Has anyone else noticed that Colony has a new look? They're filming on a new lot now, which gives them much more room, and there's also Colony's new production designer, and she's had a definite impact.
I first came across production designer Maria Caso from editing on the Fear the Walking Dead Wiki, but she's worked on a few things we've probably all seen. She's got a unique eye, her sets are incredibly detail rich and she's brought that with her to Colony, just look at this picture from the second episode of Season 2 - "Somewhere Out There".
colony.wikia.com/wiki/File:Colony_s2_episode2_gallery_21_1920x1080.jpg
Solomon, in his evil lair, surrounded by all his stuff. Solomon's a War Lord who uses street kids (including Charlie Bowman, which is how he comes to our attention) to make a living.
The set doesn't just look great, and it really does look great, it's packed full of things that aren't mentioned in the script but just "look right". Take note of the pile of jewelry on the table under the lamp and the very battered set of drawers next the sofa. Behind him there are camping gas canisters, tins of food, old electronics. They look ''so'' right they're almost invisible, they don't catch the eye, they just tell us - the viewers - that we're looking at a real place. The details added bring their own stories with them (the jewelry that's waiting to be sold, for instance), and create a feeling of place and time. Here's a quote from Dave Erickson, showrunner on FearTWD.
"It actually looks like things have been touched, and worn, and lived in for years. We'll be going through the set and she'll say: "There should be a hole in the wall. When the character was a teenager, one night he got really mad at his mom and just hit it." There's no reference in the script, but it's just a thing your eye catches and you just know it to be true. The actors know too ... they don't have to pretend."
Dave Erickson, on Maria Caso
A last picture, with the same attention to detail and little touches tha enrich the story. This one's from the first episode of [[Season 2]], "[[Eleven.Thirteen]]". It's of [[Eric Broussard]] and his mother, looking in at them through the door of her room.
colony.wikia.com/wiki/File:Colony_s2_episode1_gallery_03.jpg
Every time you see a set that, without distracting you from the story, looks as if someone's lived there for forty years - think "Maria Caso".
