Art Department :: Creativity

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Had the great pleasure to meet Eliose recently. She's what's now known as a "Camera Scenic", which means she's responsible to make what's in front of the camera look right. For example, if there's something distractingly shiny in the frame, she'll dull it down with butcher's wax. If the construction grips remove a wall and put it back and there's a bit of damage to the paint job, she'll make the damage magically disappear.

Camera scenics often appear with hair dryers to expedite the paint-drying process. What's challenging about that situation is that paint damage is one of the last things the camera operator sees, so the camera scenic is hurredly called to set, while the cast & crew look on and the producers groan. It's a kind of high-pressure performance art.

I once watched a camera scenic make a damaged piece of plywood that was painted to look like oak, back into oak again as everybody watched and waited. Cool.

What most folks don't know is that when you see photos and names on screen, they are likely photos and names of the crew. All engineered by the art and props departments. Little gags like that often keep the crew going.

I once heard of a set dresser who hid a big bird doll somewhere in every scene. Shhhh.

Here's the mov file.