imagine her as fierce leader of a dying race.
I chose to go with an old world design, incorporating elements from her costume to connect the set to her cultural aesthetic.
And I would like to think that her civilization uses a water-based technology that I'll represent in the final film by adding her battle plans in post production with computer graphics.
This is my hot set.
Greg, you've told us about your set.
Now, let's take a look.
This is my hot set.
Now that the judges have seen your set, it's time to show them how it plays onscreen.
Let's see how you did.
[Beeping.]
Wow.
Greg, nice job.
Thanks very much.
Thank you.
Carlos, tell us about your set.
Very well.
Queen Amalia is a powerful, fearless goddess queen that leaves in her planet in a mothership above her own space.
In this particular case, she's planned an invasion to another planet.
She will address her people to explain the consequences of what will happen next.
This is my hot set.
So Carlos, as you know, ultimately it's all about how your craft looks on the big screen.
- So let's see how you did.
- Ok.
[Beeping.]
Carlos, thank you, nice job.
Judges, I invite you to walk the sets.
Can't wait.
- It's foam core.
- Yeah.
Look.
- We have a zip tie.
- Zip tie.
Greg: I'm noticing them point to all these things that I know are obvious mistakes, and it's killing me.
This is very ambitious.
A lot of work on the doors.
It photographed a lot better than Yeah.
[All talking at once.]
One thing is missing.
Yeah.
That's the throne.
Yeah, the throne.
Should we go look at Carlos'? Yeah, that would be great.
Look at this.
Nice prop.
This is a nice prop.
Nice job on the doors.
I mean, it's good detail, and I thought it was very effective.
Kind of a really good sci-fi feel.
It is a nice use of the metallic paint.
- Absolutely.
- And it's subtle.
Maybe a little too subtle.
This worked out.
This was a bit of a thing yesterday.
Thank you, Carlos.
Yes, good work, guys.
Thanks.
Judges, I know you have questions.
Let's start with Greg.
So, Greg, it says "interior throne room, day".
Where's the throne? Um, I didn't put the throne in, only because I wanted to hold to my vision of-- it said throne room, but there was no real action, so I saw it more as a chamber, or a war room.
What we have to go by is the script piece, which says throne room.
So I didn't miss the throne at all.
I personally would have liked the doors to open out.
It seems more queen-like in gesture, but at the same time, it was a very good reveal.
And I thought that the fountain was so successful.
I would have said you could lose 50 percent of your set dressing.
- Wow.
- And your set would have been much stronger.
Guys, questions for Carlos.
Carlos, it's admirable that you decided to build most of your set from scratch.
Well, it's a lot of work in custom fabricating, cutting.
I fabricated probably 70% of the set, the sliding doors.
The floors, I build them all.
The terrace, all the columns the arches.
At the end of the day, I think it actually hurt your set.
If you had spent a little less time on that custom fabrication, you might have been able to take another pass at your set and give it that additional layer that it needed to really zing.
When you look at the detail on your set, there's nothing for the camera to grab onto; to love, because you pared it down to the absolute minimum.
You need depth in your set.
I love the eggs.
I don't know quite what else to call them.
I think they're quite beautiful.
And they do mimic the shape of the lights.
So you do have a theme going here.
And the stainless steel always makes me happy.
Greg, Carlos, thank you both.
The judges will now take a moment to review and discuss your sets among themselves.
Please rejoin your teammates while the judges make their decision.
- Thanks again, guys.
Lily: - Thank you.
[Indistinct chatter.]
All right, judges, we saw two very different sets today.
Let's start with Greg's.
His choice to bring in a visual effects person was very smart in this case.
Enhanced what he's doing.
We were all expecting a throne.
I don't miss the throne on that set.
I loved all his ideas, but I think the set is overwhelmed by the props.
I didn't know where my eye was supposed to rest.
As a result, it hurts my eyes a little bit.
He had a concept.
He was able to say, this is what I believe, this is where I was going, and, you know, full steam ahead.
- What about Carlos'? - I think one of the more successful aspects of Carlos' set is the entryway.
It shows quite a bit of creativity.
He made a brave choice in trying to do something that's difficult as a spaceship, and we all know how difficult that is.
There's so few places to go.
I'm going to be unkind, but it feels derivative.
I've seen it before, and it felt weak.
But didn't shoot too bad.
It wound up being ok.
Absolutely.
So, judges, are we ready to bring the teams in? I think we are.
- I think we are, yeah.
- I think we are.
So, judges.
Who has the hot set and will leave here with $10,000? Greg or Carlos? So, judges, who has the hot set? Greg, or Carlos? Greg, your visual concept was well-articulated in your set, but The finished product was slightly overdressed.
Carlos Incredibly bold choice, very difficult set to get right.
Big marks for going in this direction.
A little issue with the details.
So, who has the hot set and will leave here tonight with $10,000? The designer with a hot set for this week is Greg.
You've taken us to another world, congratulations.
Thank you.
The most important thing about this outcome is that I got everything I wanted.
Experience, No regrets, never.
I feel total relief.
It's totally amazing.
This has been an incredible experience.
I'm happy that this is how it turned out.
" 3, 2, 1! Make a movie! Two production designers go head to head It's going to be perfect.
In a showdown to build a Hollywood set.
So this is what we need to do today to win this.
They'll push themselves to the limit [Gasps.]
Whoa! In the ultimate challenge of imagination She will come through the door.
It will slide.
Perspiration - We have minutes.
- And exasperation.
Let's not talk about that.
I want to do one thing at a time.
Tonight's challenge-- Build a throne room fit for a queen in just 3 days.
It's not impossible.
It's not going to be a picnic.
Designers will have to come up with a concept I wanted to give a sense of this beautiful palace underwater.
Find the props to help tell their story This is cool.
Sold.
And race against the clock to construct a fully-functional film set We have to get that top up.
In time to shoot their scene.
It's either going to be amazing and cool, or it's going to be a disaster.
Only one team will walk away with $10,000.
To come out on top, they'll have to impress our award-winning panel of judges-- Curt Beech, whose credits include "The Social Network" and "Star Trek;" Lilly Kilvert, two-time Oscar nominee for "The Last Samurai" and "Legends of the Fall;" Barry Robison, production designer of "X-Men, Origins" and "The Chronicles of Narnia.
" The clock is ticking.
Tick, tick, tick.
We're way behind.
So guys, we have one hour.
I think they're both screwed.
What happened? Here on "Hot Set.
" I am Greg Aronowitz.
When I was about 8, I saw "Star Wars," and that just changed everything for me.
I have had the good fortune of working on some of the biggest movies made in Hollywood.
I was a model maker on "Saving Private Ryan," "Jurassic Park - Lost World," "Minority Report.
" I decided to do "Hot Set" because I feel that the art of set design is very underexposed and underestimated.
I am here to kind of peel back the curtain and make some actual movie magic for the audience to watch.
My name is Carlos Osorio.
I don't have formal training.
I never studied filmmaking, but I learned a lot working on decent budget movies, and I continued learning my trade.
I was an art director on a major TV series.
I decided to take this challenge because I love to teach young production designers so they can see that anything is possible.
Hello, production designers.
Welcome to "Hot Set.
" I'm your host Ben Mankiewicz.
Right now, we are inside a sound stage located in the movie capitol of the world, Los Angeles, California.
"Titanic," "Legally Blonde," "The Aviator"-- just some of the Hollywood blockbusters that had shot and built sets right inside this sound stage.
Greg, Carlos, you and your teams will have just 3 days and $15,000 to turn these empty spaces into what the film industry calls hot sets, sets that are perfectly dressed, locked, and ready to shoot.
At the end of 3 days, you'll present your sets to our panel of judges.
They are Hollywood's top talent in production design.
Curt Beech, Lilly Kilvert, and Barry Robison.
These guys are mavericks of the industry.
The pressure is on.
Are you up for the challenge? - Ready.
- Yes.
Every great set starts with a script.
Yours is no exception, so let's set the scene.
"Interior, throne room, day.
Queen Amalia enters the chamber.
She briefly inspects an invasion plan, then ascends to her balcony and throws open the doors to address her subjects below.
" Based on the script, I quickly thought it could be a castle.
I felt really excited to start coming out with something.
The script seems pretty straightforward.
I'm excited to actually build it.
Now, that's the scene you'll be using to create your set.
But there is one more thing.
This curtain hides a crucial element that you'll need to incorporate into your set.
Here's your inspiration.
Production designers, meet Queen Amalia, a ruler whose beauty is matched only by her brutality.
Judges, please let Greg and Carlos know what you'll be looking for in their sets.
- Curt? - Bold choices, but bold choices that are made with clarity of design and vision.
- Lilly? - I'm always looking to know what world I'm in.
I want you to define the world and give us a sense what's out the window.
I'm really interested to see how you two are going to handle character in your environment.
You've got a strong element to work with.
I want you to tell us her story.
Now, guys, you have 5 minutes to familiarize yourself with Queen Amalia, because your challenge begins right now.
I'm thrilled that it's an alien queen.
I was instantly hit with inspiration.
Right away, my mind just started designing.
I already had a connection.
I was hoping to do something futuristic, so this is a great opportunity.
That's 5 minutes.
Time's up.
Go meet up with your teams in the design rooms.
Carlos Osorio: We walk into our design spaces.
I was very impressed.
We have all the materials we need.
I know I could build anything I wanted.
I just saw an alien.
Ok.
[Laughs.]
- Sweet.
- An empress.
I like where this is going.
She was full head prosthetic, aquatic.
I'm taking it very blues.
My team consists of my art director, Lynn, who I call Red 5.
She's the one who kind of pulls it back in and makes sure that we stay on track and keep moving forward.
What I do as an art director is figure out what we need in terms of locations, props, dressing, and then try to make that happen.
My concept illustrator, Kevin, known as Amish, he can take anything and turn it into something interesting.
They are super creative, and we just work really well together.
Amalia is an alien queen who is walking into her chamber, overseeing an invasion plan.
I brought Darrell to the job because he's a very level man.
He knows where's the limit.
I don't have limits.
Then, I brought Ryan, very good art director.
He's a very big asset for me.
So Curt, you've met Queen Amalia.
- Mm-hmm.
- How do you think the production designers will do with throne room? I think the biggest obstacle is dealing with the scale of the space, they're doing a throne room.
They're doing something that's generally a very large, vast space, and they're trying to cram it into this little, little box.
And there's also the difficulty of having a space-- Where's the space that she's reviewing the plans on? There are not normally tables in throne rooms.
You can't overlook that detail, because nothing will take an actor out of the moment faster than a bad prop.
In this amount of time, don't get bogged down in the detail, or you'll be lost.
I think we've all spent a week on a door before.
I've spent many weeks on a door! It's going to be very interesting to see what our production designers do.
So it's a throne room, so we want to have regal.
So you guys know me.
Nothing says regal more than - Columns.
- What are they, they're columns, right? So figure out how many, and then, the door here that she goes out for the balcony.
The story that came to mind when I saw the alien was that she is this heartless ruler that is isolated and left alone.
I wanted to give a sense of this once-beautiful palace that is now in ruin that she just kind of floats through on her own and makes plans to take over another world.
I feel like she's aquatic.
I'm just watching going, ok, so you have a very clear vision to create kind of an Atlantis-y underwater castle.
But how do I make this happen? I'm going to do an overhead plan first.
I think I have an idea that will work.
I'm thinking we should build some kind of tunnel entrance.
She may be coming from a big meeting with all her advisers.
Then she comes to her own private room.
She is going to walk into a terrace and address the people of her city or world.
I want to create this futuristic, high tech world with a very bright hallway or a space and a beautiful sliding door.
I want to fabricate the custom pieces from scratch.
Is it a space ship or a castle? It's an alien.
It can be anything.
How much time do we have to do this in? We only have 3 days total.
When I got to set, I find that I had a construction team of professional, talented people in every craft of the art department.
I think I want to take advantage of this floor.
We may just have to go with painted black plywood.
So Darrell, you are in charge.
I got to go to the prop house.
If I don't come back, don't worry.
[Laughter.]
You guys take care of it.
- We'll make it happen.
- You make it happen.
We're going to get started on the hallway and the floors, because there's a lot of custom pieces to be built, and that's going to be the anchor of the entire set.
I'm going to try and get some columns and some other fancy things that we can just kind of fuse into the main shell.
So what I would love for you guys to do while I'm gone is get as many flats up as we can before I get back.
We're going to get on that.
All right.
I'll be back.
Now that I know what the concept is, I'm going to go out to the prop houses while my team moves to the construction phase.
I'm going to go to Jackson Shrub.
I love their inventory.
I can find columns, pedestals.
They have a lot of stuff in their prop department.
They really specialize in old world-type environments.
So these are all our columns here.
I'm choosing these particular props because I want to create layers and volume and have the sense of old world feeling without necessarily having to create every single aspect from scratch.
[Line rings.]
Hello.
I'm wrapping up at Jackson Shrubs.
I'm definitely leaving here with the balustrades, the columns, the fountain, the pedestals, and oh, these two giant urns that I thought might go on either side of the door.
They're just super cool, so.
We are running a little tight on space 'cause that archway is much bigger than we had thought.
I feel a little nervous about Greg's plan with having these big elements that he really wants.
I'm a little worried that it's really going to come back to bite us.
Ben: Coming up Greg: I want to be further along than I am right now.
One of the most important things is the backdrop.
Do you think you can get me ETA on when you'll be here? We're starting to run out of time.
My team is building the floor for the alien throne chamber.
I go to prop house to scout all the props that I wanted to get.
And I'm looking for futuristic things.
How much does something like this go for? 250 a week.
Sold.
This is awesome.
Alien.
[Laughs.]
How much is this guy? 350 a week.
Cool, man.
This is cool.
I found one sphere that looks like an egg.
It can be the motherboard of this ship.
That stuff is great.
- It's flooring.
- I need that floor.
I am very happy with what I chose.
It's perfect for this futuristic world of the mothership somewhere in another planet.
Hey, buddy.
How you doing? We got the hallway cut and mostly assembled.
I'm bringing some flooring for the entrance tunnel.
We've already got that floor framed.
I'll show you what I have.
We may have to do a little modification.
Cease fire on that.
He bought grid flooring for it.
- Ok.
- Changing things on the fly can really impact everything.
But that's his creative process.
I got columns, pedestals, obelisks, balustrades, and two amazing urns for my underwater ancient palace room.
After I've collected everything, I'm back at the stage, and everybody's crazy busy.
Amish: We just put up some eye candy for you.
Probably not as far along as I would have liked, but I did look over at Carlos' rectangle.
There was nothing there.
I feel like we have quite a lead.
I bet if I was over there, I'd probably be feeling a little intimidated right about now.
Laying more mass than those guys.
All right.
I've got walls up.
[Chuckles.]
I have 3 days to build a set.
We are totally fine on money.
- Don't worry about that.
- Ok.
Realistically, sets can take weeks, months.
That's why they cost millions of dollars.
It's not impossible, but it's not going to be a picnic.
All right, gang.
We got to start putting some walls up pretty soon.
I step into the set, and I see that we have nothing up.
It takes a certain period of time to build stuff.
You can't just wave a magic wand, and a wall suddenly appears.
We got to start hustling.
We are way behind.
But at least I'm happy I'm not just putting walls randomly.
I like to fabricate everything original from scratch.
Most of the time, this is the way I work.
Look at that, man.
These are custom pieces.
I love it.
Anybody can rent a set.
Fabricating from scratch, that's the biggest accomplishment.
I'm a builder, and I love to build anything.
If I could, I would customize every single element of my set.
The flip side of that is it's so time-consuming.
I can't really figure out how Carlos is going to get it all done.
No, that's not the right piece.
We got to take it out.
[Saws whirring.]
[Ticks.]
Woman: Yeah.
[Grunts.]
Hey, look over there.
Yeah.
I've been-- [Laughs.]
Try not to, you know, dwell on it.
Carlos: Half an hour, and that's it.
We got to get this screw in and walk away.
Ok, guys.
We have to go.
By the end of the day, I have already up my main set pieces, so we are not that behind anymore.
Greg: First round's on me.
[Clock ticking.]
There's a lot to do today, but there are some major elements that I feel like I need my key team to work on.
We made a lot of progress yesterday.
We got some walls up.
But still doesn't look like anything.
Amish and I were talking about doing some designs for doors.
I feel like that's-- the doors themselves are going to be a half a day project.
We don't have that many halves of days.
How are you? I'm going to give you instructions for the day.
How do I look? Good? - Excellent.
- Like an alien? In two days, we are going to be filming this scene.
My design is a mothership or alienistic castle.
The first thing that I want to do with the paint crew is start prepping this throne.
You and me are going to finish that gate.
Darrell-- and you will help him out-- finish this platform, please.
When I saw the alien's costume, there were a few key elements that really stood out to me.
One was the diamond pattern that was on her collar.
I wanted to bring that into the set and make a whole wall a pattern of diamonds that would echo her costume.
How we doing on the diamonds? Lisa's tracing those right now, and then, I'll cut those.
Ok.
We are cutting the diamonds out of sheet insulation foam using a hot knife, so it actually cuts pretty easy.
The problem is that we need hundreds of them.
It's looking good.
We're getting there with the color, right? I want to paint this set in a degradé of color.
I want to start on a dark blue on the bottom, and I want to go lighter to the top.
Also, I want to add some accents of metallics, maybe black.
The throne is all black with some gold metallics that will match her dress.
That's the dream.
The script specifically calls for the queen to inspect battle strategy.
I thought instead of having a physical element that I will bring in a virtual element.
So I thought we could do this thing where we have this birdbath-style control - with water in it.
- Ok.
And she would, like, touch the water, and this thing would project out.
Having that be a central part of our design, it's a really big risk.
It's either going to be amazing and cool, or it's going to be a disaster.
So Curt and Ben come by the set.
My first thought is, this is nowhere near as far along as I would like for them to be seeing it.
Tell us, what's your idea? What's your concept? My concept is that the queen is the ruler of an underwater world, so I'm kind of going for more of a majestic, ancient stone-type temple.
What's the idea with the columns? The idea with the columns is just to create depth.
Curt: Where's the throne? Well, I actually opted to not have the throne.
When I saw the queen, I didn't see her as a being that liked to sit down.
I decided to make the centerpiece more of the ceremonial element, where she controls things.
What's your budget situation? We're really good.
I was trying to keep it-- you know, do as much as I can without going crazy.
Don't leave a dime on the table.
[Chuckles.]
I'll keep that in mind.
- Thanks for the advice.
- Good luck.
Carlos.
- How's it going? - Nice to see you.
All right.
Good to see you, too.
Tell us what we're looking at.
Ok.
So, my idea was to build some kind of mothership.
Actually, it can be a big castle on Mars, or a mothership.
Hmm.
She will have to enter through this sliding door.
She will come through the door.
It will slide.
She comes through with light in the hallway.
And then, she will come out and address the people.
Curt: I'm curious to see what's going to happen with the balcony.
I'm doing a silk in the back, and we're going to light it like daylight.
But no-- no detail.
I wouldn't overlook it as an opportunity to show more of the context of - what this place is, where it is.
- Ok.
I take the notes for sure.
I'm hoping to get it done.
Good luck.
See you tomorrow.
Very interested to see how it turns out.
Thank you.
Bye.
Well, that was interesting.
Looking at Carlos' set, I like the entrance.
It's got some interesting shapes going on.
You can see the thought about making it sci-fi shapes.
Did I mishear him? We're either on a castle or a spaceship.
That's not really an option.
You can't tell the director, "well, we're either on a ship, or we're in a castle.
" Regarding Greg I appreciate that he's trying to support his ideas with story, but the script is your map to get from point "A" to point "B".
It's labeled as a throne room.
Timing-wise, though, you think they're both ok? No, I think they're both screwed.
[Chuckles.]
Timing-wise, they have their work cut out for them.
I can't wait to see how much of what they want to do they'll actually be able to accomplish in the time that's left.
Well, we'll find out.
Yes, we will.
We need to think about the background and do something better than the sky.
Curt doesn't like the background choices.
He thinks it's too bland.
So Carlos wants to have a backdrop.
Do a run to pick up a backdrop.
We're starting to run out of time.
Best case scenario, I'm still not sure if we're going to be able to do it in time.
Ben and Curt dropped by.
They were concerned with my choice to not have a throne.
Now that curt has brought up the fact that I have no throne, I've been thinking about having a throne.
Definitely concerned that it's going to affect me in the judging.
Hi.
How are you today? I need a backing for pickup tomorrow morning.
Curt tells me that I should do a backdrop.
[Indistinct.]
I went to my office and opened the backdrops books.
And I went through every single page looking for something.
I'm hoping to find something that will play outside this mothership.
I hear him get really excited and point at a photo.
It's a skyline of San Francisco.
Our queen is not blowing up San Francisco.
- Hey, what about this? - That's the one.
Do all the paperwork that's needed, send it to us, and we'll pick it up tomorrow morning.
Thank you so much.
Bye, now.
We've earned the right to bring this in here.
[Imitates laughter.]
How's the doors going? Carlos has this really great idea to build these big, sliding, high tech doors for the alien throne room.
I think it'll be awesome, though, to have the little piece.
[Indistinct.]
[Buzzing.]
Yeah.
We've almost finished the doors, but the true test is once we get them up, does the hallway door line up? [Grunts.]
We're still not good down here.
Hey, guys, if there's a little gap, I don't mind it, ok? Well, it's closer, but still no cigar.
Just adjust it best possible.
We don't have to go back there, cut more.
We're not going back and cutting.
- We're going to sand something down.
- Ok.
I want to put the grill and everything one time, not twice.
All right, guys.
We're calling it.
I really want to be further along than I am right now.
Ok, guys.
We're finished.
Put the stuff down.
We have a few hours left tomorrow to finish everything.
I look at my set, and I'm like, how can we finish this thing? If tomorrow doesn't pick up some pace, we're definitely in a little bit of trouble.
Carlos: Let's get out of here, please.
[Clock ticking.]
Ok.
So, here we are.
Today is the last day.
We are going to shoot the scene on the set.
All right.
Morning, guys.
Are we ready? This is it.
All right.
So this is what we need to do today to win this.
We have to get our last piece of flat up there with the archway, and we need to hang the doors.
We need to get a base coat on all the walls.
These are the final hours, and I'm trying to get every person on the crew to tackle a specific task so that we can get everything done and on the set before we shoot it.
And then, we win.
All right.
Gang, so we finished yesterday base coating and painting everything.
We have to finish building a few props, painting, and then, dressing the set.
You're going to be going to pick up a backdrop.
Today, one of the most important things especially is to pick up the backdrop.
Ok.
We got our lead man Jonesy and sent him out on the road just with this mission to get there as fast as possible.
If Jonesy doesn't get here, we're going to have to fall back and go with the original plan, using light and colors to create a sky.
It might not make the judges happy, but we have to finish it.
We can't leave it open.
Come on.
Let's do it.
Ok.
And you're going to be spackling, - you're going to be-- - Spraying right now.
The current plan was to put one right through on the out-- - Let's do it, let's do it.
- Ok.
- We want to do a sandwich.
Ok.
- I know.
And make sure you guys do not leave each other's sight so you know exactly what the plan is.
And blast this thing with the silver on the thing or no? It's going to be perfect.
How far do you want to extend that, just a little bit? Let's not talk about that.
I want to do one thing at a time.
I want it done quickly.
Right now, my biggest hurdle is the fact that my actual set is still not complete.
I'm not even worried about the details yet.
We're in a mode now where the energy is flowing, and we're not going to stop.
Amish.
Amish.
We have to get that top up before the doors go.
Amish has been working on the door.
I knew the doors were a major risk going into it, but I really wanted the detail of an original design within the middle of the set.
It's taken forever to hang them.
This is where it's costing me.
Hey, guys, we have one hour.
- Hello? - Hey, Jonesy? Yeah.
How are you guys doing on the runs? We had a little bit of a problem.
My biggest worry is whether we're going to get our backdrop.
Once Jonesy's gone, like, everything's completely out of my hands.
We're starting to run out of time.
Get back as soon as possible, and we'll get jumping on this.
Now, go! Ahh.
A screw and a screw gun? I can't move! [Laughs.]
Oh, getting wet! Sorry about that, guys.
Amish: Everything's shaking.
The walls are shaking.
We're tripping over each other trying to do one thing before the other.
This is so crazy.
It's almost dizzying.
You see that big gap? You want to throw black tape or something? I don't want to spend a bunch of time on it.
I just want to slap a piece back there.
Ok.
Fine.
It's going to be an hour first.
Ok.
I ran this morning like crazy finishing building, everything else.
I become the carpenter now, the builder, and the painter, whatever it takes.
Now, I am like the support team of the main team now.
- Hey, Greg? - Yeah? Have you looked at the other team's set? Yeah.
I saw a peek of it.
I don't know where they're at right now.
You might want to go over there.
[Laughs.]
- Yeah? - Yeah.
The overall vibe with the crew is basically flat-out panic.
Are they going to scare me? They might.
The set still pretty much looks unfinished, and if you peek across the way, you can see on Carlos' set, that it's starting to look a little more refined.
Are you worried about it? I mean, of course.
These guys are killin' it.
Hey, do you think you can give me an ETA on when you'll be here? Yeah, I'm about a half an hour, 30, 40 minutes out.
Yeah, I'm counting on Jonesy to be here.
Otherwise, I don't know if I'm gonna finish this.
Hey, do you think you can get me ETA on when you'll be here? We're not quite sure if it's even possible to get the back drop in time to be able to shoot.
We might have to go with plan "B," doing some graduated light.
Right there, yeah? These things are way bigger than I anticipated.
The final stage is set dressing.
This is where we bring in all the props that I've rented; all the detail, and they are the most important thing to let the audience know about the environment they're in.
Eeek! Hey, guys? We have a half hour left.
Whoa! The ladder is not set.
So we need to pull the hinge in a little bit, ok? We can't just drop it back and forth, the whole set will fall over.
I understand.
The alien opens the doors and walks out onto the balcony.
So if the doors don't open, then, you know, this whole thing's pointless.
Just shave half an inch off the door.
Cut the bottom of the door off? Cut the bottom of the door off.
We have minutes.
Ok, guys, let's hustle.
Everybody, please.
We can get this out of here.
Yep, absolutely.
Ok.
Great.
Hey, Jonesy's back.
Jonesy saves the day, shows up at the last minute with a back drop.
When I saw the back drop, I was really relieved.
We have to do this, like, right away.
We've got 15 minutes and we shut down.
What can I tell you? You can take the time you want, but I got to get this done.
Everybody gets to work getting everything up.
You know, this back drop turned out a hundred times better than what I even expected.
Curt was right.
It's beautiful.
[Indistinct chatter.]
No, no, no, no.
Can we get in the other door or do we have one door? We have to hang the doors, yeah.
And they have to open.
We've been waiting for the doors for what feels like the entire time that we've been building.
Is that going to work? It needs the contrast.
But that color? It needs to be like that.
To brush it, it's not-- No, no, no, spray paint it.
We don't have it.
There was some-- what about that speckles? I don't-- I don't-- ugh, shit.
That feeling that we had earlier in the day of everything coming together is completely gone.
Guys, we have 5 minutes.
Oh, there's no run-in.
This egg, it's like the brain of this ship.
And this brain has this invasion plan projected into a screen.
No monitor, though.
It worked.
No monitor, nothing? Not even like the blue screen? We have been going so fast, until the screen in our egg completely went off.
These were never plugged in.
It doesn't help that these things are stripped so freakin' tight.
This particular prop is the center of everything.
If the screen on the egg will not come on, I don't know what to do.
[Beep.]
Oh, we have power.
Hold on, hold on, we got it, we got it, we got it.
Yeah? But it says no signal now.
Give it a second.
Give it a second.
It should be good now.
It went off.
It was the connection right on top here.
Good, man.
Good job, bro.
Hey, great designs.
All right, teams.
Carlos.
Greg.
Your time is up.
- That's it.
- Ben calls time.
My heart sinks.
You will now each have 30 minutes to shoot your scenes.
Later, you will present those scenes to our judges.
Thank you, and above all else, good luck.
Copy, grip, electric, car, walkie.
3, 2, 1.
Make a movie.
You would walk in.
The map of space is going to pop up.
And, action.
It looks amazing.
Turn it over, flip it.
I can definitely see off the set there.
Are we ever going to be in an angle where we might see off-- I'm happy that this is how it turned out.
It's totally amazing.
Looks like something I'd watch.
Yeah, exactly.
It looks amazing, brother.
I'm excited.
Open it.
Keep going, keep going.
Ok, I'm ready to shoot it.
I stand by door.
Action.
Nice.
When I saw the queen, I said that I felt that she could hold her place.
Gorgeous, baby.
Great job.
Excellent.
Production designers.
Welcome to the "Hot Set" presentation.
Tonight, one of you will leave here with $10,000, the other will leave with nothing.
Of course, you remember our judges, - Curt Beech - Hi, guys.
Good to see you again.
- Lily Kilvert - Hello again.
- Barry Robison.
- Good to see you.
Your challenge this week was to create a throne room for an alien queen.
You were given very specific stage directions that your set had to accommodate.
Queen Amalia enters the chamber.
She briefly inspects an invasion plan, then ascends to her balcony and throws open the doors to address her subjects below.
Greg, I know you're excited, tell us about your set.
Sure.
My impression of Queen Amalia is that she is an amphibious creature.
I imagine her as fierce leader of a dying race.
I chose to go with an old world design, incorporating elements from her costume to connect the set to her cultural aesthetic.
And I would like to think that her civilization uses a water-based technology that I'll represent in the final film by adding her battle plans in post production with computer graphics.
This is my hot set.
Greg, you've told us about your set.
Now, let's take a look.
This is my hot set.
Now that the judges have seen your set, it's time to show them how it plays onscreen.
Let's see how you did.
[Beeping.]
Wow.
Greg, nice job.
Thanks very much.
Thank you.
Carlos, tell us about your set.
Very well.
Queen Amalia is a powerful, fearless goddess queen that leaves in her planet in a mothership above her own space.
In this particular case, she's planned an invasion to another planet.
She will address her people to explain the consequences of what will happen next.
This is my hot set.
So Carlos, as you know, ultimately it's all about how your craft looks on the big screen.
- So let's see how you did.
- Ok.
[Beeping.]
Carlos, thank you, nice job.
Judges, I invite you to walk the sets.
Can't wait.
- It's foam core.
- Yeah.
Look.
- We have a zip tie.
- Zip tie.
Greg: I'm noticing them point to all these things that I know are obvious mistakes, and it's killing me.
This is very ambitious.
A lot of work on the doors.
It photographed a lot better than Yeah.
[All talking at once.]
One thing is missing.
Yeah.
That's the throne.
Yeah, the throne.
Should we go look at Carlos'? Yeah, that would be great.
Look at this.
Nice prop.
This is a nice prop.
Nice job on the doors.
I mean, it's good detail, and I thought it was very effective.
Kind of a really good sci-fi feel.
It is a nice use of the metallic paint.
- Absolutely.
- And it's subtle.
Maybe a little too subtle.
This worked out.
This was a bit of a thing yesterday.
Thank you, Carlos.
Yes, good work, guys.
Thanks.
Judges, I know you have questions.
Let's start with Greg.
So, Greg, it says "interior throne room, day".
Where's the throne? Um, I didn't put the throne in, only because I wanted to hold to my vision of-- it said throne room, but there was no real action, so I saw it more as a chamber, or a war room.
What we have to go by is the script piece, which says throne room.
So I didn't miss the throne at all.
I personally would have liked the doors to open out.
It seems more queen-like in gesture, but at the same time, it was a very good reveal.
And I thought that the fountain was so successful.
I would have said you could lose 50 percent of your set dressing.
- Wow.
- And your set would have been much stronger.
Guys, questions for Carlos.
Carlos, it's admirable that you decided to build most of your set from scratch.
Well, it's a lot of work in custom fabricating, cutting.
I fabricated probably 70% of the set, the sliding doors.
The floors, I build them all.
The terrace, all the columns the arches.
At the end of the day, I think it actually hurt your set.
If you had spent a little less time on that custom fabrication, you might have been able to take another pass at your set and give it that additional layer that it needed to really zing.
When you look at the detail on your set, there's nothing for the camera to grab onto; to love, because you pared it down to the absolute minimum.
You need depth in your set.
I love the eggs.
I don't know quite what else to call them.
I think they're quite beautiful.
And they do mimic the shape of the lights.
So you do have a theme going here.
And the stainless steel always makes me happy.
Greg, Carlos, thank you both.
The judges will now take a moment to review and discuss your sets among themselves.
Please rejoin your teammates while the judges make their decision.
- Thanks again, guys.
Lily: - Thank you.
[Indistinct chatter.]
All right, judges, we saw two very different sets today.
Let's start with Greg's.
His choice to bring in a visual effects person was very smart in this case.
Enhanced what he's doing.
We were all expecting a throne.
I don't miss the throne on that set.
I loved all his ideas, but I think the set is overwhelmed by the props.
I didn't know where my eye was supposed to rest.
As a result, it hurts my eyes a little bit.
He had a concept.
He was able to say, this is what I believe, this is where I was going, and, you know, full steam ahead.
- What about Carlos'? - I think one of the more successful aspects of Carlos' set is the entryway.
It shows quite a bit of creativity.
He made a brave choice in trying to do something that's difficult as a spaceship, and we all know how difficult that is.
There's so few places to go.
I'm going to be unkind, but it feels derivative.
I've seen it before, and it felt weak.
But didn't shoot too bad.
It wound up being ok.
Absolutely.
So, judges, are we ready to bring the teams in? I think we are.
- I think we are, yeah.
- I think we are.
So, judges.
Who has the hot set and will leave here with $10,000? Greg or Carlos? So, judges, who has the hot set? Greg, or Carlos? Greg, your visual concept was well-articulated in your set, but The finished product was slightly overdressed.
Carlos Incredibly bold choice, very difficult set to get right.
Big marks for going in this direction.
A little issue with the details.
So, who has the hot set and will leave here tonight with $10,000? The designer with a hot set for this week is Greg.
You've taken us to another world, congratulations.
Thank you.
The most important thing about this outcome is that I got everything I wanted.
Experience, No regrets, never.
I feel total relief.
It's totally amazing.
This has been an incredible experience.
I'm happy that this is how it turned out.