Decorating Pages: TV and Film Design

How did Netflix’s East of Eden recreate early-1900s California almost entirely in New Zealand?
Set Decorator Amber Richards returns to Decorating Pages to break down the extraordinary period world of Zoe Kazan’s East of Eden, starring Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott and Mike Faist.
Amber was previously on the podcast discussing The Power of the Dog and Mulan. She was nominated for an Academy Award with Production Designer Grant Major for The Power of the Dog, and the two collaborated again on East of Eden.
Amber takes us behind the scenes of the production’s enormous set-decoration challenge: shopping Los Angeles prop houses in just four and a half days, shipping two 40-foot containers of dressing back to New Zealand and creating 82 full period sets during a 96-day shoot.
We discuss the Trask homes, Faye and Kate’s brothel, Cathy’s nearly black interiors, custom furniture and textiles, historic New Zealand filming locations, artwork, practical builds and the small details that make a period environment feel authentic.
It’s a detailed look at how production design and set decoration helped transform New Zealand into John Steinbeck’s America.

👉 Get the FREE Quick Reference Set Decorating Template: www.decoratingpagespodcast.com

👉 Love movie & TV design? Join Decorating Pages for behind-the-scenes stories, set breakdowns + new interviews

Discover the Art of TV & Film Design with Decorating Pages Podcast
Hosted by Emmy-winning Set Decorator Kim Wannop, this podcast takes you behind the scenes of your favorite shows and movies. Each episode features in-depth conversations with the industry’s top production designers, set decorators, prop masters, and art department professionals, offering rare insight into the creative process of visual storytelling.
Whether you’re a film and TV fan, aspiring designer, or entertainment industry pro, Decorating Pages Podcast is your backstage pass to the world of production design. Learn how sets are built, stories are shaped visually, and characters come to life—one episode at a time.
🔔 Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio so you never miss an episode.
📲 Follow for daily design content
Instagram: @decoratingpages
TikTok: @decoratingpagespodcast
YouTube: Decorating Pages Podcast

Who actually invented the Frankenstein laboratory we all recognize?
Mary Shelley gave Victor Frankenstein a workspace—but Hollywood gave us the stone walls, operating table, massive electrical machines, lightning and strange scientific equipment that became synonymous with Frankenstein.
Kim Wannop traces 95 years of Frankenstein production design, beginning with James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931), moving through Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein (1974), Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025), and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! (2026).
Discover why Young Frankenstein used original laboratory equipment created for the 1931 film, how Oscar-winning Production Designer Tamara Deverell and Set Decorator Shane Vieau transformed Victor Frankenstein’s laboratory into a monumental water tower, and how each generation of filmmakers has reinvented the same visual idea.
A deep dive into Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro, production design, set decoration, horror movie sets, Young Frankenstein, classic Universal horror and the design history behind one of cinema’s most recognizable environments.

What makes a horror movie set genuinely frightening?
Emmy-winning Set Decorator Kim Wannop and Emmy-winning Production Designer Adam Rowe each chose five horror films for the other to watch through the lens of production design and set decoration.
Together they break down the sets of Rosemary’s Baby, Halloween, Alien, When a Stranger Calls, Poltergeist, Copycat, The Others, Midsommar, Hereditary and Nosferatu (2024).
Why does the perfectly normal suburban world of Halloween make Michael Myers more frightening? Why does Rosemary’s cheerful apartment feel so different from the darkness next door? How did Alien create a science-fiction world that still feels completely believable? And how can the murals, furniture, windows, lighting and even the placement of a television quietly tell us that something is wrong?
Adam also shares lessons from working on darker projects including Criminal Minds and Dexter, where practical design choices — working locks, doorways, shadows, mirrors and lighting — become essential pieces of suspense.
This is a designer’s-eye look at horror: not simply what scared us, but how the filmmakers designed the spaces to make us scared in the first place.

How do you design a horror movie set to actually make an audience uncomfortable?
Production Designer Nick Bassett joins Emmy-winning Set Decorator Kim Wannop to go behind the scenes of Insidious: Out of the Further, the latest chapter in the Insidious horror franchise.
Nick reveals how the production design team created the film’s terrifying practical environments—from the enormous pillow-fort maze to Gemma’s family home, the dentist office and the tattoo parlor built partially in reverse for an elaborate mirror sequence.
They break down how architecture can create suspense, why hallways and rooms are sometimes intentionally altered for horror blocking, how the same house was transformed between the 1990s and the present day, and how practical sets, in-camera effects and visual effects worked together to expand The Further.
Nick also talks about working with Set Decorator Maddie Worthington, sourcing American-looking furniture while shooting in Melbourne, designing believable character history through set decoration, the pressure of an extremely short prep schedule, and why some of the most important production design choices are the details audiences may never consciously notice.
Bassett’s credits include Evil Dead Rise, Sweet Tooth, Ash vs Evil Dead, Fear Street: Prom Queen, Avatar and Guns Akimbo.
If you love Insidious, horror movie sets, production design, set decoration, practical effects, filmmaking and behind-the-scenes movie stories, this episode is for you.
Watch the full video interview on the Decorating Pages Podcast YouTube channel for Nick’s drawings, set photographs and behind-the-scenes images.

👉 Get the FREE Quick Reference Set Decorating Template: www.decoratingpagespodcast.com

👉 Love movie & TV design? Join Decorating Pages for behind-the-scenes stories, set breakdowns + new interviews

Discover the Art of TV & Film Design with Decorating Pages Podcast
Hosted by Emmy-winning Set Decorator Kim Wannop, this podcast takes you behind the scenes of your favorite shows and movies. Each episode features in-depth conversations with the industry’s top production designers, set decorators, prop masters, and art department professionals, offering rare insight into the creative process of visual storytelling.
Whether you’re a film and TV fan, aspiring designer, or entertainment industry pro, Decorating Pages Podcast is your backstage pass to the world of production design. Learn how sets are built, stories are shaped visually, and characters come to life—one episode at a time.
🔔 Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio so you never miss an episode.
📲 Follow for daily design content
Instagram: @decoratingpages
TikTok: @decoratingpagespodcast
YouTube: Decorating Pages Podcast

Stanley Kubrick’s films are known for their unmistakable visual style — but who actually designed the sets?
Emmy-winning Set Decorator Kim Wannop examines the production design and set decoration of five Stanley Kubrick films: The Killing, Spartacus, Dr. Strangelove, Barry Lyndon and The Shining.
Go inside Ruth Sobotka’s stark noir environments for The Killing, the Oscar-winning art direction and set decoration of Spartacus, Ken Adam’s legendary Dr. Strangelove War Room, the historic locations and candlelit interiors of Barry Lyndon, and Roy Walker’s unforgettable Overlook Hotel for The Shining.
Kim breaks down the impossible architecture of the Overlook, Room 237, the red bathroom, the truth about Barry Lyndonbeing shot by candlelight, Kubrick’s use of negative space and architecture, and how production designers, art directors, set decorators and cinematographers helped create what we now think of as the “Kubrick” look.
A production design deep dive into five classic films — and the designers whose work deserves to be part of the conversation.