Hot Set (2012) s01e03 Episode Script
Android Bordello
Get ready for Hot Set.
3, 2, 1, make a movie! Two production designers go head to head Did you see it, what they brought in? I wouldn't have it in my house.
In a showdown to build a Hollywood set.
More material right away.
They'll push themselves to the limit in the ultimate challenge of imagination Like a sci-fi musical.
Ro rah roo Perspiration Start cleaning this shit up.
And exasperation.
Don't come here.
Don't come yet.
Tonight's challenge-- to turn these empty sets into a futuristic bordello in just 3 days.
Are you kidding me? Designers will have to come up with a concept If you have the kind of money to spend on 3 girls in a bordello, you got a nice damn room.
Find the props to help tell their story Slow, slow, slow.
And race against the clock to construct a fully functional film set This needs to go really, really fast.
In time to shoot their scene.
I am extremely nervous.
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 And the pressure is on.
Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.
Yaah! Here on Hot Set.
My name is Kim.
I mostly worked as a theatrical designer and designed about 200 sets.
I do like to try to do things nontraditional and very The reason why I'm here today is to prove that I work great under pressure.
My name's Carl Dove and I'm a set designer.
I normally work in print photography.
I wanted to be on Hot Set because this challenge is gonna hopefully allow me to break through to the other side, which would be a major motion picture.
Hello, production designers.
Welcome to Hot Set.
I'm your host Ben Mankiewicz.
We're in the movie capital of the world, Los Angeles, California, where big budget blockbusters are made.
In fact, "Titanic," "The Aviator," and "Legally Blonde" all filmed scenes right here on this soundstage.
Kim, Carl, 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.
That is, sets that are perfectly dressed, locked, and camera ready.
Now, at the end of 3 days, you'll present your finished sets to our panel of judges, some of Hollywood's top talents in production design.
Curt Beech.
Hi, guys.
Lilly Kilvert.
And Barry Robison.
Hey, guys.
Every great set starts with a script, yours is no exception.
Now let's set the scene.
Interior.
Bordello.
Night.
As the music cues up and the lights dim, Sima and her troupe dance across the floor, then jump up on furniture, taking over the room with their performance.
I have a million things running through my head, and should I go, you know, French, burlesque, and they have to dance around the room That's the scene you'll be creating a set for.
But, there is one more thing.
Behind this curtain is a critical element you'll need to incorporate into your final set.
Kim, Carl, here is your inspiration.
She's silver and she's black, and she's very fetish.
This is awesome.
Production designers, meet Sima.
She is one of 3 androids who will be dancing in the android bordello you create.
Now, the set you're building this week will need to incorporate things like climbable objects, handholds, rails, support beams that our androids can use in their exotic dance routine.
Judges, please let Kim and Carl know what you're going to be looking for in their sets.
One of the challenges with this is that it is an android bordello.
It's not of this world.
But we still have to know what it is and where we are.
At the end of the day, you need to invent an entire world.
- Okay.
- Yes.
Lilly.
There are many things to think about.
The dancers have to be able to move through the set and use the elements that they're given without having them be an obstruction.
These things need to work together perfectly.
This is a fantastic challenge.
The script hasn't told us where in the bordello this takes place.
You get to choose.
- So I really want you to go for it.
- Yes.
When your sets are finished, our panel will walk through your completed hot sets, taking a close look at your work.
And they'll watch a scene filmed on your set.
You'll have 5 minutes now to familiarize yourself with your android inspiration.
Your challenge begins right now.
The futuristic stuff kind of throws me off a little bit.
But I love the bordello aspect.
Designing is all about storytelling for me, and as long as you can tell a story, anything works.
All right, guys, time's up.
Go meet up with your teams in the design studio.
Thanks and good luck.
- Hey.
- Hi, Kim.
- Hi, Kim.
- Hi, guys.
So what is it? It is a robot android bordello.
A bordello? Wow.
My teammates on this project are Irving and Stephan.
I chose Irving to be on my team because he's an architect, and I really appreciate his feedback.
He would always go the extra mile.
He would even go and pick up props.
I chose Stephan because he's a super-fast carpenter.
He really cranks things out.
Hello, hello.
Hi.
Here we go, here we go.
Our character, she's a dancer.
Wow.
It's bordello, futuristic.
She is an android.
The two people that I brought for my team are Betsy and Brian.
Without Betsy, I'd be all over the map.
She's a painter, prop stylist.
And Brian, my set constructor, he's just cool.
You don't want people flying off the handle 'cause there's tools and dangerous things involved.
Barry, tough challenge, certainly.
What are some of your concerns? Hello.
It's a musical.
How does the camera interact with the scenery and the dancers? The one thing that I would caution is restraint.
This is about the actors moving in the space.
Really, let the scenery be the background.
Obviously there are going to be some acrobatics.
The trick is to make it workable, make it usable, so that nobody has to leap too high.
If they don't feel safe in the environment, it's going to change the dance-- - Absolutely.
Yes, absolutely.
- Drastically.
It's a scary one.
It's a very difficult challenge.
If they get it right, it will be spectacular.
In a futuristic bordello, I think that the lounge would be bigger than that space, so I really think we should deal with a room.
So this is the bedroom.
What are you thinking of making the walls? Are you repainting them or Red.
My concept is Bordello, bedroom, futuristic.
What's futuristic material? It's gotta be plexiglas.
Black and white for the floor in a combination pattern, and red for the walls.
Around the set are platform stairs and ladders and a big round latex bed.
The back story is the high-end bordello room for android dancers.
If you think about it, it's 3 girls in a bordello.
If you have the kind of money to spend on 3 girls in a bordello, you got a nice damn room.
That's interesting.
I'm thinking about a really big bench area that's kind of sexy and curved and has a lot of leather elements Very good.
I'd like to also incorporate some plexi.
- Wow.
- And some lighting elements with each dancer.
So they're dancing over light.
They're dancing over light.
My concept is an outer space lounge.
There's a large bench, a spiral staircase, and a cut-out window to the stars.
There's alien heads peeking in and walls that will be textured like planetary landscapes.
- It sounds great.
- Let's do it! This challenge is gonna involve a lot of construction.
I gonna keep my construction crew very, very busy.
It's like a sci-fi musical.
It think it would be probably smart to start with flooring.
- What kind of walls? - Yeah There are two actual walls.
The back wall has a giant opening.
The left side is kind of a layered structure.
So I think everybody knows what to do at this point.
And hopefully a lot of stuff is done when I'm back.
Ok, let's go.
So we have these platforms that you need to build, and they're gonna be all over the set and they're gonna be dancing, and it's kind of like we gotta figure out logistically how that's all gonna work in.
On a print job, this probably would be the amount of time I would normally have.
However, the sets have to be working and functional.
3 days is not really a lot for something like this.
I would love to kind of go really nuts and bolts with you guys.
I have to go to the prop shop.
As you know, everything has to happen real fast.
So basically what we want to start on is we want to start on these walls.
So we gotta start on those.
And then I'd like to start on the flooring, but we don't have the flooring, so I gotta go get it, so I'm leaving Betsy and Brian in charge.
Please take it away.
All right.
Thanks, guys.
- Good luck.
- Let's do this.
So I'm headed to Gavrieli, and they've got plexiglas and lots of it.
Plexiglas creates a really shiny surface on one side.
Do you have this in black? Yeah, that's what I want.
Do you have anything that's blood red? Red and bordello, they're synonymous.
And it's exactly what I need.
And then I turn around and who do I see? Kim.
What is she pulling? I did catch a glance of what she was pulling.
It's a different plexi.
Thank you.
I'm also interested in buying some plexiglas.
I'm gonna take one of those.
So I find this really great plexiglas, and it's textured, and I know exactly what I want to do with it on the back wall of the set.
And the pink one is your copy.
Ok, thanks.
Thank you.
So what's going on? - You want to take a look? - Yes, yes, yes.
- Let's take a look.
- Let's take a look.
- It's pretty high.
- Whoo.
I see they get the entire back wall up.
That looks great.
I'm very pleased about the progress on our set.
The bed that we initially talked about putting into the design was a round bed.
I called the prop house.
It was too big.
So it was not gonna work for us.
Hi.
This is what I got.
I had them cut us 6-inch strips of white and black for the floor.
Red plexi for the walls.
- Listen, I called-- - We got-- - Listen, I called about a bed.
- Yeah.
The latex bed is too big for our set.
What do you mean? Come on, let's take a look.
I need to just sit with this for a minute.
Let it digest.
It's not gonna work out.
And I have to figure out what the heck to do with my set.
Coming up I see them jamming them in, jamming them out.
No more discussions.
Let's go.
Slow, slow, slow.
And the judges await.
It's a texture war.
Unfortunately, one of the big pieces that I really wanted to sell the set with was the latex bed.
The bed is easy for the girls to dance on.
That's really important.
It's not gonna work out.
And I have to figure out what the heck to do with the rest of my set.
So Irving finds this spiral staircase online.
This is representing an item from the past the androids found an incorporated into their world.
And also it is a functional element 'cause I want the dancers to have several elevations and railings and places to climb up to.
- How much is it? - It's gonna be 2,000.
Do you have the dimensions of this? 6 feet and he says it's like 14 feet.
14 to the upper stair or 14 to the upper railing? - Do we know? - From top to bottom.
Not to the step.
Normally I would go and take a look at this myself, but we just don't have any time, and I just have to trust what I see online.
- Want to go for it? - Yeah, I like it.
Is this a bedroom, or what is this? Like, I can't-- - This is you.
- I'm having trouble now figuring out what this room is.
So I created a bedroom for Sima.
However, the bed is too big for the set.
What am I supposed to do now? Cut this out and then we'll Ok, that's it for today.
- We're done, buddy.
- Okay.
You all did really great work.
Tomorrow we make the magic happen.
We have a lot of big things done, and I feel very confident.
All right.
Come on, guys.
We're done.
That's it.
That's a wrap.
All right, thank you.
It's the end of day one.
Nothing's done.
The set looks like shit.
So there's gonna be a lot of thinking tonight.
Here we are again, folks.
It's day two.
And after yesterday, nobody knows what's going on.
I didn't sleep much, if at all.
But I know exactly what I want out of this set.
It's their sanctuary, but they also take clients and do dance routines.
I would love to have more time, but I don't, so I mean business today.
We've added some stuff, but I think we're still gonna be okay.
The size of a round latex bed would have been way too big for what we've got going on right now, so we're going to try these sleep pods.
Any kind of futuristic movie always has some area that a robot will go to recharge.
We're creating built-in robot beds.
Gonna put them in the walls.
Ok, well, we have these gears that we're making.
It's the handhelds.
We need 12 of these.
We're gonna have the crew working on the platforms.
Changes are great, but I'm gonna have to kind of draw the line at some point.
This set has got to get done.
All right, well, let's do this.
It's day two and we still have to cut out the back wall and apply texture to the surfaces.
The story behind my bordello is that the android dancers hang out there to have fun and present their talents to the guests.
Your first task is to take care of the side walls and get the foam and some styrofoam.
- Great, I'll take care of it.
- Okay.
We're going to be building 3 in-set beds-- 1, 2, 3-- at the top.
We're doing ladders.
You're gonna do 3 ladders for us, right? Okay, but I've only got one.
You only got one, so we need to order more material right away.
Carl took the reigns.
I think he was definitely feeling more confident.
The staircase arrived.
Let's take a look.
Wow.
The staircase was bigger than we were thinking.
Instead of 16 feet, all the sudden we had 20 feet.
She was not happy.
The staircase is way too tall.
We have to cut it down.
We have dancers later dancing on it, so it has to be supportive.
I'm a little scared.
So Ben and Barry show up for a surprise visit.
Of course I'm not ready.
Hey, guys, you remember Barry, obviously from yesterday.
We're going to just take a look at your progress, see where you're headed.
We're gonna start over here with Carl.
How's it going, Carl? Uh, stressed.
That was a meek stressed, too.
That was a stressed.
Stressed.
First of all, give me your concept.
My concept is it's the bedroom of the android women.
We've got a 4-foot platform there, 5-foot platform there, 2-foot platform.
We have 3 ladders and stairs to get to each platform.
And then they have their sleeping pods.
All right.
I want you to become an editor.
Focus.
The things that you can get done, do them well.
So Okay, and what kind of materials are we talking about? Plexi on the walls.
I wanted to do a total plexiglas room.
Let me tell you who's going to kill you.
Your director of photography is going to kill you because you've got a set that's going to look sparkly and great, but you're gonna have big reflection problems.
These are all bold choices you're making, and that's what this whole challenge is about.
Well, stop talking to us.
Get going for crying out loud.
Yeah, you're busy.
- Hello, Kim.
- Hi.
Nice to see you again.
- Nice to see you again.
- Thank you.
Tell me your concept.
I literally went with the lounge concept.
Playing a lot of curves in this set.
That curvy thing is in the corner.
- This giant bench.
- Is it upholstered? Hopefully it will be upholstered, yeah.
The clock is ticking.
What about the back wall.
We still need to cut out those holes.
I have some styrofoam alien heads with long necks.
So they're going to look into the set.
They will be very surreal and crazy and sexy.
This design element, alien heads, could look, - hmm, not so good.
- Okay.
So I would worry about the aliens.
All right, Kim.
Good luck.
All right, let's start with Kim.
I'm hoping we don't see alien heads, you know, because that would confuse anyone.
Her concept is that they're abstract.
Could that work? No.
Because let me put a little crawl under the screen.
That's the only way you're gonna be able to tell the audience in this amount of time what they mean.
Regarding Carl.
I thought the guy might have a heart attack.
His challenge is time.
Can he solve that reflection problem? Yeah, dulling spray adds sort of a matte finish.
You still get the flash, get the pop, get the color.
There are so many different ways around it.
I don't care if it's my solution, he better have a solution.
Well, we'll find out tomorrow.
- Are you done? - Yes.
Good.
So do we change the alien heads? No, you don't.
Barry wants me to lose the styrofoam heads, but there's no way I'm gonna do this.
It makes the set fun and puts some symbolism in there.
And he's just one of the judges.
So I keep them.
Don't paint any more of these.
On day two I had to completely rearrange my design for Barry.
I cannot take a risk like doing total reflective plexiglas room.
It would be bad.
I can't do it.
Barry wants me to lose the styrofoam heads.
No way.
Well, he's only one judge, and maybe the other two will understand the design choice.
Do we change anything? What do you think? - Nope, you don't.
- Just keep going? Yes.
Barry had a lot to say about my set.
And he was right.
He's totally right.
He said to edit, so I edited.
We had to get rid of the sleeping pods.
I cannot take a risk like doing a total plexiglas room, so I'm going to have to reconsider my concept.
And we're tossing about $1,500 worth of plexi away.
Ok, what are we doing? I'm gonna use the plexi, but I'm gonna use them in strips.
So the walls are still gonna be red, and then strips of red plexiglas will be illuminated from behind.
Which is unfortunate because I didn't want the walls to just be plain.
But has the time to try to make it work.
Just call it a foot from there.
Okay.
We progressed a lot on our set-- getting all the textured walls up.
And now it's time to place our spiral staircase, which is our key element of the design.
Higher.
Can you hold-- Just roll it this side.
Can you go higher? The staircase is a very big part of the design.
And it has to be stable and it has to be very, very safe because the dancers have to be able to dance on it.
Not only that, if it crashes down, it could be the end for us because the set would be destroyed.
Slow, slow, slow.
Yeah, that's it.
More.
Ok.
Perfect.
Thank God the spiral staircase is in.
How much time on these gears, though? They're all done.
They just need to get sanded.
- Oh, okay.
- Can I do it? - Yeah.
I am doing my damnedest to try to tie this set into the robot.
I've taken the gear from her elbow and incorporated it into the set so that the girls have something to hold on to while they're on the platform.
It was a good activity for me, sanding the gears, because it kind of kept me calm.
I need the whole team working 'cause every time I turn around, there's just less time.
I would like you to actually do some metal work.
Can we look at the scrap metal? We are approaching our $15,000 pretty quickly here.
The materials in this set are expensive.
With a limited budget, make sure nothing is wasted.
There was about 4 feet left of the stair unit.
We created a beautiful chandelier, which represents another found object that the androids incorporated into their world.
So the platform's up, finally, and it holds the weight of 3 large jumping men.
Whoop whoop.
It's got to hold the weight of 3 android dancers, right? Robot moves.
My set is making pretty good progress.
All the different textures are finally getting painted.
That looks great.
Stephan is putting the fur on the curved side walls.
And the bench is finally coming together.
It's really beginning to look like a bordello, about as good.
Okay, time's up.
- What? - Yes.
- Already? - Yeah.
Thank you so much.
It's end of day two.
A lot still needs to get done.
Mainly the floor.
Hopefully it'll get done before the shoot tomorrow.
This is our last day.
And it will be down to the wire.
The first thing is to get the chandelier up.
Barry, Tommy, you work on finishing the bench.
Everybody has something to do? - Let's do it.
- All right.
I'm walking into the studio this morning and I'm feeling a little flushed.
I hope we're gonna have enough time to do everything that we're gonna do.
All right, so we gotta finish this floor.
We need to build this other pedestal.
We need to finish the stairs.
We need to finish these windows.
It doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a lot.
- Let's do it.
- Let's do it.
We don't have time.
How high do you want it? - The top of the chandelier, 16.
- Okay.
Oh, my God.
We have so much work to do.
I have to do final touch-ups, and I'm dancing around this lift, and I can't really do anything right now.
It shouldn't take that long, right? That's what they all say.
Fuck, really? This needs to go really, really fast.
We have no time.
Platform.
Platform.
We have 3 platforms.
Are you working on the platform? The lower platform is not done.
Is anyone working on the pedestal right now? No.
Nobody's working on the pedestal right now.
Yikes.
We do not have this platform, we do not win this.
Hey, guys, 3 hours.
Today is a mess.
The floors are halfway done.
And every time I turn around, there's just less time.
Oh, my God, that's not even in yet? Ahh.
The stairs.
Uhh.
The stairs.
All right, so, like, 30 minutes, - I should have all my stairs? - 15.
All I thought he was gonna do is bolt them.
Watch your head.
I see him jamming them in, jamming them out.
What are you doing, dude? I am praying.
I am praying to the set gods.
I don't think we're gonna get it finished.
Uh, all right.
The stairs are really important for the set.
This is my futuristic vision come to life.
And just when I thought the stairs were close to being done They're not.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't know what the fuck he's doing.
Aah! Like, oh, my God.
Ugh.
That's the screw that did it.
That was the good luck screw.
People don't realize what goes into the floating steps.
Because they're floating, they had to be anchored on the back of the set.
And that seemed to fix it.
I'm walking on it.
I don't know how they're sturdy, but they're sturdy.
Don't pull it too high, Stephan.
You can't get out of the set.
No, I didn't.
I didn't.
Oh, sorry.
Wow, we're not even halfway done.
Oh, my God, this isn't good.
The brown paper has to stay on till the last moment because I want it to still be reflective.
You take a reflective surface and you start rubbing things on it, it's gonna scratch the crap out of it.
Peeling takes forever.
How long do you think it's gonna take? We need to speed this up because the floor needs to be painted.
Ok.
I'm trying my hardest, but it doesn't mean I'm going to finish the set on time.
I can't promise.
One hour left.
One hour! No more discussions, let's go.
God, that platform's not even painted.
The platform is not done.
Can you stop sanding and just paint it, please? Am I good? You, stay.
Keep peeling.
30 minutes left.
- Relax.
Done.
- Good job.
Start cleaning the shit.
They have a lot to do still.
5 minutes! Ryan, start grabbing in the small chair stuff.
Just put it on the set for now.
Can we take a nap now? Production designers, your time is up.
Each of you will now have 30 minutes to shoot the scene on your set.
Good luck to both of you.
Quiet on the set.
And roll tape.
Before we shoot the scene, the most important thing is that it really works for the dancers.
I show them what the vision is.
So this is supposed to be the central dance area.
This circular staircase is functional.
I wouldn't probably go all the way to the top of it.
So these were meant to be danced on? I think that's probably the limit.
These are really tall.
A handle would have been great, like right over here, just to help.
But it's very Fluffy and soft.
In case you fall.
And 3, 2, 1.
Ok, hold that.
I don't understand why these dancers are so awkward on my set.
I jumped on those bench about 100 times today and it's fine.
Cut! And a wrap.
There's my ladies.
- This ladder is fully sturdy.
- Okay.
And the gears should be sturdy.
And the stairs are all nice and sturdy.
Ahh! Well, can we fix this? Oh, my God.
I-- looks like-- You can't put your weight on all of these.
This one, too.
Ok.
Stand by.
I am extremely nervous.
Here we go.
If someone falls, I think I might die.
That's a cut.
Well done, ladies.
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, Lilly Kilvert, and Barry Robison.
Your challenge this week was to create a bordello set to accommodate a dance routine for 3 exotic androids.
You were given very specific stage directions that your set had to accommodate.
Interior bordello.
Night.
As the music cues up and the lights dim, Sima and her troupe dance across the floor, then jump up on the furniture, taking over the room with their performance.
Kim, tell us about your set.
My vision for my set was to create a surreal, intergalactic space lounge bordello.
And even androids go there and have fun and dance.
And I tried to incorporate a lot of materials and textures and One of it is fur, and I think you might, like, find this very sexy.
This is my hot set.
Kim, you told us about your set.
Now let's see how you did.
This is my hot set.
Kim, now that you've presented your set to the judges, it's time to see how it plays on screen.
Kim, thank you so much.
Carl, tell us about your set.
My set is for Sima.
Sima's a burlesque dancer, not a showgirl.
Her and her friends dance for a party of one.
It's an intimate space that she can showcase her craft in.
This is my hot set.
Ultimately in production design, it is all about how your work looks on the big screen.
By now we already know the script.
So let's see how you did.
Carl, thank you.
Judges, I'd like to invite you onset for a closer look at the production designer's finished work.
Do you know what the styrofoam heads - look like from out there? - Yeah.
They look a lot like styrofoam heads.
Yeah, exactly.
The thing I like is I like the integrated light.
The uplight.
Yes.
That is a very theatrical event and it looked great.
And I do love the architectural detail.
I think that that's-- it's showing she's really, really thinking.
But one of the things that you see is that it doesn't photograph well.
That's right.
It needed to feel on camera a little more sinister, - a little sexier.
- Yeah.
You know, and something to grab onto so that they have-- the actors-- the dancers can be sexy and do something.
It's not a playground.
There's no playground element here.
We gotta talk about that.
Ok, now I'm ready to dance.
Yeah.
The floor, the way It is the star.
It is the star.
They had that high shot starting.
Absolutely.
It was fantastic.
But what troubled me is the red and the red light and the red wall.
But something was missing and I don't know what it was.
I think it's the lack of detail.
You know, when you look at the floor, that's a movie floor.
This is working.
This is a movie floor.
When you look at these walls, this is not movie walls.
I didn't understand the story that he was telling.
The story doesn't match the set.
Thank you, both.
The judges, I can tell, are champing at the bit.
Let's start with Kim's set.
What's going on on the set for me is it's a texture war.
The combination of all the different textures makes me confused and it makes it hard for one to win out over the other.
When we did the walk-through, without saying "don't use the heads," Barry seemed to indicate "for the love of God, don't use the heads.
" And I'm curious whether-- how you reacted.
Why did you use the heads? I knew that question was coming.
Somehow.
What I really want to express, it's like a surrealist voyeurism.
Um, so this place is so much fun, people want to just watch it.
I like the heads.
I really do.
You'll never convince me.
I don't have to convince you.
I like them.
I commend you enormously for taking so many things on.
And it's dangerous and brave.
Yeah, there are things I really like about it.
The cross-examination of Carl begins now.
I'm going to congratulate you on your editing job.
But your editing job may have gone to the extreme.
The problem I have with your set right now is that it's very flat.
Quite frankly, it's an easy fix.
The things that are missing-- and I think we all agree-- right smack in the middle there, something graphic and large would have lifted up your eye.
When I did the walk-through and you showed me the plexiglas and you were going to put it on the walls, you had an extraordinarily expensive material.
You just threw it away.
You just couldn't come up with the solution of how to make it work.
I wanted to be very detailed with what I knew would be successful.
And so, literally, the situation with the plexi on the wall, I edited a little too much, because I wanted the other elements to be successful.
I do want to say that when I saw the set, I sort of knew what was going to happen from the dancers, and I couldn't wait to see it.
So, I know they're gonna go to those platforms.
I can't wait to see what they're gonna do on those ladders.
And I can't wait to see if those floating steps actually are stable.
So, uh, I'm pleased with the sort of "playground" element of the set.
Thank you both.
The judges will now take a moment to review what they've seen and discuss your sets.
Please rejoin your teammates in the design studio while the judges make their decisions.
All right, judges, two very different sets today, and I think it's very clear you have a lot to say about both of them.
Uh, let's start with Kim's here.
I am confused by it.
I don't know what to make of it.
There's so many different surfaces going on.
Though I love what you did with the theatricality of the wings, and You know, I like the idea of bringing in found objects-- the staircase.
That sort of thought I think was a good impulse.
I-- I agree with you.
- However - However However, it's a futuristic set with a New Orleans staircase.
And the chandelier doesn't work for me.
All the elements are so disparate, they're not holding together.
I think she did some fun stuff, and she was very brave.
I mean, I sort of-- I really kind of love it.
It's wonderful.
I think where she fell down was in the scale of things.
The dancers looked at little bit like they were struggling to get into the interesting part of the set.
Regarding Carl's set The plexiglas issue could have been resolved.
That's a huge expense that has just gone into the trash for no real reason.
I think it looked great on camera from the top shot.
I think he suffers completely from not bringing some of the elements that worked up into the middle of the set.
Once you get out of the top shot, you might as well not have a floor, because from a straight-on angle, you don't see it.
It had to be engineered well enough for the dancers to actually interact with it.
And there was something for them to do.
Which is a big deal with the dance.
It has to be active.
There's a little bit of va va va-voom there.
The red is an obvious choice.
Not my choice, but an obvious choice.
All right, judges, are we ready now to bring the teams in? - Yes, we are.
- Absolutely.
So, judges, who has the hot set? Kim or Carl? So, judges, who has the hot set? Kim or Carl? Carl, your engineering and technique were successful, but it's clear you got a little scared and backed away from some design choices that would have made your set stronger.
Kim, I love your bold choice of surfaces, your whimsy.
Unfortunately, your set looked better in real life than it did on film.
So, Barry, who has the hot set and will leave here tonight with $10,000? The designer of this week's Hot Set is Carl.
Carl, we asked you for a set and you gave us a playground for the dancers.
Job well done.
Thank you.
At the end of the day, it's 3 judges with 3 opinions, and I'm still proud of my design, and I'm also very proud of my team.
I think we did a very good job.
It's not really so much about the money for me.
It's about knowing that this is where I should be.
This is where I belong.
3, 2, 1, make a movie! Two production designers go head to head Did you see it, what they brought in? I wouldn't have it in my house.
In a showdown to build a Hollywood set.
More material right away.
They'll push themselves to the limit in the ultimate challenge of imagination Like a sci-fi musical.
Ro rah roo Perspiration Start cleaning this shit up.
And exasperation.
Don't come here.
Don't come yet.
Tonight's challenge-- to turn these empty sets into a futuristic bordello in just 3 days.
Are you kidding me? Designers will have to come up with a concept If you have the kind of money to spend on 3 girls in a bordello, you got a nice damn room.
Find the props to help tell their story Slow, slow, slow.
And race against the clock to construct a fully functional film set This needs to go really, really fast.
In time to shoot their scene.
I am extremely nervous.
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 And the pressure is on.
Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry.
Yaah! Here on Hot Set.
My name is Kim.
I mostly worked as a theatrical designer and designed about 200 sets.
I do like to try to do things nontraditional and very The reason why I'm here today is to prove that I work great under pressure.
My name's Carl Dove and I'm a set designer.
I normally work in print photography.
I wanted to be on Hot Set because this challenge is gonna hopefully allow me to break through to the other side, which would be a major motion picture.
Hello, production designers.
Welcome to Hot Set.
I'm your host Ben Mankiewicz.
We're in the movie capital of the world, Los Angeles, California, where big budget blockbusters are made.
In fact, "Titanic," "The Aviator," and "Legally Blonde" all filmed scenes right here on this soundstage.
Kim, Carl, 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.
That is, sets that are perfectly dressed, locked, and camera ready.
Now, at the end of 3 days, you'll present your finished sets to our panel of judges, some of Hollywood's top talents in production design.
Curt Beech.
Hi, guys.
Lilly Kilvert.
And Barry Robison.
Hey, guys.
Every great set starts with a script, yours is no exception.
Now let's set the scene.
Interior.
Bordello.
Night.
As the music cues up and the lights dim, Sima and her troupe dance across the floor, then jump up on furniture, taking over the room with their performance.
I have a million things running through my head, and should I go, you know, French, burlesque, and they have to dance around the room That's the scene you'll be creating a set for.
But, there is one more thing.
Behind this curtain is a critical element you'll need to incorporate into your final set.
Kim, Carl, here is your inspiration.
She's silver and she's black, and she's very fetish.
This is awesome.
Production designers, meet Sima.
She is one of 3 androids who will be dancing in the android bordello you create.
Now, the set you're building this week will need to incorporate things like climbable objects, handholds, rails, support beams that our androids can use in their exotic dance routine.
Judges, please let Kim and Carl know what you're going to be looking for in their sets.
One of the challenges with this is that it is an android bordello.
It's not of this world.
But we still have to know what it is and where we are.
At the end of the day, you need to invent an entire world.
- Okay.
- Yes.
Lilly.
There are many things to think about.
The dancers have to be able to move through the set and use the elements that they're given without having them be an obstruction.
These things need to work together perfectly.
This is a fantastic challenge.
The script hasn't told us where in the bordello this takes place.
You get to choose.
- So I really want you to go for it.
- Yes.
When your sets are finished, our panel will walk through your completed hot sets, taking a close look at your work.
And they'll watch a scene filmed on your set.
You'll have 5 minutes now to familiarize yourself with your android inspiration.
Your challenge begins right now.
The futuristic stuff kind of throws me off a little bit.
But I love the bordello aspect.
Designing is all about storytelling for me, and as long as you can tell a story, anything works.
All right, guys, time's up.
Go meet up with your teams in the design studio.
Thanks and good luck.
- Hey.
- Hi, Kim.
- Hi, Kim.
- Hi, guys.
So what is it? It is a robot android bordello.
A bordello? Wow.
My teammates on this project are Irving and Stephan.
I chose Irving to be on my team because he's an architect, and I really appreciate his feedback.
He would always go the extra mile.
He would even go and pick up props.
I chose Stephan because he's a super-fast carpenter.
He really cranks things out.
Hello, hello.
Hi.
Here we go, here we go.
Our character, she's a dancer.
Wow.
It's bordello, futuristic.
She is an android.
The two people that I brought for my team are Betsy and Brian.
Without Betsy, I'd be all over the map.
She's a painter, prop stylist.
And Brian, my set constructor, he's just cool.
You don't want people flying off the handle 'cause there's tools and dangerous things involved.
Barry, tough challenge, certainly.
What are some of your concerns? Hello.
It's a musical.
How does the camera interact with the scenery and the dancers? The one thing that I would caution is restraint.
This is about the actors moving in the space.
Really, let the scenery be the background.
Obviously there are going to be some acrobatics.
The trick is to make it workable, make it usable, so that nobody has to leap too high.
If they don't feel safe in the environment, it's going to change the dance-- - Absolutely.
Yes, absolutely.
- Drastically.
It's a scary one.
It's a very difficult challenge.
If they get it right, it will be spectacular.
In a futuristic bordello, I think that the lounge would be bigger than that space, so I really think we should deal with a room.
So this is the bedroom.
What are you thinking of making the walls? Are you repainting them or Red.
My concept is Bordello, bedroom, futuristic.
What's futuristic material? It's gotta be plexiglas.
Black and white for the floor in a combination pattern, and red for the walls.
Around the set are platform stairs and ladders and a big round latex bed.
The back story is the high-end bordello room for android dancers.
If you think about it, it's 3 girls in a bordello.
If you have the kind of money to spend on 3 girls in a bordello, you got a nice damn room.
That's interesting.
I'm thinking about a really big bench area that's kind of sexy and curved and has a lot of leather elements Very good.
I'd like to also incorporate some plexi.
- Wow.
- And some lighting elements with each dancer.
So they're dancing over light.
They're dancing over light.
My concept is an outer space lounge.
There's a large bench, a spiral staircase, and a cut-out window to the stars.
There's alien heads peeking in and walls that will be textured like planetary landscapes.
- It sounds great.
- Let's do it! This challenge is gonna involve a lot of construction.
I gonna keep my construction crew very, very busy.
It's like a sci-fi musical.
It think it would be probably smart to start with flooring.
- What kind of walls? - Yeah There are two actual walls.
The back wall has a giant opening.
The left side is kind of a layered structure.
So I think everybody knows what to do at this point.
And hopefully a lot of stuff is done when I'm back.
Ok, let's go.
So we have these platforms that you need to build, and they're gonna be all over the set and they're gonna be dancing, and it's kind of like we gotta figure out logistically how that's all gonna work in.
On a print job, this probably would be the amount of time I would normally have.
However, the sets have to be working and functional.
3 days is not really a lot for something like this.
I would love to kind of go really nuts and bolts with you guys.
I have to go to the prop shop.
As you know, everything has to happen real fast.
So basically what we want to start on is we want to start on these walls.
So we gotta start on those.
And then I'd like to start on the flooring, but we don't have the flooring, so I gotta go get it, so I'm leaving Betsy and Brian in charge.
Please take it away.
All right.
Thanks, guys.
- Good luck.
- Let's do this.
So I'm headed to Gavrieli, and they've got plexiglas and lots of it.
Plexiglas creates a really shiny surface on one side.
Do you have this in black? Yeah, that's what I want.
Do you have anything that's blood red? Red and bordello, they're synonymous.
And it's exactly what I need.
And then I turn around and who do I see? Kim.
What is she pulling? I did catch a glance of what she was pulling.
It's a different plexi.
Thank you.
I'm also interested in buying some plexiglas.
I'm gonna take one of those.
So I find this really great plexiglas, and it's textured, and I know exactly what I want to do with it on the back wall of the set.
And the pink one is your copy.
Ok, thanks.
Thank you.
So what's going on? - You want to take a look? - Yes, yes, yes.
- Let's take a look.
- Let's take a look.
- It's pretty high.
- Whoo.
I see they get the entire back wall up.
That looks great.
I'm very pleased about the progress on our set.
The bed that we initially talked about putting into the design was a round bed.
I called the prop house.
It was too big.
So it was not gonna work for us.
Hi.
This is what I got.
I had them cut us 6-inch strips of white and black for the floor.
Red plexi for the walls.
- Listen, I called-- - We got-- - Listen, I called about a bed.
- Yeah.
The latex bed is too big for our set.
What do you mean? Come on, let's take a look.
I need to just sit with this for a minute.
Let it digest.
It's not gonna work out.
And I have to figure out what the heck to do with my set.
Coming up I see them jamming them in, jamming them out.
No more discussions.
Let's go.
Slow, slow, slow.
And the judges await.
It's a texture war.
Unfortunately, one of the big pieces that I really wanted to sell the set with was the latex bed.
The bed is easy for the girls to dance on.
That's really important.
It's not gonna work out.
And I have to figure out what the heck to do with the rest of my set.
So Irving finds this spiral staircase online.
This is representing an item from the past the androids found an incorporated into their world.
And also it is a functional element 'cause I want the dancers to have several elevations and railings and places to climb up to.
- How much is it? - It's gonna be 2,000.
Do you have the dimensions of this? 6 feet and he says it's like 14 feet.
14 to the upper stair or 14 to the upper railing? - Do we know? - From top to bottom.
Not to the step.
Normally I would go and take a look at this myself, but we just don't have any time, and I just have to trust what I see online.
- Want to go for it? - Yeah, I like it.
Is this a bedroom, or what is this? Like, I can't-- - This is you.
- I'm having trouble now figuring out what this room is.
So I created a bedroom for Sima.
However, the bed is too big for the set.
What am I supposed to do now? Cut this out and then we'll Ok, that's it for today.
- We're done, buddy.
- Okay.
You all did really great work.
Tomorrow we make the magic happen.
We have a lot of big things done, and I feel very confident.
All right.
Come on, guys.
We're done.
That's it.
That's a wrap.
All right, thank you.
It's the end of day one.
Nothing's done.
The set looks like shit.
So there's gonna be a lot of thinking tonight.
Here we are again, folks.
It's day two.
And after yesterday, nobody knows what's going on.
I didn't sleep much, if at all.
But I know exactly what I want out of this set.
It's their sanctuary, but they also take clients and do dance routines.
I would love to have more time, but I don't, so I mean business today.
We've added some stuff, but I think we're still gonna be okay.
The size of a round latex bed would have been way too big for what we've got going on right now, so we're going to try these sleep pods.
Any kind of futuristic movie always has some area that a robot will go to recharge.
We're creating built-in robot beds.
Gonna put them in the walls.
Ok, well, we have these gears that we're making.
It's the handhelds.
We need 12 of these.
We're gonna have the crew working on the platforms.
Changes are great, but I'm gonna have to kind of draw the line at some point.
This set has got to get done.
All right, well, let's do this.
It's day two and we still have to cut out the back wall and apply texture to the surfaces.
The story behind my bordello is that the android dancers hang out there to have fun and present their talents to the guests.
Your first task is to take care of the side walls and get the foam and some styrofoam.
- Great, I'll take care of it.
- Okay.
We're going to be building 3 in-set beds-- 1, 2, 3-- at the top.
We're doing ladders.
You're gonna do 3 ladders for us, right? Okay, but I've only got one.
You only got one, so we need to order more material right away.
Carl took the reigns.
I think he was definitely feeling more confident.
The staircase arrived.
Let's take a look.
Wow.
The staircase was bigger than we were thinking.
Instead of 16 feet, all the sudden we had 20 feet.
She was not happy.
The staircase is way too tall.
We have to cut it down.
We have dancers later dancing on it, so it has to be supportive.
I'm a little scared.
So Ben and Barry show up for a surprise visit.
Of course I'm not ready.
Hey, guys, you remember Barry, obviously from yesterday.
We're going to just take a look at your progress, see where you're headed.
We're gonna start over here with Carl.
How's it going, Carl? Uh, stressed.
That was a meek stressed, too.
That was a stressed.
Stressed.
First of all, give me your concept.
My concept is it's the bedroom of the android women.
We've got a 4-foot platform there, 5-foot platform there, 2-foot platform.
We have 3 ladders and stairs to get to each platform.
And then they have their sleeping pods.
All right.
I want you to become an editor.
Focus.
The things that you can get done, do them well.
So Okay, and what kind of materials are we talking about? Plexi on the walls.
I wanted to do a total plexiglas room.
Let me tell you who's going to kill you.
Your director of photography is going to kill you because you've got a set that's going to look sparkly and great, but you're gonna have big reflection problems.
These are all bold choices you're making, and that's what this whole challenge is about.
Well, stop talking to us.
Get going for crying out loud.
Yeah, you're busy.
- Hello, Kim.
- Hi.
Nice to see you again.
- Nice to see you again.
- Thank you.
Tell me your concept.
I literally went with the lounge concept.
Playing a lot of curves in this set.
That curvy thing is in the corner.
- This giant bench.
- Is it upholstered? Hopefully it will be upholstered, yeah.
The clock is ticking.
What about the back wall.
We still need to cut out those holes.
I have some styrofoam alien heads with long necks.
So they're going to look into the set.
They will be very surreal and crazy and sexy.
This design element, alien heads, could look, - hmm, not so good.
- Okay.
So I would worry about the aliens.
All right, Kim.
Good luck.
All right, let's start with Kim.
I'm hoping we don't see alien heads, you know, because that would confuse anyone.
Her concept is that they're abstract.
Could that work? No.
Because let me put a little crawl under the screen.
That's the only way you're gonna be able to tell the audience in this amount of time what they mean.
Regarding Carl.
I thought the guy might have a heart attack.
His challenge is time.
Can he solve that reflection problem? Yeah, dulling spray adds sort of a matte finish.
You still get the flash, get the pop, get the color.
There are so many different ways around it.
I don't care if it's my solution, he better have a solution.
Well, we'll find out tomorrow.
- Are you done? - Yes.
Good.
So do we change the alien heads? No, you don't.
Barry wants me to lose the styrofoam heads, but there's no way I'm gonna do this.
It makes the set fun and puts some symbolism in there.
And he's just one of the judges.
So I keep them.
Don't paint any more of these.
On day two I had to completely rearrange my design for Barry.
I cannot take a risk like doing total reflective plexiglas room.
It would be bad.
I can't do it.
Barry wants me to lose the styrofoam heads.
No way.
Well, he's only one judge, and maybe the other two will understand the design choice.
Do we change anything? What do you think? - Nope, you don't.
- Just keep going? Yes.
Barry had a lot to say about my set.
And he was right.
He's totally right.
He said to edit, so I edited.
We had to get rid of the sleeping pods.
I cannot take a risk like doing a total plexiglas room, so I'm going to have to reconsider my concept.
And we're tossing about $1,500 worth of plexi away.
Ok, what are we doing? I'm gonna use the plexi, but I'm gonna use them in strips.
So the walls are still gonna be red, and then strips of red plexiglas will be illuminated from behind.
Which is unfortunate because I didn't want the walls to just be plain.
But has the time to try to make it work.
Just call it a foot from there.
Okay.
We progressed a lot on our set-- getting all the textured walls up.
And now it's time to place our spiral staircase, which is our key element of the design.
Higher.
Can you hold-- Just roll it this side.
Can you go higher? The staircase is a very big part of the design.
And it has to be stable and it has to be very, very safe because the dancers have to be able to dance on it.
Not only that, if it crashes down, it could be the end for us because the set would be destroyed.
Slow, slow, slow.
Yeah, that's it.
More.
Ok.
Perfect.
Thank God the spiral staircase is in.
How much time on these gears, though? They're all done.
They just need to get sanded.
- Oh, okay.
- Can I do it? - Yeah.
I am doing my damnedest to try to tie this set into the robot.
I've taken the gear from her elbow and incorporated it into the set so that the girls have something to hold on to while they're on the platform.
It was a good activity for me, sanding the gears, because it kind of kept me calm.
I need the whole team working 'cause every time I turn around, there's just less time.
I would like you to actually do some metal work.
Can we look at the scrap metal? We are approaching our $15,000 pretty quickly here.
The materials in this set are expensive.
With a limited budget, make sure nothing is wasted.
There was about 4 feet left of the stair unit.
We created a beautiful chandelier, which represents another found object that the androids incorporated into their world.
So the platform's up, finally, and it holds the weight of 3 large jumping men.
Whoop whoop.
It's got to hold the weight of 3 android dancers, right? Robot moves.
My set is making pretty good progress.
All the different textures are finally getting painted.
That looks great.
Stephan is putting the fur on the curved side walls.
And the bench is finally coming together.
It's really beginning to look like a bordello, about as good.
Okay, time's up.
- What? - Yes.
- Already? - Yeah.
Thank you so much.
It's end of day two.
A lot still needs to get done.
Mainly the floor.
Hopefully it'll get done before the shoot tomorrow.
This is our last day.
And it will be down to the wire.
The first thing is to get the chandelier up.
Barry, Tommy, you work on finishing the bench.
Everybody has something to do? - Let's do it.
- All right.
I'm walking into the studio this morning and I'm feeling a little flushed.
I hope we're gonna have enough time to do everything that we're gonna do.
All right, so we gotta finish this floor.
We need to build this other pedestal.
We need to finish the stairs.
We need to finish these windows.
It doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a lot.
- Let's do it.
- Let's do it.
We don't have time.
How high do you want it? - The top of the chandelier, 16.
- Okay.
Oh, my God.
We have so much work to do.
I have to do final touch-ups, and I'm dancing around this lift, and I can't really do anything right now.
It shouldn't take that long, right? That's what they all say.
Fuck, really? This needs to go really, really fast.
We have no time.
Platform.
Platform.
We have 3 platforms.
Are you working on the platform? The lower platform is not done.
Is anyone working on the pedestal right now? No.
Nobody's working on the pedestal right now.
Yikes.
We do not have this platform, we do not win this.
Hey, guys, 3 hours.
Today is a mess.
The floors are halfway done.
And every time I turn around, there's just less time.
Oh, my God, that's not even in yet? Ahh.
The stairs.
Uhh.
The stairs.
All right, so, like, 30 minutes, - I should have all my stairs? - 15.
All I thought he was gonna do is bolt them.
Watch your head.
I see him jamming them in, jamming them out.
What are you doing, dude? I am praying.
I am praying to the set gods.
I don't think we're gonna get it finished.
Uh, all right.
The stairs are really important for the set.
This is my futuristic vision come to life.
And just when I thought the stairs were close to being done They're not.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't know what the fuck he's doing.
Aah! Like, oh, my God.
Ugh.
That's the screw that did it.
That was the good luck screw.
People don't realize what goes into the floating steps.
Because they're floating, they had to be anchored on the back of the set.
And that seemed to fix it.
I'm walking on it.
I don't know how they're sturdy, but they're sturdy.
Don't pull it too high, Stephan.
You can't get out of the set.
No, I didn't.
I didn't.
Oh, sorry.
Wow, we're not even halfway done.
Oh, my God, this isn't good.
The brown paper has to stay on till the last moment because I want it to still be reflective.
You take a reflective surface and you start rubbing things on it, it's gonna scratch the crap out of it.
Peeling takes forever.
How long do you think it's gonna take? We need to speed this up because the floor needs to be painted.
Ok.
I'm trying my hardest, but it doesn't mean I'm going to finish the set on time.
I can't promise.
One hour left.
One hour! No more discussions, let's go.
God, that platform's not even painted.
The platform is not done.
Can you stop sanding and just paint it, please? Am I good? You, stay.
Keep peeling.
30 minutes left.
- Relax.
Done.
- Good job.
Start cleaning the shit.
They have a lot to do still.
5 minutes! Ryan, start grabbing in the small chair stuff.
Just put it on the set for now.
Can we take a nap now? Production designers, your time is up.
Each of you will now have 30 minutes to shoot the scene on your set.
Good luck to both of you.
Quiet on the set.
And roll tape.
Before we shoot the scene, the most important thing is that it really works for the dancers.
I show them what the vision is.
So this is supposed to be the central dance area.
This circular staircase is functional.
I wouldn't probably go all the way to the top of it.
So these were meant to be danced on? I think that's probably the limit.
These are really tall.
A handle would have been great, like right over here, just to help.
But it's very Fluffy and soft.
In case you fall.
And 3, 2, 1.
Ok, hold that.
I don't understand why these dancers are so awkward on my set.
I jumped on those bench about 100 times today and it's fine.
Cut! And a wrap.
There's my ladies.
- This ladder is fully sturdy.
- Okay.
And the gears should be sturdy.
And the stairs are all nice and sturdy.
Ahh! Well, can we fix this? Oh, my God.
I-- looks like-- You can't put your weight on all of these.
This one, too.
Ok.
Stand by.
I am extremely nervous.
Here we go.
If someone falls, I think I might die.
That's a cut.
Well done, ladies.
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, Lilly Kilvert, and Barry Robison.
Your challenge this week was to create a bordello set to accommodate a dance routine for 3 exotic androids.
You were given very specific stage directions that your set had to accommodate.
Interior bordello.
Night.
As the music cues up and the lights dim, Sima and her troupe dance across the floor, then jump up on the furniture, taking over the room with their performance.
Kim, tell us about your set.
My vision for my set was to create a surreal, intergalactic space lounge bordello.
And even androids go there and have fun and dance.
And I tried to incorporate a lot of materials and textures and One of it is fur, and I think you might, like, find this very sexy.
This is my hot set.
Kim, you told us about your set.
Now let's see how you did.
This is my hot set.
Kim, now that you've presented your set to the judges, it's time to see how it plays on screen.
Kim, thank you so much.
Carl, tell us about your set.
My set is for Sima.
Sima's a burlesque dancer, not a showgirl.
Her and her friends dance for a party of one.
It's an intimate space that she can showcase her craft in.
This is my hot set.
Ultimately in production design, it is all about how your work looks on the big screen.
By now we already know the script.
So let's see how you did.
Carl, thank you.
Judges, I'd like to invite you onset for a closer look at the production designer's finished work.
Do you know what the styrofoam heads - look like from out there? - Yeah.
They look a lot like styrofoam heads.
Yeah, exactly.
The thing I like is I like the integrated light.
The uplight.
Yes.
That is a very theatrical event and it looked great.
And I do love the architectural detail.
I think that that's-- it's showing she's really, really thinking.
But one of the things that you see is that it doesn't photograph well.
That's right.
It needed to feel on camera a little more sinister, - a little sexier.
- Yeah.
You know, and something to grab onto so that they have-- the actors-- the dancers can be sexy and do something.
It's not a playground.
There's no playground element here.
We gotta talk about that.
Ok, now I'm ready to dance.
Yeah.
The floor, the way It is the star.
It is the star.
They had that high shot starting.
Absolutely.
It was fantastic.
But what troubled me is the red and the red light and the red wall.
But something was missing and I don't know what it was.
I think it's the lack of detail.
You know, when you look at the floor, that's a movie floor.
This is working.
This is a movie floor.
When you look at these walls, this is not movie walls.
I didn't understand the story that he was telling.
The story doesn't match the set.
Thank you, both.
The judges, I can tell, are champing at the bit.
Let's start with Kim's set.
What's going on on the set for me is it's a texture war.
The combination of all the different textures makes me confused and it makes it hard for one to win out over the other.
When we did the walk-through, without saying "don't use the heads," Barry seemed to indicate "for the love of God, don't use the heads.
" And I'm curious whether-- how you reacted.
Why did you use the heads? I knew that question was coming.
Somehow.
What I really want to express, it's like a surrealist voyeurism.
Um, so this place is so much fun, people want to just watch it.
I like the heads.
I really do.
You'll never convince me.
I don't have to convince you.
I like them.
I commend you enormously for taking so many things on.
And it's dangerous and brave.
Yeah, there are things I really like about it.
The cross-examination of Carl begins now.
I'm going to congratulate you on your editing job.
But your editing job may have gone to the extreme.
The problem I have with your set right now is that it's very flat.
Quite frankly, it's an easy fix.
The things that are missing-- and I think we all agree-- right smack in the middle there, something graphic and large would have lifted up your eye.
When I did the walk-through and you showed me the plexiglas and you were going to put it on the walls, you had an extraordinarily expensive material.
You just threw it away.
You just couldn't come up with the solution of how to make it work.
I wanted to be very detailed with what I knew would be successful.
And so, literally, the situation with the plexi on the wall, I edited a little too much, because I wanted the other elements to be successful.
I do want to say that when I saw the set, I sort of knew what was going to happen from the dancers, and I couldn't wait to see it.
So, I know they're gonna go to those platforms.
I can't wait to see what they're gonna do on those ladders.
And I can't wait to see if those floating steps actually are stable.
So, uh, I'm pleased with the sort of "playground" element of the set.
Thank you both.
The judges will now take a moment to review what they've seen and discuss your sets.
Please rejoin your teammates in the design studio while the judges make their decisions.
All right, judges, two very different sets today, and I think it's very clear you have a lot to say about both of them.
Uh, let's start with Kim's here.
I am confused by it.
I don't know what to make of it.
There's so many different surfaces going on.
Though I love what you did with the theatricality of the wings, and You know, I like the idea of bringing in found objects-- the staircase.
That sort of thought I think was a good impulse.
I-- I agree with you.
- However - However However, it's a futuristic set with a New Orleans staircase.
And the chandelier doesn't work for me.
All the elements are so disparate, they're not holding together.
I think she did some fun stuff, and she was very brave.
I mean, I sort of-- I really kind of love it.
It's wonderful.
I think where she fell down was in the scale of things.
The dancers looked at little bit like they were struggling to get into the interesting part of the set.
Regarding Carl's set The plexiglas issue could have been resolved.
That's a huge expense that has just gone into the trash for no real reason.
I think it looked great on camera from the top shot.
I think he suffers completely from not bringing some of the elements that worked up into the middle of the set.
Once you get out of the top shot, you might as well not have a floor, because from a straight-on angle, you don't see it.
It had to be engineered well enough for the dancers to actually interact with it.
And there was something for them to do.
Which is a big deal with the dance.
It has to be active.
There's a little bit of va va va-voom there.
The red is an obvious choice.
Not my choice, but an obvious choice.
All right, judges, are we ready now to bring the teams in? - Yes, we are.
- Absolutely.
So, judges, who has the hot set? Kim or Carl? So, judges, who has the hot set? Kim or Carl? Carl, your engineering and technique were successful, but it's clear you got a little scared and backed away from some design choices that would have made your set stronger.
Kim, I love your bold choice of surfaces, your whimsy.
Unfortunately, your set looked better in real life than it did on film.
So, Barry, who has the hot set and will leave here tonight with $10,000? The designer of this week's Hot Set is Carl.
Carl, we asked you for a set and you gave us a playground for the dancers.
Job well done.
Thank you.
At the end of the day, it's 3 judges with 3 opinions, and I'm still proud of my design, and I'm also very proud of my team.
I think we did a very good job.
It's not really so much about the money for me.
It's about knowing that this is where I should be.
This is where I belong.