Production Design for BlackMilk is like living in your favourite Art Film. Anything and everything is possible. It is a world where beggars are puppeteers; theatre is life is theatre; character regression manifests physically through the set and lovers lead you to Dali-beaches scattered with memories. It is a world where typewriters and televisions can co-exist and where mirrors and telephones lead you into deeper and darker dimensions of the human psyche.

I have been working with BlackMilk for almost two years in the capacity of Production Designer/ Art Director. I came on board about a month before shooting 23 Rue d’Amour. I still today do not quite know how I managed to prepare everything in time, but somehow it all worked out. Today, three shortfilms and multiple smaller projects later, and I am still here. BlackMilk is my mistress and ours is a clandestine affair. She seduced me… and I willingly allowed myself to be mesmerized by her black seamed stockings and high heels, her face still hidden in the shadows and obscured by a wide-brimmed hat, and a silky trail of smoke rising from the elegant cigarette holder in a gloved hand…

Following is a bit of insight into the behind the scenes workings of the visual world of BlackMilk…

23 Rue d’Amour stole my heart… and ate it. When I read the script I was inspired. A new world opened before me. There was so much that I could play around with and elements that I could add to the film. I do not recall the complete briefing that I received, other than Film Noir and ‘old-school elegance’ without restricting the script by confining it to a certain period. I started sourcing in the prophouses of Cape Town where bit by bit the different pieces started falling into place. Items inspiriting ideas and those ideas tying in with general themes of the film. A good example of this is the eye-shaped mirror in one of the opening scenes. During the pre-production phase I constantly tried to include textures and depth into the design. I created depth with interesting things such as a dirty popcorn machine to shoot through, a warped carnival mirror to twist you into a different reality and big old metal letters backlit for added dramatic effect and background texture.

Another rather unusual and interesting experience of Rue d’Amour was the specialized fabricated props. The script called for an uhm… intimate part of the male anatomy to be chopped off, cooked and eaten.  Let me tell you now… finding willing donors in that department is rather difficult. So a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. You make one. After exploring different ideas and options, we finally decided on making said piece out of different meat and food elements. I collaborated with a food-stylist, Marien, and together we found the perfect combination of salami, steak, chicken skin, spaghetti and liver spread to create a rational fear in any normal man. One of the most unusual questions that you could possibly ask you ‘boss’ is probably the following:

Me: “So, Thomas… would you prefer it circumcised or uncircumcised?”

When shoot day finally arrived it was a delicate juggling act where you could find me at any given time either a)squirting blood from underneath a table; b)poking skewers through pigs’ eyes; c)wrangling goldfish or d)dragging furniture around. All this while attempting to keep an eye on what is happening in the frame and with continuity.

Looking back at the film I can see my mistakes and places where I could have done more. I really should have ironed that goddamned tablecloth…. I am human. I make mistakes. I learn. And next time I will make sure to include the steamer into my breakdown…