Bengaluru girl designs sets for Hollywood

Argya Sadan

Ever watched a film or show and wondered how the vibrant sets were designed? Bengaluru girl Argya Sadan, a production and set designer now based in Los Angeles, says research and planning are the catalysts to a great set.

Some of her recent works include the OTT show ‘Winning Time: The rise of the Lakers dynasty’, and some sets from MCU’s recent series ‘Ms Marvel’.
Argya’s background in architecture and her interest in designing spaces inspire her current set designs. After her bachelors in architecture from M S Ramaiah School of Architecture, Bengaluru, she interned at some architecture firms but felt stifled in creativity. “I longed for the opportunity to create worlds that were set in a different time or place,” she says.

As a child, Argya spent every vacation watching ‘Pride and Prejudice’, which is set in Victorian England. “The year after I graduated, I watched it again and it piqued my curiosity. I started wondering about its sets, time period and how they created it,” she says.

Fascinated, Argya applied to production design programmes in the US and was admitted to the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California.

Importance of set design

Set design is as important as acting and directing a film, says Argya. “Take ‘Pride and Prejudice’; if the audience doesn’t believe that they are in the Bennet estate in late 18th century regency England, they cannot relate with the film,” the 30-year-old points out.

It’s not just architectural structures but colours and patterns, how light enters the room, the space in which the characters move and interact, all of these create a mood, explains Argya.

Different elements

What varies between films and television shows are the budget, timeline and structure of the production. “For episodic TV shows, the pace at which we do our research, design, and build is tighter, compared to a full-length feature where we might have weeks to prepare,” she says.

In each project, the designer has to achieve certain artistic goals within a limited budget and timeline. Argya believes that good design comes with the rules and restrictions placed on it — constraints force creativity.

One of the most challenging projects for Argya was the ‘Winning Time: The rise of the Lakers dynasty’. “It presented the challenge of recreating the Great Western Forum, an arena that sat 17,000 people on a tiny stage in downtown Los Angeles,” she says. According to her, the most challenging components were bringing in the energy of intense games and the excitement of rabid basketball fans despite the limited stage space, which could only fit 500 background actors.

Design process

A lot of conversations take place between the director, the cinematographer and the designer. “We make concept illustrations and participate in location scouts. We relay technical drawings to the construction crew, guide fabrication and shopping for props, as well as set decoration,” she says.

She hopes to work in a Bollywood project. She wants to “create something that brings the world together in conversation” like how the ‘Harry Potter’ or ‘Game of Thrones’ series did.

Latest projects

Argya’s upcoming projects are Olivia Wilde’s psychological thriller ‘Don’t Worry Darling’, rock ‘n’ roll miniseries ‘Daisy Jones and The Six’, based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel, and David Fincher’s ‘The Killer’, adapted from Alexis Nolent’s graphic novel series.