One of the pleasures of awards season is when it shines a light on new talents. In the case of “The Favourite” we knew of director Yorgos Lanthimos, legendary costume designer Sandy Powell and even long respected cinematographer Robbie Ryan. Fiona Crombie? Well, she’s now made her mark on the global film stage with her first Oscar nomination for Production Design.
READ MORE: “Black Panther,” “The Favourite” lead 2019 ADG Awards winners
Crombie has actually had a banner few months. Along with set decorator Alice Fenton she took the Production Design honor at the BAFTAs and won the Period Film category from her peers at the Art Directors Guild Awards. The “Top of the Lake” production designer and longtime Justin Kurzel collaborator jumped on the phone last month to discuss her work on Lantimos’ celebrated period piece.
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The Playlist: How did this project come your way?
Fiona Crumble: I actually met Yorgos in 2012. We were just sort of put together by some contacts, and they thought we might hit it off. So, we had a coffee and had a chat, then we had a laugh. In 2015 I was sent the script and it didn’t have a title. And, it didn’t have a writer. It just said, “Untitled Yorgos Lanthimos project.” I thought, “Oh, lucky me.” So, then, I had a read, and that was that. I put together a kitsch. I had to tap dance for the job and it worked, so yeah.
In terms of your field, what about working with Yorgos is unique, compared to the other directors you’ve collaborated with? What is important to him?
What was really interesting was he’s extremely clear about his priorities. The things that would impact him. For him, it’s very important, I think he knew very clearly what he was going to aim for, in terms of cinematography and in terms of movement. You know, there’s a real fluidity to the camera moves, and there’s a lot of walking shots, girls are swinging around. Yorgos was very clear that he wanted to have space within the room. I think that was one of the reasons why we clicked. That was what I had presented to him in my initial impulse when I presented imagery. The thing that I do think is quite unique about Yorgos is that he is incredibly trusting. He’d come in and he’d show me a clip of inspiration for the dance sequence. Or, this is the inspiration for Masham [Joe Alwyn] and Abigail [Emma Stone] in the forest. He was always sharing what he was thinking. But, in terms of what I was doing, he was unbelievably hands-off. He basically hires people and lets them go. That was a different experience because I’m used to sort explaining myself more. Whereas he was like, “Good. Sounds good.”
Was it important that the look be historically accurate?
When I first read the script, I knew immediately that this was a playful film. That there was freedom within it. Before I even researched what was accurate and what wasn’t accurate, in the script, I could tell by just the phrasing and the way that the language was constructed. I keep using this as an example, but a clear example is the birthday cake. Birthday cakes didn’t exist in that period. Wheelchairs didn’t exist in that period. There are just countless things. Loads of things, details in the script that are really important to the story that we invented. That we had to invent, because they actually didn’t exist. But they’re so important in the story! So, what we did was, we made an agreement across the board. With hair and makeup, with costume. With just agreed that we would always know exactly what it should have been, and then we would make informed choices about where to leave it. For example, we built our carriages. And, they’re absolutely accurate in shape, but the shape is great, so it felt right. We didn’t embellish. They’re very ornate, but they’re exactly the period shape. We did things like that. The furniture is pretty accurate, as well, but when I look at the referencing for that, I looked at a lot of architectural illustrations. They did a lot of interior illustrations from that time. And, they were really quite there. It was absolutely right not to have any rugs on the floor. I loved that we could have this kind of cognitive sheen, and sound of footprints. There wasn’t anything soft on the floor. There are things that are absolutely right for us. The sense of scale, the enormous bed, with the tiny, delicate little chairs and things. They’re absolutely right. But, they’re also kind of playful and fun and sit within the language of the film.
The other really interesting thing is the film’s color scheme, including the costumes, is pretty black and white. Was that Yorgos ‘ direction? Was that something you guys all came up to together?
Yeah, so what happened was that Yorgos and Sandy [Powell] had come to the decision of that. The black and white costumes. Then, it sort of, put me in an interesting position, because we knew that we would be using a combination of built sets and location. So, when I went into the locations I realized that there was a lot of this wood. Dark wood. I felt it was really important to be quite contained with my palette, as well. If I put colors and stuff, you know, really mix it up, I think it would have really clashed with what was happening with Sandy. So, all the fabrics, all the drapes, and the furniture coverings, it’s all gold. It’s only gold. They’re all different. There’s different patterns and there’s different textures. I had a very controlled palette, as well. But, it’s completely opposite what was happening with Sandy’s costumes. We had pops of color coming from food, or there’s some beautiful blue and white china. There’s flowers for days. We kept our palette really controlled, as well, to complement what was happening.
Are there sets in the film that people might think are real locations that are actually constructed? For example, the queen’s bedroom. Is that a real set?
No, the bedroom is a location. What we did with each of those locations was we built elements. We build wall panels, we covered with tapestry sections, because otherwise just couldn’t tell a story. It’s the same with Sarah’s bedroom [Sarah is played by Rachel Weisz]. We built walls within that space. Obviously, we built the secret corridor. We built Abigail’s bedroom. We built that within the house so that it could be continuous. You could walk and you could open a door, and there it was. That was sitting in this massive room. We built these tiny little sets, at the bottom of the stairs. We did things like that. I was saying the other day to somebody, the intention was to never know where I begin and where I end and where the house begins and where the house ends, in itself. The way that we lifted so many architectural details. There was this wonderful wood paneling, and I just replicated that for the corridor. I mean, the restrictions, in terms of construction, they’re incredibly supportive, but you can’t screw anything, you can’t paint it. Where your ducts go is very important. We had people patrolling us the entire time, making sure that we were keeping little air gaps between things, you know. I mean that’s not even including the whole story of wax on the floor [from the candles lighting each scene].
Is there one element or refurbishing of a room or a set in particular that you’re most proud of?
There’s a few, actually. I love the queen’s room for the fact that I think it shows an arc. You know, that room has character. It can be a total mess with things all over the floor and there’s rabbits hopping everywhere. Them the next thing you know it’s this immaculate space with a beautifully made bed. I think it has a nice texture, in terms of the narrative, that room. I loved Abigail’s room for the fact that it’s a play on scale. Something we really enjoyed, having really amazing, high ceiling spaces, and then coming into her space, which is like a tiny, little doll’s room. That was really enjoyable, to create that little space. Also, the spa. We shot it in a location that’s a Victorian kitchen and we turned it into the spa. We did all the marbling, building, all that sort of stuff. By that stage it was really tough with our money, we were, essentially a low budget film. So, we were really strict. I’m really pleased with how that looked, because for a while there we didn’t think we were going to get that one to actually happen for us.
Can you talk about all of the candle holders used in the film? There must have been…hundreds?
It was kind of a practical thing because we used no light in the film. We literally were lighting the film with our candles. They were, obviously very considered, in terms of what we chose to use. But, we also were putting all the candles there because we were actually lighting. There was a decision made between Robby Ryan and Yorgos that they didn’t want to use any artificial light. It’s all candle lit. I actually got an order, and now, of course, I can’t remember, but it was some insane amount of candles. We had two full-time candle people who just were responsible for replacing, replacing, replacing. I can’t remember what it was, I should have written it down. It was like, thousands of candles. The trick, for me, again, was how you then, make it compositional and make it look beautiful. That was the trick and looking at different heights of candles, because we really struggled initially, with that. Particularly with the big dance scene, because there’s no hanging plates at all in that hall. All of the lightings had to be side lit, which meant we had to bring all of these enormous candle stands [and] huge candelabras into the space. More than we probably would have liked. But, as I say, we were literally lighting the film, so we had to compromise.
I know that you just finished “The King” and you also had “Mary Magdalene” come out this past year. Are you dying to make something contemporary again? Or, are period pieces more fun for you?
You know what, I would love to worry about what the keys are. [Laughs.] Twirling this keyring, all around. Like, “Oh, you’ve got a car. What’s that character?” When I was making “The King,” I said, “I just miss, what’s the stuff under the bed? You know, with my early work, “The Snowtown Murders” and the “Top of the Lake,” I really love character and I love detailing. That’s always been where my heart lay. You can do that to a certain extent, but say for example, “Mary Magdalene.” People just didn’t have anything. No electronics, you know. She didn’t even have a sideboard. They had nothing. So, it was a whole other way of approaching. I feel really fortunate to have been exploring the periods that I’ve explored because I’ve been allowed to be quite expressive and poetic and play with each of those periods. But, I would love to do something contemporary. I wanna change it up. I want to be a shapeshifter.
“The Favourite” is still playing nationwide.
