Creating the Creator
Every few years, Andre LeBlanc writes a beguiling script and begins to draw together the crew who will make it into a reality. Along with James Miller, his multi-talented, long-time collaborator and friend, they guide it into being. This time it was “Creator.” A supercomputer named Carl, designed to flag violent content online, begins to generate its own, with its users as subjects. Some grisly scenes ensue.
Legendary actor Lenny Von Dohlen, yes, that one, from Twin Peaks, plays Doctor Cooper, just one of the creators of the computer. His building paranoia surrounding the capabilities of Carl, leads him to construct a Faraday cage within his study.
Cooper’s study is the one and only location for the film. We decided on a 24’ by 24’ room, with the 20’ by 20’ cage built just inside it. Every side of the set needed to be a ‘fly-away wall’, completely being removed at one point or another to allow camera access to all available angles.
Construction was led by the most knowledgeable person I have had the pleasure of knowing and learning the secrets of the art department from, Dayne Oshiro. We had several design meetings - our most productive at a favorite Burbank Indian restaurant, where the paper covered tables were fully made use of!
We were shooting in black and white, which afforded us unique opportunities to use alternate materials and focus on texture and tone. We discussed lumber frames with chicken wire and metal fencing, but the dimensions made the panels too heavy and the materials too costly. The weight of the structure was of utmost importance. Once set walls and cage sections were removed for camera access, the remaining walls had to support the weight of the ceiling.
Cue the high-visibility orange plastic safety fencing - lightweight and structurally resonant of caging, the intensity of the colour would read on camera as a light-value grey, much as metal might have.
My lovely crew and I began the build day by painting the set walls a deep, velvety green. Of course it wouldn’t appear green on camera, but it was rich in tone, more interesting than simply painting them black, and then came the layers. We lined the walls with bookcases, and bits of furniture as if they had been frantically pushed aside to accommodate the cage, with only the necessary elements making it inside: a large metal desk, a noticeboard laden with notes, a file cabinet dragged in hastily with a lamp set on top.
The layering became my most goosebump-inducing result of the set. I loved the slice of space outside the cage. I placed a single white orchid on a table, beautifully lit, and for me it created a tiny, pocketed visual moment - a symbol of purity. It was the only item of beauty without purpose or function on the entire set.
The story is chilling. Andre is always a few steps ahead of the rest of us. His future-gazing is now our everyday reality, and I love being part of his vision and working alongside such talented and committed crews in the process.