"NIKA", 2022
Working as production designer assistant
ABOUT THE FILM
A child prodigy, the youngest Soviet poetess, and by the age of 27 a completely lost girl
Nika Turbina is struggling with her past and for her future at the turn of the century
TRAILER
MY JOB
During filming and pre-production process I, as production designer assistant, solved different artistic and organizational tasks. My main job was designing the sets but before this phase I did a long and diverse preparation work. I took part in location scouts, I made target specifications for builders, I created 3D models
and sketches of the small sets (such as the Bar and the Stalls set which you`ll find below) as well as technical drawings of the elements of the main character`s flat decoration (f.e. windows, doors and balconies)
SET: BAR
First photo is taken by Misha Petrov
PROCESS
We had to make the bar set inside the abandoned factory hall. There were load-bearing walls, windows and stairs and we had to build partition walls, decorate them, fabricate and install furniture and lamps, make neon signboards and decorate the space with props and bar stuff. I was responsible for these tasks:
We had to make the bar set inside the abandoned factory hall. There were load-bearing walls, windows and stairs and we had to build partition walls, decorate them, fabricate and install furniture and lamps, make neon signboards and decorate the space with props and bar stuff. I was responsible for these tasks:
1. 3D-modeling and technical drawings of the decoration
2. 3D-modeling and technical drawings of the furniture
3. Sketching and drawing of the neon signboards
4. Controlling the construction process together with the production designer Maria Slavina
4. Controlling the construction process together with the production designer Maria Slavina
SET: STALLS
Photos by Anna Matveeva, Maria Slavina
PROCESS
We had to construct the set of two stalls from the 1990-s: one of them from the ground-up and another
one by adding decoration to the existing contemporary stall. I was responsible for these tasks:
1. Sketches, 3D-modeling and technical drawings of the stalls
2. Sketching and drawing of the neon signboards
3. Controlling the construction process together with the production designer Maria Slavina
3. Controlling the construction process together with the production designer Maria Slavina
4. Decorating the stalls with props together with the props designer Anna Kokornova
sketches and drawings
SET: NIKA`S FLAT
Nika`s flat was created by the production designer Maria Slavina and was completely built in a studio. We built all the walls on a platform, surrounded by city`s backgrounds printed on canvas. We constructed a typical soviet flat with 2 rooms, kitchen, bathroom (with working water supply system) and balcony. The flat was decorated with soviet materials such as parquet, furniture and details, I made technical drawings of windows and doors also based on the soviet references. All the props, textile and lamps found by our props designer Anna Kokornova were original. Artists and painters in their turn made a huge work to make our decoration look old and real
Photos by Misha Petrov
SOME MORE SETS CREATED
IN EXISTING SPACES
PUBLIC SPACES
Hospital
COUNTRY HOUSE
OUTSIDE
FILM CREW
Directed by Vasilisa Kuzmina
Writing Credits: Yulia Gulyan,Vasilisa Kuzmina
Produced by: Aleksandr Andryushchenko, Denis Baglay, Fedor Bondarchuk,
