Katelin L. Ashcraft : The Resistance

The Resistance

Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts- 2012

Graduate Film- Written by Lara Erman, Directed by Rochan Redelinghuys

Art Direction and Properties by Katelin Ashcraft

In the fall of 2012 I was invited to Chapman University to help out on a Graduate level film as the production's Art Director and Properties Master. Lara Erman, who wrote the original screenplay, worked with me on a previous film, True Love's Kiss and recommended me for the project. Since the filming was done in Los Angeles and the surrounding area I had the first time experience of communicating with the designer, Angel Herrera, entirely through email, skype and phone to get the production up and running. I also had an assistant based in L.A. that was new to film props but extremely motivated. As with any production, film or theatre, communication is key and this experience was an eye-opening opportunity.

After just two weeks of being apart of the project I pack up all of the properties I had created, set dressings and small furniture pieces and headed to Los Angeles for the next two weeks where I would help finish building and painting the set, and get everything ready for filming.

The film is set in the future in a post-apocalyptic world. After WWIII demolished the surface of the earth the few survivors have moved underground where the radiation is less severe. The government has since made the possession of food illegal but rations out a sustainable substance known as the Tonic.

In the many years since the apocalypse the earth has slowly begun to regenerate and the rebels have begun new ways to develop food and are hoping to start mass producing it. It is in this world that we meet our leading men and women. There is a love triangle going on and the audience continually questions where the characters loyalties really lie.

click here for Time-lapse of Set Loading into Soundstage

Thanks to Andre Barbosa for this video

Our first day of shooting was spent out at the Salton Sea, which provided the perfect backdrop for the post-apocalyptic world we were creating. On location I was both weapons wrangler, art director and in charge of hair and make-up.

Sometimes props find you! No one can age a radio better than mother nature.

It was a very windy set, and some light sun burns were common throughout the crew but the breathtakingly erie landscape help immensely to flesh out the believability of our world.

The rest of the shoot was dominated by our interiors; an "underground bunker." We were very fortunate to be able to film in one of the sound stages on the Chapman campus.

Below is a view into the hidden storage room where the illegal food and paraphernalia could be kept.

For the elaborate dinner the actors cook later in the film we needed to create a makeshift kitchen inside the bunker with enough prep space and cooking contraptions to pull off such a dinner.

Here is the finished table display of my own design. All the dishes were purposefully mix-matched to help convey that table settings were no longer the norm in this future world and that this was our leading lady's attempt at recreating a bygone era. The table itself is an old movie poster frame that you might see outside of a theatre. Lit from below it created a perfect futuristic ambiance.

I personally love the picture below on the left and how the reflection of our actor is caught in the stopper of the wine decanter.

Food is always a challenge on set and particularly in film. Depending on how many takes and how much food is consumed during each take I have learned is it wise to budget for twice as much as you may originally think you need and to have ample ways to preserve and keep food fresh.