It’s time for another Links & Stuff post! I hope April was a lovely and productive month for you. It was for me. Getting this website back up and running has been both a trying experience but also a return to my best self. I’m my best self when I’m contributing to society and this website is part of my contribution. I’m so happy to be back at it and I hope you enjoy the new look and feel. From now on, at the end of every month I’ll publish a Links & Stuff post along with any updates I may feel like sharing about my own life.
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Photo of the Month
Almost Adults, a film I production designed a while back is now on Netflix and I was really happy when it made the ‘Popular on Netflix’ section. It’s a low budget indie film so I didn’t expect it to do as well as it has. It garnered over 2 million views on the official trailer already. Check it out if you get a chance.
Links of the Month
- If you’re a fan of Finnish design house, Marimekko, you’ll love this article about Marimekko’s pattern of progressive design which reminisces about their past and discovers how they’re moving forward.
- In case you missed it after the big Oscars mix-up, I really loved this article laying out why typography and graphic design are so important.
- This great interview with production designer François Audouy in Architectural Digest lays out how the set of Logan is unlike any other superhero movie.
- After 6 seasons of my favourite show, the fantastically frustrating Girls, I shed many tears as they said goodbye on April 16th. The scene with almost no dialogue in the diner with Hannah and Adam broke my heart in all the right places. There has been a lot of great commentary about the finale of Girls, my favourite of which has come from Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker who lays out the finale and why Girls was great even with its imperfections, or often because of them. Emily’s take on arguably the best episode of television this year, “American Bitch”, in a separate New Yorker article is also a good read. I will leave a trigger warning here as the episode and the article involve sexual harassment.
- It was out with Girls on HBO and in with Girlboss on Netflix this month. Girlboss, loosely based on the autobiographical book by Sophia Amoruso is similar to Girls in that we start out with a young female character who we aren’t keen to like very much at first glance but she has so much potential and drive that you keep watching. I really loved it but I love a good female anti-hero. By the end of the first season we can start to see that this world is going to flip her on her ass as she tries to grow her business but she’ll get back up and she’ll learn and she’ll grow. This article in Bustle discusses whether or not we should like Sophia and whether the creators care if we like her. This article in Entertainment Weekly about the superb, believable, and eye-catching costume design by Audrey Fisher on Girlboss is also worth a read.
- During an extensive search for articles about great production design, I stumbled upon one of the best articles I’ve ever found online about what production designers do. In 1984, The New York Times published this article entitled, “Just What Production Designers Do” and most of it still applies today, some of it more now than ever. It’s a must read.
- Speaking of great production design, I have now seen Beauty and the Beast three times and I am so impressed with director Bill Condon and production designer Sarah Greenwood’s work on the film. I was fully prepared to be disappointed but it exceeded my wildest expectations by staying somewhat faithful to the original animated film but also holding true to a historical period grounded in reality. To read more about the film’s stunning sets check out this article from The Hollywood Reporter and this one from Entertainment Weekly. Also this article from Quartz gives great insight into the visual effects process on Beauty and the Beast.
- Take a tour of the abandoned Atlantic City sites that inspired the Monopoly game board. This article from Atlas Obscura gives you a full history of how Monopoly was created and what happened to these famous streets since which I found endlessly fascinating.
- Have you seen The Handmaid’s Tale yet? It’s amazing. Enough said. Check out this article with Handmaid’s Tale production designer, Julie Berghoff as she discusses designing the dystopian world. “It has to feel real, like it could happen to you.”
Video of the Month
I found this fantastic website this month, Art on Screen, with photos of how art is used on screen which also linked to this video which shows how much Pedro Almodovar is inspired by paintings in his filmmaking.
Alright folks, that’s all I’ve got for you. Which articles and links did you love this month? I would love to know in the comments below.
Rose Lagacé | @artdepartmental
You can find previous Links & Stuff posts here.
