The first Black Room launched in 2020 was a week of masterclasses and workshops by world-renowned professionals that took place in Tallinn and was held online due to Covid. Black Room comprised the main course for six selected production designers and open masterclasses for film industry professionals.
The Black Room program started with three outstanding mentors. Firstly, Jacqueline Abrahams, who is an award-winning production designer known for The Lobster and Lady Macbeth among many others.
The second mentor Simon Weisse came to teach straight from the shooting of Matrix 4. He is the master of miniature models for cinema and has created the miniature worlds of Wes Anderson films, namely Isle of Dogs and Grand Budapest Hotel.
Black Room’s third mentor Maria Djurkovic stands out as one of the best production designers in the industry who has created the visual worlds of The Imitation Game, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Billy Elliot to name a few.
„The mentors were great! Very easy to have a virtual conversation with. I loved how different they were and the different perspectives they gave. I valued the thoroughness of the workshop and the level of expertise of the mentors,” concluded participant Kaia in her feedback. „It was an amazing experience,” said Simon Wesse, who very much enjoyed the experience together with the other mentors.
Additionally, the panel discussion between Black Room masters and German renowned screenwriters from the Face to Face program highlighted the commonly overlooked changeover in the process of filmmaking — how to write a great picture and how to picture great writing?
The panel discussion between Creative Gate’s two programs focused on the gains and losses of film as a collaborative art offered lessons learned from previous experiences and most importantly inspired to strengthen this joint artistic arch.
Mentor Simon Weisse
The 2021 program explored the fundamental craft behind a successful production design — script breakdown. Black Room brought together two outstanding production designers who mentored the 4-day course.
How to turn written stories into affective images? The participants of Black Room learned versatile ways to approach the film script to break it down into elements, tasks, budgets, and impactful visuals.
The mentors of the year’s program were production designers Sabine Hviid, Another Round (Denmark), and Christian Olander, Tom of Finland (Sweden).
For example, Christian Olander elaborated on the work behind Tom of Finland which production took place in five different time periods and was filmed in five different countries. He discussed the challenge of creating a strong visual world in this circumstance and his aim to adapt in the best possible way to the script, schedule, and location changes that occurred on every shoot.
Elaborated script breakdown for the art department is crucial to derive the film’s thematic elements, emotional tones, mood board, visual arcs, necessary research, and locations, plus technical requirements together with set dressing and props. A thoroughly analysed script lays a strong ground for great communication and collaboration with other film departments.
The program presented two open lectures by the mentors for everyone with Industry Pro accreditation. The following workshops and case studies were for the selected 6 Black Room participants only.
14:00 — 15:00 Open lecture by production designer Sabine Hviid
Participation with Industry Accreditation
Location: Nordic Hotel Forum, room Arcturus and online streaming via Elisa Stage
16:00 — 18:00 Case Study by Sabine Hviid
For Black Room participants only
Location: Nordic Hotel Forum, room Wolf
11:00 — 13:00 Workshop by Sabine Hviid
For Black Room participants only
Location: Nordic Hotel Forum, room Wolf
14:00 — 16:00 Workshop by Sabine Hviid
For Black Room participants only
Location: Nordic Hotel Forum, room Wolf
11:00 — 12:00 Open lecture by production designer Christian Olander
Participation with Industry Accreditation
Location: Nordic Hotel Forum and online streaming via Elisa Stage
13:00 — 15:00 Case Study by Christian Olander
For Black Room participants only
Location: Nordic Hotel Forum, room Wolf
11:00 — 13:00 Workshop by Christian Olander
For Black Room participants only
Location: Nordic Hotel Forum, room Wolf
14:00 — 16:00 Workshop by Christian Olander
For Black Room participants only
Location: Nordic Hotel Forum, room Wolf
22 November, Monday 14:00 — 15:00
Participation with any Industry accreditation
Location: Nordic Hotel Forum, room Arcturus and online streaming via Elisa Stage
The production designer of Another Round and The Penultimate discussed method designing as an effective approach to establish the visual language of your project.
S. Hviid: „Just like a method actor seeks to encourage an authentic performance through a process of identifying a character's inner life and experiencing being, I believe a similar method can be applied to how one approaches designing a space. A room is nothing without the history and layers of a character. Therefore there is great value in getting to understand those characters, who inhabit your spaces, as deeply as possible. This is how I begin my work on narrative projects.”
24 November, Wednesday 11:00 — 12:00
Participation with any Industry accreditation
Location: Nordic Hotel Forum, room Arcturus and online streaming via Elisa Stage
Production designer of Tom of Finland and The Master Plan discussed the challenges that continuously evolving and changing the script creates for the Art Department and the whole production crew.
C. Olander: „The script continues to evolve during pre-production and filming. How does the art department deal with all the changes and hurdles that come with script revisions during prep and shooting? How to work with and around the changes? The lecture discusses how the production designer has to adapt during the pre-production location settings with the scripts. The modifications occur often due to the changing shooting schedule or varying budget necessities. The lecture is based on my experiences and focuses on the art department, namely set dressing and props.”