‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’: How the Sets Were Designed as One Big Optical Illusion

In practically three a long time within the movie trade, Stefan Dechant has labored as an illustrator (“Forrest Gump”), idea artist (“Minority Report”), storyboarder (“The Polar Categorical”), and artwork director (“True Grit”). It was that final credit score, the 2010 Western directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, which really useful Dechant’s expertise as a manufacturing designer for Joel Coen’s first solo directorial movie, “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”

“I obtained a name proper earlier than Halloween in 2019, telling me that Joel want to meet up and discuss ‘Macbeth,’” Dechant defined to TheWrap of the movie starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand as Shakespeare’s most diabolical couple. “One of many first issues Joel mentioned after we met was that he didn’t wish to create a naturalistic ‘Macbeth.’ He needed the entire thing to be filmed on sound phases. He needed artifice.”

For Dechant, this meant the constructing of enormous inside units with out ornamentation and exteriors usually cloaked in mist and fog. Nonetheless, the challenges to imbue psychology within the manufacturing design had been intense, as Dechant described in our dialog in regards to the movie.

TheWrap: Whenever you got here on board the movie in 2019, was it clear that Joel Coen already had the film in his head?

Stefan Dechant: Completely. He had outlined the look of the movie, and Joel and [cinematographer] Bruno Delbonnel had been speaking in regards to the challenge for a yr or extra. That they had amassed a set of images and so they had been beginning to categorize them per scene. I used to be in a position to dig into their archive after which begin to make these environments. 

And what was your first impression of the concepts he had amassed?

It was all so economical, which was simply so thrilling to be part of. I feel individuals neglect that ‘Macbeth’ is definitely a lean, powerful, economical story – and so it’s a cheap design. By staying true to that, Joel crafted one thing fairly lovely.

There are numerous fascinating features to how this movie appears. One is that we virtually by no means see the central fort from the surface.

Yeah, precisely. We needed to play with that ambiguousness and never revealing the fort from the surface was a part of that. You’re not getting a glimpse of the place you might be. And proper up entrance Joel mentioned he didn’t wish to lose the truth that the textual content was created for a theatrical expertise. And all the time we had been utilizing Shakespeare’s textual content to grasp the psychology of what was happening. And on the similar time, summary the setting.

Are you able to give some examples of how you probably did that within the manufacturing design?

Effectively, we additionally talked in regards to the line within the play, ‘I’ve not seen a day so honest and foul.’ The times and evening should not a lot completely different on this world, they might sort of bleed into one another. That led us to consider the movie’s the perspective. Like once you see ravens within the sky within the opening shot, you’re unsure for those who’re wanting up at them or down at them. It’s revealed that you just’re wanting down at them. Joel needed the viewers to be confused about what perspective they’d.

That’s a part of the play. What’s the company of Macbeth? Is he performing as a result of he’s been foretold his future or is he destined to commit these murders anyway? It’s a murky setting and we needed the imagery to stay fairly clouded.

There are additionally a number of scenes the place we see staircases within the fort. And we’re not precisely positive in the event that they’re going up or down.

Sure. And identical to the ravens, the look of the stairwells had been all in Joel’s screenplay. Whether or not we’re wanting up or down, that was all intentional by Joel.

Had been you impressed by the stairwells within the artwork of M.C. Escher?

It wasn’t a lot Escher. One of many artists we checked out was a flip of the century set designer named Edward Gordon Craig. He made very summary stage settings, with cubes and lengthy folding horizontal screens. Certainly one of his designs is definitely known as “The Steps.” We checked out a whole lot of his sketches.

It wasn’t that we had been solely prior to now, although. We checked out some images by Hiroshi Sugimoto. Certainly one of them is known as “La Casa Barragan” and it simply reveals two partitions intersecting and a sq. tower behind it, barely out of focus and in black-and-white. That turned considered one of our touchstone pictures.

There may be additionally a scene the place Macbeth meets the witches and the room fills with water. Are you able to discuss that?

It’s meant to be an enormous cauldron. That was additionally one thing Joel introduced up in our very first assembly. The witches could be perched on rafters, in order that they’re simply out of our attain, above us. The darkness wanting down onto Macbeth. After which reworking the room right into a cauldron makes it a very psychological place. That setting is completely pushed by claustrophobia. 

And there’s additionally a second when massive home windows burst open and an avalanche of leaves blow in. That was the distinctive manner of portraying that ‘Birnam Wooden involves Dunsinane,’ which is likely one of the witches’ prophecies.

Oh, it’s implausible, isn’t it? That’s pure Joel. He mentioned he by no means felt that the entire ‘Birman wooden on the transfer’ had ever been captured efficiently on movie. I personally like the way in which it’s achieved in Kurosawa’s “Throne of Blood,” with the timber shifting by the fog. However Joel had the concept of those big home windows that Macbeth would open after which the whirlwind of timber would burst in. 

After which the throne room within the fort mainly turns into the woods, proper?

Sure. I like that Joel preserved the theatricality of it. We don’t have to see it in such a literal sense. The leaves fairly clearly let you know that the woods have arrived. Additionally, we purposely designed the columns within the throne room so they aren’t in a straight line. They’re at an angle barely, in order that they mimic the forest of timber.

What would this movie appear to be in colour? Like, if somebody had visited the set, how wouldn’t it seem?

The units had been particularly designed for black-and-white. And that’s additionally as a result of the units are held collectively by gentle and shadow. That was a particular a part of the tone that we created. For those who went and checked out these units in particular person whereas we had been filming, they had been basically painted in black-and-white. We even painted the shadow strains into the units, which was partly Bruno’s concept.

In order your eyes scanned the set, you had been basically seeing a black-and-white film?

For essentially the most half. However there was one shaggy dog story. For the scene set on the crossroads, we wanted to herald a textural factor. We discovered a man who had an enormous gun gadget that would shoot glue and moss on the similar time, however he mentioned, “Hear, I’ve an issue, I can solely use vibrant inexperienced for the pretend moss.” So he put among the moss in a nook and by chance we had an iPhone digicam, which allow us to see the moss in black-and-white and we may see it was going to be positive on digicam. Nevertheless it was an enormous shock to see this set for a black-and-white film that was coated on this loopy lime inexperienced cartoon moss in all places. However ultimately all of it labored out.

“The Tragedy of Macbeth” is streaming on AppleTV+.