Sabu Cyril
BE IT A REALITY show or a full-length film, art direction brings out the creativity of a script. The sets and costumes support the spectacle to a great extent.
Game of Thrones is a show that has many different worlds in it. And all these worlds are very distinct in the way they look. The locations are set in different countries and they bring the feel of each distinct world in GoT.
The set designs in some of the iconic scenes, like the fight between the Mountain and the Viper in the fourth season, was full of graffiti. I remember watching scenes of a severe storm. As an art director, I know how these scenes can be worked out to achieve 100 per cent perfection.
It is always the script that warrants the set designs. I would say the set designs and the script in GoT hold the key to its popularity. It is a dense script, but this calls for sets that add visual depth to the story. The detailing of the sets in GoT, including walls, stones and properties, is visible in every frame. It also gives depth to each character. If the sets and war scenes are haphazardly done, there would be no continuity from one scene to another. In the war sequences in GoT, the background walls are made of either real stones, fibreglass or plaster of Paris. The authenticity it brings to the visuals is what stands out.
I would say perfection depends on the budget. The sets in GoT can be created cost-effectively, but perfection demands more money. It is the budget that decides the quality. The extra money that we spend for the details—which is normally 40 per cent more than the basic cost—brings perfection to the design. Apart from money, art directors also require time to make the designs perfect. For Bahubali, for instance, we worked on the set designs for five years, right from day one of its conception. I did more than 22,000 sketches. It was like working for ten films. And we succeeded because of the freedom we had to bring in details to each and every set.
Cyril is a National Award-winning art director.
As told to Lakshmi Subramanian.
