#production design

[romchat]

Kokuho's (2025) kabuki performances

Directed by Lee Sang-il, starring Yoshizawa Ryo and Yokohama Ryusei

[squirrellypoo]

Production stills of the lower floor tour bus set from Production Designer Andres Cubillan Soto on Instagram.

"I wish you all could have seen/ smelled this phenomenally disgusting set…

The thought behind this bus was that Lestat had bought it off of a hard partying band (think Motley Crew), basically "hosed down" the lower floor, and then fully remodeled and decked out his space upstairs. Because… its Lestat! This was one of those sets that just kept evolving and evolving, not just through out the season, but even before the cameras rolled. What I had envisioned was then taken a 1000% further by our fantastic scenic department (lead by Chiko Quan) and set decoration team (led by Summer Gaal and Ken Robinson). The level of disgusting detail was incredible. Every nook and cranny was filled. Every surface was sticky and dirty and covered in "mysterious" stains.

But to see the actors then react to the space and then embody the debaucherous playground we presented, is what every production designer dreams of.

From Salamanders collection of chewed gum on the walls and ceilings, to the blow-up doll in the pantry, to the toy soldiers in the cocain bowl, to the condom on the wall marking "the tour's first groupie" (é))… it was a magical bus (as the amazing @yesamaka put it)."

[ratdesire]

Back to archive-trawling, I'm currently in the 2013 pre-Captain America: The Winter Soldier era, and it's peak BTS photo leaks. And I really love this specific photo, the pose is so dynamic and unusual without being super unnatural. And I was like, wait this feels really familiar, where have I seen this before? I know I haven't seen this photo.

Guess someone at Sarofsky working on the final credits also liked it (and made... a bold choice about foot placement that kind of dilutes the kinetic nature of the original photo, imo).

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Whoa! 👀Amazing! ❤ (tweet thread)

plus :D

Edit:

[thefugitivesaint]

Franz Angelo Rottonaras (1848-1938), ''Maske und Kothurn'', Vol. 2, #2, 1956

[art-of-arcane]

ARCANE | Sevika's Arm Concept Art | Anne Laure To & Marietta Ren

[monsterkill--er]

A Nod to Lady Di and Gay Rights in Stranger Things' Costume Design

Here's an excerpt of the Amy Parris' interview:

"So, we made these custom knitwear sweaters for Erica. And my inspiration was the warm and wonderful Princess Diana sweater. It was a little bit earlier than '87, but Indiana's a little bit slower in fashion, so it would have been the sweater to like have at the moment. We changed it. We made it blue. We put Scotty dogs instead of sheep and just kind of flipped the script of that. It's a bit preppy, but fashionable. This is her growing up."

As Season 5 is set in 1987, one of the biggest historical events of that year was the moment Princess Diana shook hands with AIDS patients and staff at the only Hospital wing dedicated to HIV+ treatment in England at the time (x). While the conservative Prime Minister conspired to suppress awareness, her mission was to change the perception of HIV and AIDS to lambast stigma, shed light on the truth, and promote assistance. She did not wear that sweater at the time, but it was a public statement that she felt othered by the royal family for her different views—and it's very much the case in retrospect. Many gay men in America idolized her for what she did to help the community, and still do to this day.

For a lot of her screen time, Erica wears this sweater side by side with Derek, who has a Rainbow color coordinated outfit, split into a group with two canonically LGBTQ characters—one of whom is heavily tied to an AIDS allegory, especially in S2.

Parris chose to invert the pattern and color to blue with a lone white Yorkie from red with a black sheep. It matches the themes of waning light amongst darkness against a conformity backdrop, tying this aspect to "growing up." Erica becomes the voice of reason this season going against the mold, so it makes sense for character in that regard.

The costume design choice here is reminiscent of the triangles Parris gave Robin last season, which was a nod to the queer community, and it also ties into the black hand on El's shoulder, which is a symbol of an abuse of government in regards to the AIDS epidemic.

As she states in the interview, she worked closely with the production designer, Chris Trujillo, who had consistently hung "Be a Hero, Give Blood" donor posters in the hospital further cementing this allegory and symbolism. It's important to note, gay and bisexual men were barred from donating blood solely based on their sexual orientation from 1983 to 2015, and even now the FDA still holds them to a different set of criteria.

These posters follow Mike around like a ghost, prominent in an episode he disguises himself as a patient while Nancy's in a candy striper outfit, which altogether infers his acute anxiety on contracting the disease as well as facing its stigma when the theme keeps popping up.