sci fi
Paranormal witness
The Abduction
For the recreation shoots inside an alien craft, I created peripheral wall elements - curved and straight - as modules that could be combined to create walkways as well as rooms in varying shapes and sizes. The walls had an abstract language made of archaic looking symbols routered into the surface of each panel. In addition we had a lot of fun creating alien furniture, like the chair seen in the picture, that was part of the planetarium set.
sci fi
Paranormal witness
REndelshaw Files
Having my creative origins in traditional sculpture I was overjoyed to be asked to design an object (the craft)) in relation to its environment rather than to design sets as I am usually required to do for this show. I designed a black Plexiglas pyramid that stood in its rigid geometric form in alien contrast to its organic environment; the forest. The pyramid functioned as an inverted kaleidoscope in which the surrounding was reflected and absorbed simultaneously. The seams of the craft were not joined but spaced an inch apart by means of clear acrylic rods which then were illuminated from the inside by a pulsing 1000 -watt red bulb. The allover look was so appealing that no CGI had to be applied afterwards.
contemporary
aftermath
Red Giant
We created 19 sets for this post-apocalyptic show that focused on the destructive forces of climate change. Seen in the pictures is the luxurious penthouse of a rich woman.
To juxtapose the minimalism and rather masculine appearance of the apartment I brought in particular props and elements to accentuate the femininity of the lead character. Selecting the art as well staging the place brought me back to a time when I worked as an interior designer for corporate and private clients.
contemporary
Mr. clean
desperate housewives
For this commercial we had to deliver various interior and exterior sets that captured the look and feel of the then popular tv series "Desperate Housewives". The photos document a studio set of an interior bathroom that in its predominant white colour scheme accentuated the cleanliness and elegance that the Mr. Clean brand stands for.
contemporary
Paranormal witness
the manson curse
This episode told the story of the ghost of Sharon Tate haunting the neighboring property on Cielo Drive in Hollywood 30 years after her brutal murder. It was a pleasure to select and dress this modernist minimalist glass bunker with props that reflected the lifestyle of a rather eccentric single man who likes to entertain. I had to hold my euphoria at bay, as I was ready to install a 9-foot taxidermy hammerhead shark in the central glass staircase, realizing that I started to turn it into "my" dream space rather than a set reflecting the eccentricities of the main character.
period
american Lawmen
Melvin Purvis: Gangbuster
This episode told the story of the hunt of John Dillinger by special Agent Melvin Purvis, in Chicago in the 1930’s. We had to provide countless sets ranging from bars and FBI offices, to Banks as well as the safe houses of the gangsters, which were in most cases the apartments of women Dillinger would date. A true highlight of the show was to source the period vehicles.
period
Paranormal witness
The Hotel
I always love to design a period set.
It feels like a personal journey back in time. A unique opportunity to create a three dimensional world of the past, that offers an experience were sentimental nostalgia becomes tangible reality. For this episode we transferred an old convent into a Victorian Hotel at the turn of the last century.
period
American Lawmen
Petrosino vs. The Mafia
I had the most fun redressing the back of our studio into the streets of Little Italy, New York 1908, while listening to Italian opera. The hay was a set requirement for the surface of the streets but turned into an endless cleaning job afterwards. The small sculpture in the interior set seen in the picture was selected to underline the allover melancholy demeanor of the female lead character. Here they almost have the same expression.
Horror
Paranormal witness
from Hell
In this episode a girl becomes obsessed with the answers she draws from playing with a Ouija board until a demon takes over her mind and body. Her family who are of Mexican descent, consult a Curandera, a Mexican healer, to have the demon exorcised out of
the girl’s body. The Mexican actress who played the Curandera, was familiar with the rituals and props necessary for these types of rituals, and gave accolades to the levels of accuracy in the design of my sets.
Horror
Paranormal witness
Voodoo preacher
This story was based on an unpublished book by Harper Lee, the author of “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Central to the story was a flashback sequence showcasing rituals at a voodoo church in the Deep South. We transformed, within two hours, the interior of a barn into a voodoo church by combining the translucency of rot-iron gates and walls with the light shafts of the natural barn walls, in addition with multi-layered and textured altars showcasing the obsessive nature of these rituals.
Horror
Paranormal witness
The Haunting of Mansfield Mansion
This episode challenged a lot of aspects and design principles that are the foundation of this series and any good horror show. In the beginning it is in the minimalism of the set, a reduction to iconic imagery, which stands in juxtaposition to the multiple layers of chaos and horror that the story crescendos into. The final shot of the bathroom, where a murder of a young girl takes place, was inspired and designed after the compositions and light in Vermeer’s paintings.
Horror
Paranormal witness
deliver us from evil
This design focused on the stark atmosphere in this religious home of a Baptist Priest, shared with his wife and twin teenage daughters. The pastel tones of the walls and window treatments in conjunction with the textures and selected props provided a home that lacked any warmth or comfort.
The ceiling collapsing on the father is a beautiful example of the wide range of special effects the art department was executing on
this show.
Horror
Paranormal witness
The exorcist
In the genre of horror this episode was prone to pronounce the essence of an iconic visual vocabulary. A reduction to minimalism to portray the starkness and desolated atmosphere in conjunction with hard edge shaft lighting gave this show an allover feeling of dread and darkness. The delicate selection of props referring to the religious content of the story, in symbioses with art directed lighting effects, allowed us to successfully transfer a residence into a convent with a chapel.
Horror
Paranormal witness
Long Island Terror
This episode lent itself to showcase horror in the detailed composition of graphics and design. Particularly, the graphic recreation of a girl’s journal, which functioned almost as an instruction manual, explaining rituals and the use of abandoned torture instruments found in the basement of the house. A period mannequin torso, with its lifeless eyes was dressed into the composition to function as a silent witness to all the horror.
western
red coat justice
On a shoestring budget, I transformed a contemporary residence into a period set over three floors. This was used for the opening of a Canadian Western, that allowed for a continuous shot that followed the lead character through an authentic '1892' opium den, down a hallway, past a Chinese laundry to a barn with a dog fighting pit. The opening shot is of a functioning hero opium pipe that I created in 15minutes from a $3. bamboo flute.
western
american Lawmen
Tom Smith: Marshal of abeline
Dallas Stoudemire: The Hero of El Paso
Alan Pinkerton: Saving Lincoln
Having concerned myself with a high degree of authenticity already in my childhood re-enactments of my favorite westerns it was a dream come true that I was asked to design these western themed interiors and exteriors for three of the eight episodes I composed for American Lawmen. We created two saloons and a sheriff office, dressed a period train station including train and transformed a barn into a brothel. It was particular fun to design the set of S. Felton, the director of the railroad, with its graphics, including original maps, letters of correspondence in addition to other props that characterized the status quo of Mr. Felton.
war
Blood and fury: american civil war
* EMMY NOMINATion for outstanding scenic design
In six episodes, we told the story of the most significant and influential battles of the American Civil War through the eyes of young individuals, highlighting the brutality of battle as well as the hardship these men had to endure. This subject matter is so well known and documented, that we had to immediately become experts ourselves, creating authentic sets which ranged from the large battlefields to the smallest details in outfitting the soldiers.
The impressive visuals created have been recognized with a 2017 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Scenic Design in a Drama Documentary.
war
M.A.S.H
I recreated an authentic 1953 US Military MASH unit, for the re-enactment of true events that defined the experience of men and women in the camp. We reused props countless times, due to the uniform design nature of the military and therefore delivered a wide range of sets on a minimum budget. The Producer and Director mistook the set photo I sent them to be a reference photo of a surgical theatre, due to its authentic appearance and accuracy to the time.
war
Paranormal witness
Beneath the rock
For this episode of Paranormal Witness, we designed a US Military Unit which included an above ground bunker in the middle of a quarry. This ensured the right look for the episode as it referenced the landscape in Afghanistan.
HORROR
Slasher's 8-episode 2nd Season, centers around a horrific secret that a group of former Summer Camp Counselors have buried long ago. They must return to their resort in the dead of winter to retrieve the body of Talvinder, whom they murdered while they were Counselors, five years earlier. The former camp has been bought by a group of individuals, that have turned it into a community of mindful living by the name "We Live As One". In the course of one weekend members of both parties are getting killed in the most horrific ways by a mysterious killer.
I enjoyed turning the interior cabins of an actual former kid’s camp into a cozy retreat with an industrial size kitchen and a yoga room, an outdoor sauna and a Quonset hut, which all served as backdrops to this horror story.
slasher
s2 guilty party
war
age of samurai
This 6-part series for Netflix tells the historical events that took place in 16th century Japan, where in succession 5 shogunates tried to unify Japan under their Clan Banner. It was a quest for power that resulted in 75 years of civil war. It is also known as the Age of Samurai.
I created modular sets that followed authentic, Japanese design principles allowing for a maximum of reconfigurations depicting interiors of Castles and temples as well as Imperial Palaces as well as forming exteriors of Villages. Particular demanding was the research and execution of all related graphics, from banners and symbols to letters and documents guaranteeing utmost accuracy for such a well-known and documented time period.
please cursor over the thumbnails
to view images
crime
secrets of the morgue
* canadian screen awards nomination for best production designer/
non-fiction
In this 20-part series the reconstruction of events that lead in each part to a murder crime was solely told by revisiting recreated crime scenes after the body had been removed. There was no actor/actress and acting which made the sets become the main focus of the show. The investigative camera would carefully discover each detail integrated in these complex sets, revealing the characters of the victims and the perpetrators as well as discovering all evidence necessary to solve the crime.
My endeavours were honoured with a nomination for Best Production Design/ Non-Fiction for the Canadian Screen Awards.
paranormal witness
Slasher
paranormal witness
paranormal witness
paranormal witness
paranormal witness
paranormal witness
paranormal witness
paranormal witness
American Lawmen
paranormal witness
american lawmen
American Lawmen
Red Coat Justice
paranormal witness
secrets of the morgue
M.A.S.H
Blood and Fury: American Civil War
age of samurai
Contemporary
war
CRIME
Western
period
sci fi
horror
paranormal witness
Mr. Clean
aftermath
Quick Links
Site by Alchemy Design 2019 - all images and copy - copyright Florian Schuck 2019