Gully

Set Designer / Assistant Art Director


The Gully is a set designed for the Steven King show “The Stand.” The storyline follows multiple characters’ journeys across America, as they try to fight good against evil after a life altering pandemic strikes and wipes out most of Earth’s population. The gully set is a washed out highway that some of the main characters, including their canine friend, must traverse in order to make it to their next destination. The top of the gully was filmed on location and visual fx later added in our set (as seen in the photos below). The entire design was very organic and had to look like a mix of rock and rubble, which had naturally collapsed inward.


Process


The design process was very unique for this set, as we needed to plan in pathways for the actors that looked natural while still being actor safe. We began as a group by creating a model out of clay and foam core. Once we approved of the overall shape and pathways, we 3d scanned our model and brought it into Rhino for some minor adjustments. Next, I imported the 3d model into Revit to create the plans, sections, and determine our scaffolding structure for grips and construction. Next came the fun part, we began Art directing the exact foot and hand holds in the foam rock we sculpted over the scaffolding. I got harnessed up and continuously climbed our various paths making sure it still looked natural. Once our sculptors were done with the foam work, we hard coated the pathways. Next, we painted all the foam and the top road section, then added real gravel, dirt and concrete debris. We also built a rigged section of road at the top, which breaks when the character grabs onto it at the top, leaving him to tumble to the base of the gully. Considering the entire set is built on a stage it was very satisfying to see something that looked so organic come into shape.

Drawings


The drawings were mainly comprised of contour lines, scaffolding heights and vertical sections every 2’-0” so that our sculptors could see what profile they should be imitating. 3d views also helped a lot as visual cues on which areas to focus on.

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The Stand - New York Tunnel