‘Poker Face’ production designer Judy Rhee: ‘It was like making 10 different short films every 10 days’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
The mystery series “Poker Face” travels to a new location in every episode, and “that was the biggest challenge of the show” for production designer Judy Rhee, whose work earned her an Emmy nomination for Best Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More). “It was like making 10 different short films every 10 days.” We talked to Rhee as part of our “Meet the Experts” Emmy-nominated production designers panel. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
“Poker Face” follows Charlie Cale (Best Comedy Actress nominee Natasha Lyonne), who has the uncanny ability to tell when someone is lying. She’s on the run from her dangerous former employer, so she makes her way from town to town across the country, solving murders along the way. “I had such an amazing crew,” Rhee explains. “Everyone rose to the occasion. Everyone worked tirelessly to achieve the best version possible. And I think having most of the scripts and the outline was very helpful because we were able to prep some of it ahead of time or simultaneously as we knew what was coming up.”
The specific episode Rhee is nominated for is “The Orpheus Syndrome,” which sets its mystery among Hollywood effects artists. That was one of three or four episodes Rhee considered submitting for Emmy consideration; she ultimately went in this direction because “I felt like it contrasted … the three main sets very differently.”
There’s Arthur (Nick Nolte), an old-school effects artist inspired by real-life director and visual effects supervisor Phil Tippett. His barn is “warmer” and “supports his years in the industry.” His former colleague Laura (Cherry Jones) has a “very austere and detached” mansion. And their effects company LAM “was loosely inspired by ILM, which then had to reflect their established history.”
It was all the more challenging because the episode was set in Northern California but, like most of the series, was shot in the Hudson Valley in New York. Whatever the obstacles, though, “it’s great to go through the history of where [Arthur] started in his career and … where we are now in our industry and everything in-between.” And Rhee “knew that whatever it ended up being, it had to be special and unique and original.”
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