Stiff Upper Lip

In 2021, I was delighted to be put into many positions where I could show my abilities and talents as a production designer for film. One of them being for the set of Stiff Upper Lip. When given the script to read, I was immediately encapsulated. The complexity behind an introspective story whereby the audience is not only watching the film by the director involved but also their life outside of their job, fascinated me, and I was excited to design two sets in one. This was a hands-on role which required me to carefully plan out, design, and create a full set within a particular time frame.

The brief was simple: create a 1920s-inspired basement in which a murder has just taken place. Researching into the 1920s was imperative to the task as I wanted to ensure that the details were as historically accurate as possible from the type of wine bottles to the costumes chosen for the actors. This was for the main set (film within a film) that was to be filmed in black and white 16mm film. I sourced props and costumes that I believed would work well in black and white as well as colour when the 4th wall was broken. Specifically, my favourite part of the task was scenic painting the floor to look like concrete, adding wood grain and destressing the stairs so that they looked older and painting the protruding walls so they looked like metal vents.