Welcome to Snugville
Written and directed by Caroline Dean, a graduate student at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, Snugville is a short film set in a fantasy world. I led a two-person art department, collaborating closely with the director to design and execute studio and on-location sets inspired by Edward Hopper paintings.
Pre-viz Process
Inspired by my time working in the art department on A Murder at the End of the World (FX/Hulu) as well as the documentary Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction, I wanted to follow a more robust pre-production process to push the visual concept of this film beyond the expected.
The writer/director had dug deep to create a story that relies on visual symbols to communicate its meaning, even as it follows a standard adventure narrative structure on the surface. Because the director mentioned she liked the lonely Americana of Edward Hopper’s paintings, I bought a book of his work and looked for pieces that matched scenes in the script. Using collage and mixed media, I then created a series of boards that directly inspired the design of the sets and props.
In addition to having a clear color palette, this images are filled with odd spaces, lamps, strategically used cold and warm light.
Ext. Snugville
The film primarily takes place in the fantasy world of Snugville—a town trapped in a perpetual, cozy winter evening. The main character is guided by a friendly voice until, suddenly, the atmosphere darkens and the world around them begins to shut down.
These scenes were shot on-location on Long Island.
Gus’s Cart
We rented a cart and copper pot from a prop house in NYC.
Int. Snugville
The interior sets in Snugville feature low-key lighting and warm practical lamps to enhance the film's cozy, atmospheric mood.
Skeleton Puppet
For this short, I designed and fabricated a fully articulated skeleton puppet that foreshadows the town's dark turn. I molded the bones with tin foil and covered them with paper mache. We went through several faces but the director preferred a mask-like face.
Prop Book
To create a custom hero prop, I retrofitted an existing hardcover by removing half of its original pages and gluing in blank sketchbook folios. I then designed and printed a completely new cover.
The Void Scene
In the climax of the film, the main character finds herself in a dark void, an effect we achieved on set by utilizing heavy black draping. We dressed a bookcase to tie the scene to the bookshop, matching the Ikea bookcase.
We also made black goo and staged it creeping towards her by deflating a mattress.
Storyboards of the scene created by Bailey using screenshots
The Real World
In contrast with her adventures in Snugville, we designed the main character's reality to feel grim and cold, utilizing minimal set dressing and a desaturated color palette. This design makes it clear why she is escaping into a fantasy, until the end and she escapes the void and the sun comes up.
The “depression tent” design of the bedroom allowed us to avoid dressing the entire room, and underscore her desire to create an escape.
Rotten Prop Food
Our main character returns to the real world with her neglected apartment and throws away old food that has gone bad. I created fake rotten food.
Theatrical Poster
I came up with six concepts for the theatrical poster. The director wanted to walk the line between “Christmas Movie” and hinting at the darker themes of the film.
